ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #3 by Scott Snyder, Che Grayson and Bengal.
In the past, the Calicos had dreams, with Helena wanting to be a pilot, Victoria
running the Gotham Gazette and Selina dreaming of being a photographer. Holly
arrives and suggests a heist of the wealthiest and most dangerous man in Gotham
named Cain. They break in and Holly finds a list that she believes would be
there ultimate score. In the present, the
League of Shadows
attacks Selina, Helena, and Victoria, who have been searching for the kidnapped
Holly Robinson. Selina uses Jonesy to defeat the threat. Selina takes the girls
to her headquarters she calls the Cat Cave, where Victoria says that the object
Holly left behind is a reality altering A.I. program called The Yarn that can
literally rewrite reality. Using Jonesy’s database, Victoria finds the exact
location of The Yarn. In the end, the trio don tactical suits to hunt down
Cassandra Cain and rescue Holly.
ABSOLUTE BATMAN #23 by Scott Snyder and Nick
Dragotta. Alfred meets with Julia, telling her he plans to leave MI6 and stay
in Gotham to help Batman, with her saying she hopes he finds what he is looking
for and leaves. Back at the Robin headquarters, Jason insists on going out and
continuing the hunt for Batman. Later, Batman has become obsessed with the
Batman Conspiracy proposed by The Scarecrow, going as far as to say that his
friends were in the zoo and how it relates to what they have become. He also
believes that his father is alive and being hidden in Bolivia, which is where
the bats at the zoo came from. Alfred and Martha walk in and she tells him that
Gordon told her that Bruce was Batman and the alleged Batman Project is not
real. He accuses her involvement with the Court of Owls is responsible and will
eventually lead him to his father. In a flashback, it is revealed that Bruce
had been tasked to beat a man named Matches Malone to death with a baseball bat
to become a made man. He beats him but is unable to bring himself to do it and
two of Falcone’s men prepare to shoot Malone instead. Batman attacks them and
tells Malone to run away. Back in the present, he encounters Jason, telling him
that he is not here to fight him while a lump of clay transforms into Batman,
knocks out Jason and jills Tim. Batman attacks this version of Clayface, who
escapes through the sewers. Batman cradles Tim’s body as Scarecrow appears,
saying a Robin was destined to die. As Bruce flees with Tim’s body, Jason wakes
and accuses Batman of killing his partner.
ABSOLUTE FLASH #18 by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles. A week ago,
D.E.O. Agent Hunter Zolomon is called to meet with Director Bones, who
introduces him to Elenore Thawne. She explains that Wally is a rogue asset from
Project Olympus and he is tasked to capture him as he has the ability to travel
one minute into the future. Bones also says that he is having someone called
The Old Man with him, even though he cannot be controlled.. In the present,
Linda and Grodd try to convince Wally to go public, with Ralph and Sue Dibney
saying that would be a mistake. Wally explains that all he wants to do is find
his father, when Ralph’s limbs suddenly begin to stretch and he collapses into
a boneless heap as eyeballs burst out of Sue’s body and she begins puking up
small animals made out of blood. All over Central City, people begin to
transform into monsters and attack the populace. As Zolomon watches, Thawne
tells him that The Old Man got an upgrade, courtesy of Brainiac. As Wally saves
a mother and her child, Zolomon appears, saying this can all stop if Wally
comes with him, when he refuses, Zolomon says he looked thirty seconds into the
future and saw Wally defeat him so he is changing the future and beats Wally
down, with Thawne ordering him to kill Wally.In the end, Grodd and Linda run
through the streets when Grodd’s head disappears and his headless body falls to
the ground. A man dressed as a magician pulls Grodd’s heads out of his hat and
asks Linda if she wants to see a trick. This is The Old Man: Abra Kababra.
ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #4 by Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque. Dinah fights Solomon Grundy and apparently kills him. She finds a room filled with mutated subjects. Meanwhile, Green Arrow accesses Hammond’s computer using his severed hand. Elsewhere, Tom Hallaway is held captive by Hammond who introduces him to Doctor Iker, who mutates Hallaway as payback for having his hand cut off. Dinah breaks in, telling Hammond she knows Slade was providing subjects to Iker Hammond tells her Miraclo is a super steroid able to jump start dead tissue in subjects and they were using Oliver’s corpse for their tests. Hammond takes her to Oliver’s dismembered corpse. Hammond flees and Grundy revives, attempting to kill her when Green Arrow shoots him in the eyes, stunning him. Green Arrow keeps shooting and Grundy stumbles into some electrical equipment that electrocutes him before recovering. Hammond commands Grundy to cut off Green Arrow’s hand with his claws and he does..
ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #17 by Al Ewing and Sid Kotian. In the past, the Controller of MU, known as Thaal, sees a ring of light split into multiple colors and sees what he calls a Face of Steel. He builds a high-tech halo into his own head to bring guidance to the universe, saying the Face called him Sin Es Tro. In 2021, Jessica was driving to Evergreen when they observed a car crash and watch a man shoot the driver before he fired at them, killing her friend Geoff. Later, she was interviewed by Jo and Renee Montoya but is unable to identify the man, leading to her becoming a shut in for the next four years until the day that Abin Sur arrived at her door, with Jessica asking is he could hide her. In the present, Guy uses Salakk as a shield between him and the Controller of MU, with Salakk decapitating himself, allowing the Controller to use an energy blade to cut off Guy’s arm and run him through with the blade. He declares that when Guy dies, Hal will also die and the Controller will now be free to destroy the Lantern with Mogo. Kama Tui says that when Hal dies, he won’t need Mogo and can destroy the Lantern without destroying Rann or killing her and the Blackstars, but he stabs her too. John tears off The Controller’s helmet with The Controller slicing John to pieces, but he immediately reforms, saying that The Controller has not hurt him or the others but their wounds exist because they believed in those wounds. Jo and Jessica attack him with Jessica firing a gun at him with a shrunken Tomar Re acting as the bullet through The Controller’s head, which regrows to normal. Jessica circles around Mogo, causing plants to grow while demanding he simply let go. A Sur symbol appears on the surface as the commander of the Blackstars declares she is in command as Overseer Shade is dead and The Controller is offline. At John’s insistence, she declares the war over. Inside The Controller’s helmet, the word ERROR appears. In the Zero-Zone, Emily Hawke wonders what the Face of Steel is thinking about as Simon Baz appears and says he has ceased to exist.
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #22 by Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra. After recent events, Lazarus Corp declares bankruptcy. Going through their files, Jimmy and the Omega Men discover a series of labs vacant since the 1940’s although they are still receiving deliveries of chemical supplies. They tell this to Superman and he realizes this must be where Brainiac is, leading to him flying to Cordoba to arrest him, where he ius attacked by an android. He becomes weak and is overpowered, realizing he is being exposed to Kryptonite. He blasts open the robot’s shell and sees that a resurrected Christopher Smith is inside, with Smith declaring his name is Metallo. Metallo spits green blood at Superman which burns him like acid, as the blood is now containing Kryptonite from the bullet the Ra’s used to kill him. Brainiac emerges to watch the fight, even as Superman reminds Metallo that his name is Christopher Smith. Smith has a heart attack and Superman uses CPR to save him, although he attacks back, knocking him into the sewer, blocking him from the sun. As he is being choked, Superman tells him that he went to Smith’s mother’s funeral three weeks ago, where he reveals that he had told her that Smith loved her, leading to Smith falling to his knees and breaking down.
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #23 by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman. Diana makes her way from Hades and heads to Area 41 to search for Barbara; finding the facility empty. She makes her way to Veronica Cale’s office and neutralizes her security force, demanding answers about the experiments and Barbara’s abduction. As she confronts her, Diana bursts into the basement and found the frozen figure of Cale’s daughter Isadore. She reveals that Zatanna cursed her hands and would only uncurse her from it when Zatanna’s father was freed. Unfortunately, she touched Isadore and froze her. Outside, a blue and yellow lightning bolt rips through the sky, representing Zeus and Ares as Zeus’s massive eye looks down on the city.
ACTION COMICS #1101 by Mark Waid and Montos. Continued from SUPERGIRL #16. KINGDOM OF ZOD Part 2. The Eradicator’s archives relates how Zod battled against the Khund army, with his wife Ursa dying in the process. In the present, a Kryptonite plague has spread across the world and covering cities with Kryptonite shards. Booster Gold, Superman, Superboy, Mary Marvel, and Martian Manhunter exit the timestream and enter El Caldero where there soon become infected. Supergirl and her team continue to fight against the Krypto-Knights, even as Lena and Princess Shark become infected. Lois has been captured with Zod explaining he was responsible for the Kryptonite asteroid that Superman stopped before it hit El Caldero, creating a fake government in the process. Lois tells him she believes he wants people to worship him as he believes humanity worships Superman. As he has now regained his powers, he thinks he has won but notices that the Superboys are missing as Conner and Prime breaking into his palace and challenging him to a battle. Meanwhile, back in Smallville, Steel, Natasha, Tomorrow Man, and Lara prepare to assist in Elk Caldero, even as Steel admits to finding an anomaly in the Kryptonite isotope spreading across the Earth. To be continued in SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #16.
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BOOK OF EL #11 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski. The House of El members visit the ruins of Durla, looking for the final God-Aspect. They are met by Pyrrhos, who has come to join them and asks Osul-Ra for his forgiveness while saying that the God-Aspect is in the Phantom Zone along with someone else Pyrrhos needs to make amends with. Superman goes to Kryl-Ux’s fortress to talk with him and avoid a fight, comparing how his actions mirror those of Olgrun millions of years ago. Kryl-Ux reveals his wife and children’s names, sharing memories of them. When he can’t remember his oldest daughter’s favorite song, he attacks Superman. A Boom Tube opens and the House of El, lead by an elderly Superwoman and with the Valkyries and the reanimated corpses of the Promethean Giants, arrive and battles Kryl-Ux’s forces. Superman orders him to surrender but he claims that he has four God-Aspects and Superman has just put the final three within his reach. He kills Thularamm, absorbs the Darkstar Ring and becomes a god like Olgrun.
BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #4 by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. Barbara is still enduring prison and gets befriended by an inmate who is revealed to be former police officer Myrna Shelton, who ended up here after protecting her captain from Savage’s TUCOs. She has also managed to get her off of Sparrow’s drug cocktail. In the meantime, City Councilwoman Vanessa Woods has been locked up after unsuccessfully trying to avoid Savage’s TUCOs. That night, screams echo throughout the prison and it is presumed that Woods had died. In the end, while doing laundry in the prison’s laundry area, Barbara discovers a body buried in the piles of clothes that is revealed to be Sparrow.
BATGIRL #22 by Tate Brombal and Stephen Segovia. Bronze Tiger leads Jaya and Tanji into the basement of the warehouse where they see the corpse of Victoria Rose along with the comatose form of Cassandra, who is under the mental influence of Dr. Forget-Me-Not. Inside of Cassandra’s mind, she is forced to endure a mental maze caused by her father. Confronting Dr. Forget-Me-Not, he reveals that Cain and himself had a wager to see which project would result in the ultimate weapon and his manipulation has led her to believe she was responsible for Victoria’s death. She re-examines the evidence and realizes that Dr. Forget-Me-Not manipulated her memories but figures out that Victoria died on an assassination mission. That revelation allows her to break the mind control and wake up. Dr. Forget-Me-Not’s programming causes Tenji to attack his father, with Cassandra knocking out both Bronze Tiger and Tenji. Dr. Forget-Me-Not is apprehended and the heroes examine the corpse and deduce this I another murdered girl and that Victoria’s body was never recovered, meaning she may still be alive. In the end, a masked individual is seen speaking with Jaya.
BATMAN #12 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez. Bruce is seen having a conversation with the “ghost” of Alfred, who tells of the existence of the Society of the Midnight Key: an organization formed to trained the world’s greatest heroes. At the same time, Verity Pennyworth has arrived and Bruce has run background checks and perform a DNA swab. Verity bonds quickly with Damian. Meanwhile, a group of trained killers, including Der Giftmoder, Lord Fantome, Sr. Sueno, Vector, Spyder Black, and The Minotaur, are executing high-profile targets in innovative ways. Batman, Damian, and Verity deduce that these assassins are all here with one target in mind: Bruce Wayne. Verity creates a fake online presence to contact the killers, leading to Der Giftmoder and Lord Fantome to turn on each other. Batman interjects and gets a nasty chemical burn from Der Giftmoder’s poison. Despite that, he subdues them both. In the end, The Joker, still in an isolation tank, receives a mysterious unseen visitor.that causes him to laugh.
BATMAN AND ROBIN YEAR ONE: DYNAMIC DUOS #1 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee. A cultist named Scorpio, calling himself the Messenger of Barbatos, sacrifices someone in an alley, while believing he has summoned a “bat god”. Meanwhile, Bruce gets accosted by a gang of street urchins, allowing himself to be overwhelmed so as not to reveal his abilities. A woman, possibly Selina Kyle and an orphan named Methabel, send the children away. Bruce later decides that the children were well trained and obviously someone is using children to execute their crimes. This leads to Dick going undercover in the gang.
BATMAN: BAD SEEDS-SUNSET #1by Matt Fraction, G. Willow Wilson, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Cliff Rathburn. Vandal Savage has branded Gotham’s vigilantes as criminals and is using his paramilitary force to hunt them down. Mayor Ivey has Savage’s army at the front door of City Hall and Savage has captured Juhi, making her realize she has few choices left and orders Janet to leave Gotham and go as far away as possible. It is 6 PM in Gotham City and Poison Ivy has entered into a pact with the Parliament of Trees and the city has been quickly transformed by Prehistoric greenery. Ivy’s plants burst from below the streets and take out the power grid, including the Bat Family’s communications. Batman makes his way beneath the street and is attacked by one of the plants, only to be saved by Killer Croc, who warns him that it is and will continue to hurt the citizens in ways they cannot defend against. He explains that Savage has a poison designed to kill Ivy and that the plants will grow exponentially once sunrise comes. At the same time, Robin and Verity watch as the plants seal off Gotham’s city blocks. Harley wakes to find herself trapped by carnivorous plants. Stephanie Brown and Cassandra find themselves cut-off because of the infrastructure collapse. Gordon and Ezzy find themselves in the middle of e murder investigation as the plants isolate them from their precinct. Among the chaos, Savage orders the city borders to be shut down. To be continued in all Bat Family books through the end of October, along with BATMAN: BAD SEEDS-GOTHAM CENTRAL, BATMAN: BAD SEEDS-GOTHAM GENERAL and BATMAN: BAD SEEDS-STREETS OF GOTHAM.
BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #54 by Mark Waid and Bruno Frenda. With Bialya and Quarac ready to go to war, a ghost of a Gotham Knights player appears in the Batcave and transports Batman, Superman and many other heroes to hell, where Neron has transported them. Here in Hell, he proposes a baseball game with high stakes: win the game and stop the potential conflict; lose it and the conflict widens. The ghost is revealed to be Steet Wensler who has been relegated to be a third base umpire. The game goes back and forth and it is simply good fortune that the heroes are only one run behind, despite the cheating and dirty tricks from Neron’s team. Flash scores the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning but Neron declares that The Flash never touched third base. An appeal is made to Wensler who declares he has to do what Neron says. But Superman convinces him and he declares The Flash safe, even as it will cause him more pain in Hell. Their win keeps the expected missile strike from occurring and Neron is outwitted by Batman’s legal argument and allows the heroes to leave.
BATWOMAN #6 by Greg Rucka and Jeff Spokes. Seven or eight weeks ago, Kate was unable to save her sister after the pair fall off a high cliff. Kate went back to her father and told him Beth was dead as he bandages her wounds. Her breakdown led to her going to Greece and Petalon, but not before meeting with her psychiatrist and revealing her secret. But Beth, as Kate, did not die and eventually ended up in a nearby town with her severe head injury, where she crossed path’s with Kate’s ex-girlfriend Anna. Anna believes she is Kate and brought her to Kate’s apartment in Gotham, leading to her begin to impersonate her sister as opposed to reverting to Alice: cutting her hair short and getting a back tattoo just like Kate’s. While there, she discovers the compartment that leads to Kate’s Batwoman costume and convinces herself she is Batwoman.
CATWOMAN #90 by Torunn Gronbekk and Davide Gianfelice. Weeks ago, plans a job to rob the Hencht Bank, even while in Katarina’s employ. Now, Black Mask uses the chaos from the explosion to capture Selina and Slam. The pair wake on a cargo boat where they are forced to play a game called Spin the Kitty where one of three captured civilians or two stray cats will die is Selina talks. He then proceeds to spin the wheel leading to him trying to suffocate Slam. She eventually begs him to stop and Roman shoots a harpoon through the chest of one of the captives. He spins it again and this time a cat may pay the price. But, unbeknownst to Selina, Maggie was enroute to the boat, based on her calling Selina’s phone that Roman had answered. When Maggie arrives, Roman embraces her but she stabs him with a nerve agent and he collapses. Katarina arrives and threatens to shoot Maggie but Selina has freed herself and uses her claws to shred the woman’s face, revealing her scarred flesh beneath. The pair fall into the ocean where Katarina drowns. In the end, Holly had been rescued, Carmine offers Selina a safe house and Maggie and Selina adopt the stray cats.
CLAYFACE: CELEBRITY DIRT #2 by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Fran Galan. Basil Karlo, still trying to take his life back from the person impersonating him, infiltrates Worldwide International Studios. He has heard rumors about his imposter and how he has become toxic. When he attempts to tell his story to the media, that fails and he transforms into a production assistant to bypass security. Beneath the studio, he discovers a nightmarish pile of distorted flesh. At the same time, a new supplement begins transforming and melting citizens in Los Angeles. In the end, an oozing stranger stalks Basil’s waitress neighbor.
THE DEADMAN #3 by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. Boston and Bobby head into the underworld to investigate the Soul-Eaters called Rakshasa that have been eating souls in purgatory where they travel through the Seven Rings of Hell to meet with Lucifer Morningstar. Through a book, the reader learns about ‘The Man with no wrinkles’: a demon who maintains its youth by eating living people. Finally meeting with Lucifer, he reveals that the Rakshasa are a response to the imbalance of human souls. During the conversation, Boston realizes his mission is unending. In the end, Boston realizes that Rama Kushna has controlled him and demands a conversation with God himself.
DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #6 by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Slade is forced to watch as Adeline shoots Rose in the head so he can feel the pain she felt from the loss of Grant and when Joseph lost his voice. Grabbing a mini-gun, he attacks Adeline, firing indiscriminately. A nurse in the crowd tells him Rose is still alive. Slade shoots both Deathblow and Deadshot before engaging in a sword fight with Adeline who flees to a rooftop and begins firing at the crowd below. Deathblow takes Rose to a nearby hospital as he instructs the nurse to help the injured. Slade continues the battle with Adeline, grabbing a huge piece of steel, using it to impale it into Adeline’s left arm. In the end, Rose lies unconscious in a hospital and writes a letter to Rose, saying he needs to change and he quits as an assassin for hire.
DETECTIVE COMICS #1112 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. Having learned that the Reynoso family had been forced to be trained killers, Prion’s daughter Arabella and his mother Rita have been successfully deprogrammed. Also learned is that Arabella has the ability to kill someone with just a touch. Batman convinces Rita to be his eyes and ears and sends her to meet with her handler, telling him that Batman is dead. Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary trace the operation to the Klep Corporation. The Klep Corporation has been weaponizing assassins for decades to take out opponents, rig elections and install their own politicians. With the evidence revealed, the trio of heroes burst in and confront Klep, with Arabella controlling herself just long enough to not kill Klep with her touch. With the organization dismantled, Batman promises Rita and Arabella that they will have the resources to put their lives back together.
EMPEROR AQUAMAN #20 by Jeremy Adams and John Timms. Poseidon descends on Atlantis, declaring that Arthur is unworthy of such power and demands he give up the throne and his connection to The Blue. This leads to Poseidon attacking Aquaman. The resulting battle is so titanic it threatens to split the oceans in two., leading to Aquaman teleporting the pair to an uninhabited aliens ocean world. Using all of his power, Arthur freezes the ocean water of space and launches them at Poseidon as razor sharp shards, leading to Poseidon surrendering and deciding to remain on this world. He warns that Earth is no longer safe, even for a god; a possible reference to Darkseid’s ultimate return. In the end, the Justice League realize that Arthur has power now that rivals the strongest in the universe..
THE FLASH #36 by Ryan North and Gavin Guidry. Wally, thrilled about his new ability to save people before tragedy happens, decides to go to Metropolis to do there what he had already done in Central City and Keystone City. He encounters Jon Kent and takes him on a journey where he continues to stop tragic events before they occur. While impressed by it, Jon admits that his father needs to weigh in on it before he can give Wally the green light here. Wally then decides to go to Star City, but Green Arrow shuts him down, calling him a fascist in the process. This leads to Ollie calling an emergency session of the Justice League to discuss his concerns.
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #5 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre. The Firestorm Matrix has built a huge, crystal fortress in the center of Pittsburgh. Outside the structure, Professor Stein tells Firehawk he has built a machine that could possibly be able to extract Ronnie, but they need to get inside the structure first. Unbeknownst to them, Ronnie is trapped in his fantasy of when he was invited to join the Justice League, which is preventing him from fighting back against the Matrix’ control. Firehawk enters the Matrix but it is fighting back as she tries to get close enough to use Professor Stein’s device. Ronnie begins to fight back, reuniting with Firehawk, and that is when Stein sabotages his machine, as his plan all along was to separate Ronnie and take the Firestorm Matrix for himself.
GOTHAM ACADEMY: FIRST YEAR #6 by Brendan Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, and Marco Ferrari. On what should be a quiet September day on the campus of Gotham Academy, Olive has suddenly disappeared without a trace. In response, after meeting her new roommate and the girl who is currently in Olive’s room, Maps gathers her detective gear and tries to recruit her brother Kyle to help her search the catacombs; especially after observing Scarecrow seemingly menacing the new girl, who mumbles that Olive is at Professor MacPherson’s. Menaced by The Scarecrow, revealed to be Crane, Kyle rescues his sister. Olive, finally released from the infirmary, reunites with Maps. As Crane is detained by the police, he reveals that her mother and the other patients are being held in a secret hospital.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #19 by Morgan Hampton and Fernando Pasarin. The Manhunters, led by a sentient Aya, launches a full-scale attack on Oa. The projected version of Aya teams up with Guy, who creates a construct made from all the Emotional Entities that allows them to slice through Aya’s forces and also creates a new version of the White Lanterns, known as the Chrome Lantern Corps, led by Jessica Cruz. With John, Simon, Jo, Keli, Saint Walker and Soranik joining her, they collectively end the war. In the end, an uncorrupted Aya joins the ranks of the Green Lantern Corps and the Emotional Entities become the Alpha Guardians.
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