DC's NEW 52 Month 12, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #12: We get a partial origin story for Doctor Mist. He was doctor in Uganda when his wife was killed during the civil war He made a deal with Felix Faust to get him a way to master death and bring his wife back. Deadman finds his way back from the Deadlands and he and Zatanna head to Peru to get Mist and Faust while Constantine and Black Orchid head to Slaughter Swamp. We also discover that Constantine caused the death of Zatanna’s father some time ago. Arriving in the Swamp, the duo is under attack by Blackbriar Thorn. Mist and Faust meet with a mysterious man who discovers the books HE wants are in Nanda Parbat. Meanwhile, the mysterious man travels to the House of Secrets and meets with Doctor Occult. He recognizes ther man and allows himself to be murdered to allow the House of Secrets to be passed on. Meanwhile, Madame Xanadu talks with Timothy Hunter about why he gave up magic.

This was a strange, uneven issue this time with the bright spot being the appearance of both the House of Mystery AND the House of Secrets. Not to mention a possible future glimpse of Nanda Parbat. Could Dr, Fate be far behind?  Leave it to Jeff Lemire to keep us guessing. Next issue will be the #0 issue and will feature the true connection between Constantine and Zatanna. And then? We shall see where the second year takes us.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #12: The team, those who are able, gathers at the monument for their fallen Russian comrade to pay tribute when they are attacked by Lightweaver’s brother. He gets defeated and sent away. While it looks like the end of the team, Batman tells them they have a new HQ being built and they decided to stay together, minus Batwing and Batman. Booster Gold and Guy Gardner as co-leaders? This should be interesting.

And thus we say goodbye to MY FAVORITE Justice league team. While they have one more appearance in the forthcoming J.L.I. ANNUAL #1, this puts an end to a fun title with a diverse cast. Dan Jurgens, Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan: thank you for making comics fun again!

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL #1: Booster Gold tells the team that the “real” Justice League is going to the Hall of Justice to meet them. What actually happens is he introduces two new members: The Olympian and Blue Beetle. Guy Gardner’s fed up with it all and quits the team. O.M.A.C. gets taken over by Brother Eye and proceeds to trash the League, starting with August General in Iron and the The Olympian, in that order. Beetle gets sent “home” in some kind of Boom Tube transport. That leaves Godiva and Booster, who confesses that none of the Justice League is coming; none of them even returned his phone calls. Booster battles O.M.A.C. one on one and initiates a Skeets Protocol download which separates O.M.A.C. and Kevin. That is when time gets frozen and the future Booster Gold arrives to tell himself that the burgeoning relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman must be stopped. Then both Booster’s pop out of existence. The epilogue has Batman speaking with his creation, Brother Eye. Brother Eye says his programmer is coming and he will destroy Batman and thr Justice League. The tag line says “continued in Justice League in 2013."

This is the final nail in the JLI coffin and the fact the Booster has been eradicated from the Time Stream certainly is a plot point for further consideration. Geoff Johns and Dan Didio do an okay job and throw in a couple of plot threads for future measure. We get a Rip Hunter mention, references to the Global Guardians and Brother Eye refers to Batman as “creator”-all nice kudos to Pre NEW 52 continuity. Jason Fabok handles the art duties and, while he is no Aaron Lopresti, he does a good job on it. Fabok’s next assignment is as the regular penciler on DETECTIVE COMICS, so having him work with Batman at the tale’s conclusion gives us a nice sneak peak. Either way, I bit farewell to this title and look forward to these characters making their way into other DC titles.

NATIONAL COMICS: LOOKER #1: In the old DCU, the character of Looker was Emily "Lia" Briggs and made her debut in Batman & the Outsiders #25. During a mission in Markovia, she became a vampire. After the Outsider book ended, she bounced around the DCU serving in a number of capacities including talk show host. In this universe, Emily Briggs is a vampire but the rest of her tale is far different.

Before being turned into a vampire, Emily Briggs was a supermodel. But being a vampire means no swimsuit photo shoots and that pretty much ends her career, which she blames publicly on Lupus. Thus she begins a modeling agency. At a showcase of Rhodes Royce's designs, her personal assistant Roma tells her two of her models are missing, Esther and Siren. Roma discovers some drug residue and Emily tastes it to find it is cocaine mixed with blood. Memories of many murdered women assault her and she collapses. When she wakes two days later, she is informed that Siren was murdered and mutilated. We get the back-story regarding how she hired Roma and Charles: her two assistants. Emily visits a blind sculptor friend and feels grief that she can’t be with him except as a model. After doing some detective work, she ends up with an rich eccentric art collector named Simon Glass. It turns out he is an incubus who kills supermodels and actresses on an annual basis. The two of them battle and Emily rips out his heart out with her bare hand. Dying, he tells her he knows who turned her. Following his death, Emily save Esther. The issue ends with Emily getting the key to Paul’s apartment for her to attend a one-man art show.

This is such an unusual take on a previously bland character. Ian Edginton does an admirable job with the story, making all the pieces fit, including her history in a single story. Mike S. Miller provides the art and, as always with Miller, it’s sparkles. The front cover is by Guillem Marsh and it is truly a killer!  I would like to see a second take on this character. I don’t know if I could handle a full series, perhaps a mini-series. But I think it would be interesting to work her into the world of either Justice League Dark or Andrew Bennett. As you know, supernatural characters are hot!

NIGHTWING #12:  Dick has a bit of a verbal altercation with Detective Nie regarding Paragon when he realizes this meeting is a set-up. Paragon appears, and causes a cave-in which separates Nightwing from the police. Nie fights his way out of the cave-in and heads off to make an arrest. We learn that Paragon was in a car that Nightwing rescued back in issue #2. But, by saving the Strayhorns who were driving that car, the pair changed their objectives and had their tattoos removed. Paragon murdered them and tried to pin it on Nightwing  to make it a battle cry. Nightwing takes Paragon out and Nie cuts him some slack and lets Dick get away. After the battle, Dick tells Lucius Fox he wants to invest his entire trust fund into the Amusement Mile project. He finds out that Sonia Branch lied to him and was against them being partners. Uncomfortably, they are now partners and she kisses him on the cheek. Meanwhile, Penguin discovers that Lady Shiva is on her way to Gotham to kill off all of organized crime.

And so ends the first year of NIGHTWING. Kyle Higgins thankfully finishes this storyline. This title hasn’t had the pop it should have since the COURT OF THE OWLS  ended. The fact that Paragon’s methods for murdering the Strayhorns go all the way back to issue #2 is cool, but I didn’t care about this character from the start. The only thing is managed to do was introduce Nie as a major character in the title and ultimately give him a chance to re3deem himself by the end. I will see where issue #13 and bey9nd goes before I fully commit to another year of this book.

PHANTOM LADY AND DOLL MAN #1:  Many years ago, reporter Harry Knight and his wife were executed by a crimelord named Robert bender while their daughter Jennifer watched. That daughter went on to become the crimefighter known as the Phantom Lady. Six months ago, we see Jennifer trying to get info on earlier and Jennifer works as a gossip hack while trying to take down Bender's sons, Eli and Cyrus. She wants to prove that Cyrus murdered his own father so she sleeps with him and hopes to dig up some dirt that way. Jennifer is also sleeping with a scientist Dane Maxwell who is working on shrink technology. She asks him to hack Cyrus’ cell phone and what he does is mail it BACK to the mob guy. This ends up badly as Cyrus and his goons show up, shoot Jennifer in the leg and unknowingly cause Dane to get shrunk and become Doll Man.

Oh man: is this book a bummer! Let’s start off with the fact that we have a heroine and role model who trades sex for possible information and trades sex for scientific help. Oh, did I bother to mention that she allows one of her girlfriends to get beat up just to maintain her undercover ruse. Yeah, she’s a piece of work. Shame on both Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, responsible for JONAH HEX, who are usually so much better at their craft than this. Okay, we can all figure that she will smarten up by the end of the mini-series and become more of a role model. But this tramp is not going to be on my reading list past this issue. The best part of the book for me was the Amanda Conner cover.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #12: When last we saw Roy, he was held captive by The Blight. He still is, and continues his tale to them. Starfire has mixed feelings about whether she should rescue her sister or not. Depalo warns her not to get involved with a earthling. Jason admits to Isabel that this is his first outer space date, but she continues to crush on him anyway. Roy convinces the crew to reroute energy from the ship's propulsion unit to life support functions. A Blight transport beam drops the bad guys onto the ship and Roy jumps in front of a beam designed for Starfire. THAT’S how he ended up a prisoner. It turns out that Kommand'r isn’t really a prisoner, Roy grabs her and brings her back to HMSS Starfire. The sisters kiss and make up as they prepare to return to their home planet to battle the blight. Meanwhile, the Blight commander tortures a human colonel and his wife. Before dying, he utters the words "The Thirteen". Rumor has it ‘The Thirteen’ would result in the end of the omniverse. 

“The Thirteen” refers to the Thirteen Scions of Salvation which has been appearing as plot points in many DC books in recent months, specifically in SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1. What is it? How does it relate to Helspont, the Daemonites and many of DC’s “alien” superheroes including Martian Manhunter, Starfire, and Hawkman (all of whom have encounters with Helspont’s minions regarding The Thirteen Scions of Salvation. Other than that bit three pages before the end of the story, it was just an okay issue. Scott Lobdell and Timothy Green II tell a decent story that continues to turn this non-team team into Speedy, Red Hood and his girlfriend in space with the hot Tamaran chick. Oh yeah: no points in stealing the font from KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC for cover lettering!

RED LANTERN #12:  It’s the battle we’ve been waiting for: Abysmus battles Atrocitus. It’s a battle for affection as Abysmus wants to know that his “father” actually loved him when he was created. Atrocitus ends up pulling a “blood seed” from within his son and then feeds him to the Red Lantern cat!  Star Sapphire tries to convince Bleez to leave the Lanterns and join the Star Sapphires but that doesn’t happen. When it’s all over, Atrocitus attempts to restart the power battery and give new life to the Red Lanterns. But bubbling beneath the surface are the original denizens of the planet who will obviously take center stage in a future issue.

Okay, now that we have finished with the whole daddy/son story, can we get back to making this a kick-ass book once again? Peter Milligan’s writing improves and he is getting the feel of these characters. Miguel Sepulveda’s art is still the highlight of this title. Issue #0 promises the origin of Atrocitus. Let’s see how that plays out.

RESURRECTION MAN #12: Mitch ends up in a continuing series of Virtual Reality scenarios where he continues to die so Hooker can investigate his powers. Seeing him being treated like a lab rat, Darryl decides to become a hero and breaks Kim out of her prison to go rescue Mitch. Although he apparently cannot die, Mitch finds a way to kill Hooker. And just when it looks like everything ends find and dandy, Darryl gets his head blown off by a big robot thing that apparently is piloted by…Mitchell Shelley. Now THAT is what I call a cliffhanger!

And thus ends the run of one of my favorite DC titles…for the second time in my comic reading career. You cannot imagine how much I will miss this book. Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Javier Pina bring this series to short but intriguing conclusion which will be ultimately wrapped up in next month’s RESURRECTION MAN #0.

STORMWATCH #12:  We start with busts of Queen Nefertiti appearing all over the world. While the team is trying to gather them up, Martian Manhunter begins mind-wiping members of the team, making them forget that he was part of the team. He gets everyone and goes after The Engineer. In the process, The Shadow Cabinet bring him to The Island of Avalon. He tells them he needs to leave Stormwatch. The Cabinet allows his request as long as he gives them something in the future. The Engineer confesses that she knew what he was up to and was helping him mind-wipe the team. She allows him to mind-wipe her too. And, in case you forgot, Harry Tanner reveals the busts were a distraction and he is using what is left of The Fox as a dimensional transporter. he plans on posing as the fourth Shadow Lord.

Yeah, I’m feeling the waning hours for this title with me. Now it is much closer to being THE AUTHORITY, since Martian Manhunter, a former Justice League member (it went badly) leaves the team. Either make Harry Tanner the big bad guy or don’t. Popping him in for a couple of pages each issue doesn’t work. Where are the characters I know and love. Midnighter and Apollo are a couple. Oh…thery’re not. Jenny is a kid who has threatened to take o ut Midnighter several issues back. Yeah, that storyline was dropped.

Everything I loved about this book in the first few issues has gone away. And after issue #0, that would include me too. And Will Conrad as the artist? Nothing against him…BUT IT’S ANOTHER FILL IN ART JOB! Maybe a monthly schedule for all these titles is too much for these guys. How about 52 BI-MONTHLY titles and maybe we can all be happy.

SUICIDE SQUAD #12: While the team is trying to get free from their captors, Basilisk soldiers show up to rescue them. And they’re being led by Captain Boomerang who has joined the Basilisk fighters and now calls Regulus his leader. Well, not really as we all know Boomerang is only in it for himself. He double crosses Basilisk and leads an attack on Regulus. But then the traitor is revealed (drum roll please). It’s Black Spider. And now the game changes as he sends someone to kill Amanda Waller’s grandmother.

As I expected last month, this was another boring issue. First off, we have a cover that has nothing to do with the story. Amanda Waller meets the traitor…not this issue she doesn’t. Adam Glass has dragged the whole traitor story on too long and I somehow don’t even know if this represents the end of it. Fernando Dagnino is back doing art and it looks great again. But the story is so convoluted that I just can’t go there. This has always been THE NEW 52 book I couldn’t wait to read. Not so much after these last two issues.

SUPERBOY #12:  Superboy continues living the fast life thanks to the money he stole. He ends up partying with the wrong crowd, one of whom is celebrity hottie Dallas Sorrentino. Midway through it all, she gets kidnapped by Kiva The Mistress of the Lost Domain. So it’s up to Superboy, in civilian wear, to come to her rescue. Unfortunately, Kiva reaches into his brain and warps the perception around him. Eventually he decides the only way to fight her is to surrender his mind and something there scares her so bad she collapses. What is behind Dallas and what lurks in Superboy’s soul?

Not a good issue of this series which has been one of my favorite NEW 52 titles since it’s’ inception. Tom DeFalco is now on his own, no longer working off of Scott Lobdell’s plots. And it shows. DeFalco is a legend in the business but he doesn’t seem to have any idea where to go with this character. And that is very disappointing as I expected his work to be as cool as Lobdell’s was. Add in another DC TITLE with a fill-in artist in the form of Robson Rocha and I find myself at the crossroads on yet ANOTHER DC title. What started out so great has now just turned into a pile of bad clichés.

SUPERMAN #12: Lucy Lane shows up at Clark Kent’s apartment, pretty pissed that he has broken yet another date, this time to go bungee jumping. Superman is too busy trying to deal with the E.T. that the Russians have under lock and key. All the creature wants to do is create a gateway to go home. The Russians plan to do what they always plan to do: cover it up. This time, they plan on dropping a nuke on the plant. Superman gets free and gets away from the blast area. Unfortunately lets the Russians know that the facilities the Russians used to capture the creature got destroyed too. Returning home, he and Lucy go bungee jumping off the Bogdanove bridge. 

Okay, we get the inside joke and Jon Bogdanove was a longtime contributor to the Superman titles. The rest of the book? Well, Dan Jurgens still writes like it’s the 1980’s and that’s okay if you like a nostalgic feel to your superheroes. Jesus Merino’s art? It is what it is, angular faces and all. I look forward to see what the Scott Lobdell era has in store for us. 

SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1: We begin with the tale of Daemonite prince Artus being cast out of his people because he was responsible for the genetic decline of their species.  In present day, Clark Kent grumbles about having the sloppy Jimmy Olsen live with him and share the rent. He also whines about how the Daily Planet is no longer a real newspaper since being taken over by Galaxy Communications. And he misses Lois Lane. From here, it’s a battle with Helspont, who trashes the Man of Steel pretty impressively. Superman awakes on Grifter’s ship and must help him, along with Deathblow, defeat Biomass. This puts our hero back on Helspont's ship where he taunts Superman about how his people are killing Daemonite agents all over Earth. As expected, Helspont reveals he was once Artus and he discovered that Earth was the best location for the genetic salvation of the Daemonites. In fact, the metagenes they need are in humans and by having Superman protect them, he is ensuring that the Daemonites will succeed. Before disappearing, Helspont makes mention of Jor-El, leaving Superman more confused than ever.  Meanwhile Martian Manhunter, Starfire and Hawkman all encounter Daemonite emissaries seeking to recruit them to their cause: The Thirteen Scions of Salvation.

The Scott Lobdell era on SUPERMAN begins here. And it’s a pretty bumpy ride. The plot from Lobdell is complicated and convoluted and he lets Fabian Nicieza handle the script which is filled with some neat clichés. Pascal Alixe and Tom Raney handle the art and, to be honest, I would have been thrilled if it was just Raney, as I am a huge fan of his art. What this issue does is set the plot for the next year and beyond as the Daemonites become the signature alien villain in the NEW 52 Universe.

SWAMP THING #12: It’s Part 2 of the ROTWORLD PROLOGUE. Animal Man and Swamp Thing are heading into the Rot down a large bone ladder. Above it all, Buddy’s family and Abby do their best to take down the Rot creatures that are attacking them. Abby is forced to shut down the portal and that is going to strand Animal Man and Swamp Thing with Anton Arcane. Abby knows where the heart of the Rot is and she intends to go there. Arcane informs our heroes that time is handled differently down below and they’ve been in the Rot for year. With that, they find themselves home and the world has indeed been overtaken by The Rot.

Scott Snyder, now getting an assist from Jeff Lemire, need to pick up the pace on this story. We KNOW The Rot is coming and the whole world is going to be afflicted with it. But this is just taking so long to tell this tale. The Prologue should have been a one-off special and issue #12 of ANIMAL MAN and SWAMP THING should have been the actual START of this epic. Marco Rudy handles the art  for what looks to be an extended run this issue.

TEEN TITANS #12: Wonder Girl is still stuck inside the Silent Armor. Superboy and Red Robin find a way to crack the armor and get Cassie free. Right after that, they get hit with paralyzing gas dropped by a guy named Diesel. He used to be Cassie’s boyfriend and he’s a bit upset over being dumped. He takes the power of the armor from her and claims to now be able to assume his role as the “harbinger of the end of days”. He escapes and Cassie now wants it back. She believes that the fate of the world means she needs to control the armor. In the back-up (yes, we get a back-up), Kid Flash and his new friend Teryx continue the tale started in DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #12. Steg and Dac go on with their plan to free all their lizard brothers and sisters. 

Scott Lobdell comes back with one of his better issues of the last few months. Make Wonder Girl a major player in the mythos…I’m good with that! Brett Booth continues his great looking art! With issue #13 we are promised the origin of the Silent Armor. Do you think it has anything to do with the Silent Knight?

WONDER WOMAN #12: Hera decides that she is going to trade the throne of Mount Olympus to Apollo for the lives of Zola and her child. Wonder Woman and Hermes arrive to do battle with Apollo and Artemis. Zola’s water breaks and Hera confesses that she has no plans on keeping her deal with Apollo. She knows that Zeus will return soon and just take it back. And she tosses Zola into the abyss. Wonder Woman manages to rescue her with Hermes aid. Apollo takes the throne and then begins changing Olympus in his image. Among those changes, he exiles Hera. Wonder Woman sends Zola and Hermes back to Earth so she can deliver her child. She tells Apollo that if Zola’s child is truly the child of the prophecy, she will kill the child herself. Returning to Earth, Hermes delivers Zola’s baby, Hera cries over being exiled and has become mortal. Hermes, the god of thieves, steals the baby who he delivers to Demeter. And, as a fitting finale, we see a wounded man breaks through the ice he was buried under. He puts on his helmet, and enters the Boom Tube. Orion has arrived.

So Orion has arrived. Can Highfather, leader of the New Gods, be far behind? Brian Azzarello spends a year turning this title upside down and ends that first year with a reintroduction like this. Orion becomes the SECOND Fourth World character to debut in the NEW 52 Universe. This a mind-blowing ending to this first story arc and the usual great art from Cliff Chiang. This continues to be my favorite title of all the NEW 52 books.

WORLDS’ FINEST #4: Power Girl and Huntress continue to battle Hakkou the nuclear Man. We learn 45 months ago, the pair were in Rome with Kara breaking into technological research facilities trying to find a way home. She wanted money to build her own research facility in Micronesia. They beat up a bunch of Roman thugs and Helena sees a magazine showing a crossbow and she decides she misses being a superhero. Back in the present, the pair continues to battle with the Nuclear Man. Kara, despite the protests of the Japanese sailors, drags out the nuclear warhead from a US cruiser and she throws it into Hakkou's mouth. The explosion seems blow him up. But the American navy tries to arrest Huntress and she is saved by Power Girl. Flying off, they argue about whom gets top billing in this pair.

Yeah…I really am this close to being done with the title. George Perez, Scott Koblish and Kevin Maguire do a phenomenal job on the art. But Paul Levitz story is leaving me cold. As I mentioned previously, the back story is the best part of the book. Give me issue #0 and I will probably take a gander at issue #5 to see where the story goes. If it drags, it is gone off my list.

DC's NEW 52: Month #12, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #12: Superman struggles with dreams of what were and would could be while Lois is critically injured and dying. Susie tries to save her aunt and battles with Adam, who we learn is the Blake Farm Ghost. In reality, he is a strange visitor from another planet who is trying to save the Earth by destroying it. During the battle, Johnny Clark is vaporized. After being defeated, his spaceship takes him home and Superman must learn to be a doctor to save Lois’ life, which he does. Batman presents Superman with a flash drive that shows “Clark” that he is worth being around for. And Clark’s landlady, is really from somewhere unknown to us (possibly the 5^th Dimension) and her name is N4XLYGSPTLNZ. And who is lurking in Susie’s room?

I have not been one of Grant Morrison’s greatest fans on this run and now that he has confirmed that he will be leaving after issue #16, it seems like he has lost steam in his writing. And how will he wrap up his storylines in four issues? So we have resurrected Captain Comet in the form of the Blake Farm Ghost and he’s an alien who is going to save Earth by destroying it. Then we get rid of Johnny Clark, which was a dumb name, almost as quickly as he is introduced. And this time around, it takes Rags Morales, Cafu and Brad Walker to handle the art chores. What did I like? I liked the landlady saying how much she was upset about her “dear sweet Mxyzptlk” being hurt. Yeah…he’s in the NEW 52. 

ALL STAR WESTERN #12: Arkham and Hex are still being tortured by the Religion of Crime’s Steam Powered Death Machine. Hex tells the followers of Cain that he has convinced Alan Wayne to do whatever it takes to do away with the Religion of Crime. It’s up to Tallulah Black, who has already escaped, to free the pair. Lorna Kyle and Stephan Kaoss, the Lords of Thieves and Terror respectively, begin searching the house along with some police officers. But Tallulah is like a woman possessed, beheading Kaoss and taking out everyone but Kyle, who battles back. But Black ends up blinding Kyle by putting out her eyes with her thumbs and killing her, just as Wayne arrives. Arkham can no longer stand the pain and lashes out verbally at his captors. They decide to do away with the [air just as Tallulah arrives, shooting off the fingers of the torturer. In short order, the three surviving followers are arresting and hang for their crimes. Hex decides to leave town while Arkham is going to have a hospital built, funded by Wayne. That’s when Reginald Forsythe arrives asking for Arkham and Hexs to go to work for a Scottish doctor named Jekyll. In the back-up, Doctor Thirteen solves the mystery of the highwayman. The Doctor and Detective Foster track down Professor Jonathan Rood. During a struggle, Foster gets killed as does Rood’s wheelchair ridden wife. At the gallows, Rood puts a curse on Thirteen and all of his offspring until the end of time. 

What we have here is a neat little ending to this storyline by the always dependable team of Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Moritat. It’s violent and sexy at the same time and will we see Arkham, Black and Hex getting involved with Dr. Jekyll? Very cool! The back-up was short and sweet and just manages to serve as an introduction to a future appearance by Terry Thirteen.

ANIMAL MAN #12:  The Prologue to ROTWORLD begins here. The Baker family is in Louisiana and Cliff is very ill. So Ellen’s mom stays behind to care for Cliff, who up and disappears on her saying that “Rotworld is coming”. Meanwhile Buddy and the rest of the family go in search of Swamp Thing. Once they all hook up, Maxine has a vision of what the end of the world will be like. Buddy and Swamp Thing dive into the swamp to face The Rot. And that means that The Rot is coming out to battle Abby and the Bakers. Let the war begin.
So here we have the beginning of the sixteen part story that runs through multiple issues of ANIMAL MAN, SWAMP THING and even FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder continue to make this book totally creepy. Suffice it to say, with the exception of THE WALKING DEAD and one or two Avatar titles, it is probably the goriest book on the market. Buy it! 

AQUAMAN#12:  Mera, while searching through Dr. Shin’s stuff, answers a phone call from The Operative asking her to meet with The Others. Meanwhile, at the tomb of the Dead King, Manta orders his soldiers to kill Shin, but Aquaman interrupts. Manta and Aquaman battle, with Manta making use of the Dead King’s scepter and pinning Aquaman down. But The Others arrive to land against, against Aquaman’s wishes. Ya'Wara attacks Shin, but Vostok stops her. Manta attempts a sneak attack on Aquaman but Vostok takes the hit for him and dies, even as manta and his gang escapes. Aquaman swears vengeance on Manta. 

Under Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis creative template, the once lowly King of the Seas has risen to heights that harkens back to…well, almost never! There have been classic stories in his past but nothing with as much intrigue or action as this. Black Manta has always been THE Aquaman villain of record. After all, he was responsible for the death of his son in the old DCU. But Johns take this time around far surpasses where he has been before. And just what is the whole story of The Others? We are twelve issues into this series and still fishing for answers…pun intended!

BATGIRL #12: Batgirl and Detective McKenna discuss McKenna’s connection to Knightfall when Batwoman bursts in, leading to the obligatory fight. It seems DEO has intel on McKenna and McKenna insists she’s innocent. But she does get a call from Knightfall, ordering Batgirl to show up alone or else she will kill Ricky. Batgirl goes to the meet, is told Ricky has been killed and a battle ensues. Actually, Ricky is still alive and locked up with another prisoner. The next thing you know, Batgirl gets a knife in the ribs from Knightfall. Oh…did I regret to mention that Batgirl’s brother is in working with Knightfall. Yeah: we need another psycho on the loose.

This story is getting boring. Let’s finish it, have an epic confrontation between brother and sister and move on. That is all. Just not feeling this story any longer.

BATMAN #12: This issue is all about Harper Row and her brother. He constantly finds himself getting beat up by homophobic punks and she is constantly siding with him. He gets the homosexual version of the N word shaven into his head and she follows suit. Harper Row is an electronics expert who becomes obsessed with Batman and ends up helping him, whether he wants the help or not. You may not know it, but you have already met Harper Row. She is the girl who used jumper cables to bring Batman back to life in BATMAN #7.

Scott Snyder, James Tynian IV, Becky Cloonan and Andy Clarke give an origin story to someone who obviously, for better or worse, will become a part of the batman pantheon. With Oracle gone in this Universe, its obvious Batman could use someone with the electronics skill to assist him. Meet the new Oracle. That’s only a guess, but I think she fits the bill.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #12: Batman and Robin battle Terminus in the streets of Gotham. As you may recall, he is terminal and wants to take out the Dynamic Duo before he dies. So batman dons a metal suit to battle Terminus in his metal suit. Finally defeated, with the help of the rest of the “former sidekicks” Bat Family, Terminus launches a missile bearing a weapons grade toxin on it. Batman overrides it and the warhead splashes down as Terminus goes to his grave without succeeding. And the War of the Once and Current Robins comes to an end.
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason continue to surprise and excite. And major points to Gleason who has illustrated 11 out of 12 issues. Find another DC book with that track record, since most of them seem to have a lot of fill-in work. I do really love this book! 

BATMAN INCORPORATED #3: Leviathan has infiltrated Gotham with their people  At a bar called Three Eyed Jack's, a former Grimm Brother member meets with "Matches" Malone, who wants to meet with Leviathan. Malone lends some help to singer Lumina Lux, who is being harassed by some thugs. He hits on her and then Batman threatens to hit him. As we know, Malone is really Batman which means Batman is Nightwing. Back to the Batcave, Damian is still  upset he had to fake his own death. Alfred confirms that Bat-Cow had a hormone which would have fed a mind-control drug to customers who ate it’s beef. And it’s all based on Professor Pyg’s work. Later that night, “Matches” has a meeting with Goatboy. He then gets a call from Lux, who is at the Grimm Brothers’ wake. He crashes the wake and is apprehe3nded by Goatboy, who is being inducted into the League of Assassins. Malone will be his second sacrifice, as the former Grimm member from the beginning. His first  is to choose three people to be killed by Leviathan as "goats", on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fry was the first. Matches Malone will be the second, as the former Grimm member from the beginning was the first. That is when the newest hero arrives. Damian is now the Dark Squire known as Redbird.

This book is so much fun. Once comic fans figure how this will fit into NEW 52 continuity it will be that much better. I love Grant Morrison’s quirky writing. The whole Bat-Cow bit is just great and, as is known with Morrison, his dialogue it so perfect! And I have been a huge fan of Chris Burnham’s art for some time. This may be his finest work to date.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #12:  It’s the final battle (maybe) between Scarecrow and Batman, filled with flashbacks of both hero and villain. It seems that Bruce’s will power is stronger than Fear Gas.

To fully tell a plot in this issue would be fruitless. It truly is a series of pieces showing the intersecting lives of Jonathan Crane and Bruce Wayne. And it is a beautiful, simple story by Gregg Hurwitz and David Finch. This may actually be the best single issue of the series so far.

BATWOMAN #12: With Maro in another dimension, Batwoman teams up with Kyle Abbott (now HERE’S A CHARACTER most folks forgot about!) to find her and her associates. They are currently on the trail of Bloody Mary and we get her back story. She got married at 13 and, because of her husband’s indiscretions, she began slaying other women.  She was lynched and now is an Urban Legend. But she is real, appearing out of a mirror. Batwoman defeats her and we discover that Medusa is the Queen of Monsters and cannot be defeated by a mere mortal. That would mean a certain Amazon, who has already been looking for Medusa. That leads to a bit of a fight between Maggie  Sawyer and Kate as she suffers from Superman Syndrome by always disappearing and not having any answers.  So Maggie throws her out until she can give her the answer. Meanwhile, Bette is living with Jake and her Aunt Cathy. And she wants Jake to fully train her as he trained Kate. 

The good news about this issue is that J.H. Williams III is BACK as the artist. So, couple that with a great script by Williams and W. Haden Blackman and we have a truly amazing issue. But now we learn that Medusa is really MEDUSA? Okay, so now our heroine crosses into the world of Gods and Goddesses. AWESOME!

BIRDS OF PREY #12: Well, the shot last issue was a dart that injects the head of the company with the same toxin that’s in the rest of the Birds. Canary feels totally betrayed as Ivy’s actions are one step above murder. They steal a jet from the company and head to destroy an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. But many employees are trapped inside and Ivy forces Starling to overload the drill, causing it to explode. Canary uses her cry to open a wall and rescue the workers. Back at Ivy’s base, Katana buries her sword into Ivy, dooming the team and the human race. As I like to say: this can’t be good!

Once again, we have another artist on this title in the form of Cliff Richards whose work is much better than his predecessor last issue. Duane Swierczynski continues to turn this team in all sorts of directions and you know it won’t be long before this team splinters in various directions. Maybe we will even get the story regarding Black Canary’s late husband. My only complaint is this eco-terrorism story is getting long and needs to wrap soon.

CATWOMAN #12: Last issue, we saw a group of street kids, prostitutes and Detective Alvarez get kidnapped by the mysterious Dollhouse. Catwoman has Spark replace the Bat-Signal with a Cat-Signal. We find out that Dollhouse is Matilda Mathis, daughter of the legendary Dollmaker. Catwoman and Dollhouse get into a tussle but it takes Batman to truly save the day. Dollhouse and Catwoman get away in all of this, but Batman manages to rescue Alvarez and the kids. Later Spark responds to a message from Catwoman but finds himself on the wrong end of Gwen Altamont’s gun. She has discovered that Spark is tied to corrupt policemen. As he begs for his life, Gwen shoots him through the head. Then she calls Penguin and thanks him for the tip-off. He reminds her that that tip-off comes at a price.

Thus ends the first year in the life of Gotham’s greatest criminal vigilante. It has been an roller coaster ride with some really great issues and some no so great work. This run by Judd Winick has been a fun one and I am curious to see where Ann Nocenti will take the book when she steps in starting with issue #0. The good news is that Adriana Melo has done a good job of aping Guillen Marsh’ style and she apparently is staying on for the near future. My only fear is that I was not a fan at all of Nocenti’s GREEN ARROW, so I hope I don’t have the same vibe with her turn.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #12: Three transformed lizard kids, who stowed away when the Teen Titans left Mystery island, end up in New York Dac (a Pterodactyl girl), Steg (a Stegosaurus boy who Dac loves) and Teryx(a hooded lizard who loves Dac) tangle with Kid Flash. It seems that Steg wants to use mutagenic mists and turn the human race into 'dinosoids'. When it all comes to an ending, Steg and Dac team up and

flee to cause further havoc  down the road. Meanwhile, Teryx hopes to be allies with Kid Flash someday. I smell a new Teen Titan coming!

Except for the fact that Fabian Nicieza writes some great dialogue, I have nothing positive to say about this issue. The story was long and boring and angst filled, Jorge Jimenez’ art left me yawning and I really hated spending three bucks on this. Oh…here’s another spoiler for you. If you want to finish the story, you need to read TEEN TITANS #12, as the epilogue to this little romp is a back-up tale there.

DEATHSTROKE #12:  Deathstroke and the Omegas battle Lobo. Deathstroke eventually blows Lobo up with his own spacecraft. Meanwhile, Zealot discovers that Primus is responsible for releasing Lobo so he could take them to the place where he kept their Omega’s parents. Yeah…he’s in a world of it. As an epilogue of sorts: The Last Czarnian really isn’t. And Deathstroke and Zealot swap spit!

I figure I’ll read issue #0 to see how badly Rob can screw up Deathstroke’s origin story and then I’m out of here. Liefeld has left the three titles he was working and engaged in a huge Twitter rampage. He apparently wanted to be in it for the long haul, reintroducing Wildstorm characters and exploring Nth Metal. Well Rob, if you do decide to make nice and come back: explore it without me.

DEMON KNIGHTS #12: The team explores the mysterious tower and discovers that the round table has been desecrated. Among those slain is one of the Ladies of the Lake. Morgaine LeFay finds a way to knock them all out, bind them to a pentagram and prepare to transfer her ancient soul into (not so) Merlin’s dead body. Etrigan finds a way to get free by constantly changing form. Just as she is about to enter Merlin,  Xanadu interrupts and it looks like she is going to meet her doom when Arthur steps in front and now is possessed by Morgaine LeFay. He sacrifices himself for the good of all. The tower collapses and the team try to return to Avalon but LeFay has hidden the access point. So Etrigan loses it and attacks them all. 


I am losing patience with this series as now we have defeated Morgaine LeFay and we have an insane Etrigan. Oh yeah: Arthur dies and names The Shining Knight the Once and Future Knight of Camelot. Paul Cornell is writing a great deal into the characters but the plot is making me sleepy. But I do love the art of Diogenes Neves. Next month is the #0 issue, where we learn how Etrigan and Jason Blood became one.

DETECTIVE COMICS #12: Batman goes to the Batcave to try to neutralize the radioactive stuff he got covered in at the end of last issue. He discovers that fire causes the thing consume the flames and destroy itself. Back at Dunhill Laboratories, Mister Toxic appears and orders Professor Manhart to help put him in a particle collider. Marder has gone insane and has been using the particle accelerator to clone himself. He and Toxic enter the collider together just as Batman crashes through the roof, warning him to stop. The creeping thing that attack Batman now absorbs Toxic and Marder. Batman throws in a grenade which neutralizes the organism.  Batman remarks that he hopes not to regret having saved the man's life. In the back-up story, Bullock plays a trick on a rookie cop guarding the Joker’s face. Outside, the Joker decides he’s ready to put on a happy face.

Well, I can say that I’m glad to see the lead story end as I found it boring and thought Mister Toxic was a pretty cool looking but lame character. And the back-up story? All it proves is that Bullock is good at pulling a prank and The Joker is coming back. All in all, this was a waste of four bucks.

DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #1: It looks like Roman Sionis, otherwise known as Black Mask, escaped Arkham Asylum during the Court of the Owls incident and Jeremiah Arkham never knew it. The False Face Society, disbanded when Sionis entered Arkahm, is actually up and running and The Dark Knight is trying to defeat them and tie them to Sionis. The False Face Society is the subject of mind control, which certainly points at Black Mask. It becomes an all out battle for supremacy between Black Mask and Jervis Tetch: The Mad Hatter. The villains get defeated because the actual Black Mask that Sionis wears gets cracked and bathes everyone in a white light. The mask ends up in police custody and Batman has no memory of what has happened since he was exposed to the light. 

Tony S. Daniel and a host of artists including Romano Molenaar, Sandu Florea and Pere Perez handle this issue which raises more questions than it answers. It was nice to see Black Mask back and with The Mad Hatter, Tweedledee and Tweedledum popping in, it felt like a comfy old Batman comic. It just took WAY TOO LONG to get to a conclusion. This could have become a two issue arc in DETECTIVE COMICS as opposed to an Annual story. I always thought of Annuals as a once a year special. This wasn’t that special.

DIAL H #4: X. N. has managed to bring an Abyss to our planet and that is a very bad thing.  X. N. is recognized by our hero as Doctor Waldo and she has Squid kill Nelson. She and Squid kidnap Manteau, torturing her to learn more about Manteau’s H Dial. . Squid hasn’t killed Nelson and our hero tries to get his dial to work but it is totally broken. So he breaks into Manteau’s home (actually, he finds the spare key) to try to find a way to fix it. What he finds is Squid, who has had a hole blown through him by an angry X. N. Squid, asking for help, now becomes part of a team with Nelson. They rescue Manteau, who is an old woman without her mask. they come face to face with X. N. who has used the dial, become a hero(of sorts) and is working with the Abyss.

This is still one of the strangest books in the NEW 52 Universe. China Mieville  and Mateus Santolouco blows the doors off each issue and the book reeks of strange. Brian Bolland’s covers are rocking too, And then you throw in the heroes that come from the dial. This is a great, silly and strange book. Buy it!

EARTH 2 #4: We flash back five years ago to an incident in new Guinea where members of the World Army find a naked man who was in the center of a nuclear blast. This is Al Platt, now a Captain in the World Army, who is preparing to join in the battle in Washington, D.C. where Grundy is trashing the place. Hawkgirl and The Flash leave Poland, where the rot has taken control and head to Washington to engage the self proclaimed “Grey Man”. He desperately needs to battle “The Green Knight” and so gets his wish in the form of Green Lantern. And then The Atom arrives, squashing Grundy and capturing Hawkgirl. It’s apparent they have a previous relationship and he is taking her into custody, per order of the World Army Council.

What is going on here? Grundy is connected somehow to The Rot (the same rot as is now affecting OUR Earth?) and is obviously not the Grundy we all know and love. The Flash and Hawkgirl are trying their best to fight the good fight but Al Pratt comes along to break up the party and take her into custody, where it seems she may have been before. So is The Atom a good hero or a bad hero? Once again, James Robinson and Nicola Scott show their love for the characters while still managing to update their legend. This is great stuff!

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #12: Frankenstein decides to free all the inhabitants of Leviathan and, in the process, confronts Agent Mycroft who has been living in Untropolis. Mycroft can see into the future and sees that Nina dies. He slays Mycroft and fights his way out. In the end, he discovers that Khalis has saved Nina and she no longer needs her helmet. And he is creating an army from the residents of Untropolis and they are to fight the batlle against Victor Frankenstein and The Rot.

Harvey nominated Matt Kindt continues his run with Alberto Ponticelli and it continues to get confusing. Now we have Victor Frankenstein resurrected and leading The Rot. So the book crosses over into ANIMAL MAN and SWAMP THING and adds famously to what has the potential to be a legendary tale.

GREEN LANTERN #12:  Sinestro and Hal find themselves trapped at William Hand’s bizarre dinner party with his dead family and realize the dead are coming and there is only one way to stop them: two different color rings. So Sinestro creates a Yellow Power battery and destroys it, which wipes out the undead. Meanwhile, the Guardians continue their plan to discredit and destroy the Green Lantern Corps. And if all that wasn’t enough, the Book of the Black lanterns has rewritten itself and says that Hal Jordan will be the greatest Black lantern.

Geoff Johns turns the plot up a big notch as it looks like Sinestro has the potential to be the one true Green Lantern and Hal…Black Lantern? Not like he was a bad guy when he was Parallax. Unfortunately we get a fill in art job from Renato Guedes. It’s a good looking job…he’s not Doug Mahnke, but there are worse artists on the market.

GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1: Hal Jordan and Sinestro get buried alive by Black Hand but manage to dig their way out and battle back. Meanwhile, the Guardians end up in the Chamber of Shadows, slay many of the residents there and release The First Lantern from his prison. Then they team-up with Black Hand to kill Hal and Sinestro and the birth of the Third Army begins. In the back-up, we get more information on the birth of the Third Army.

This is the beginning of the big story running throughout all of the Lantern themed books for the next four months. Who will be the new Green Lantern of Earth? Will the Guardians’ plot succeed in bringing an end to the Green Lantern Corps?  Geoff Johns tells the tale, Ethan Van Sciver illustrates it and a;ll of comicdom wonders how this will all play out. Certainly, this becomes a key book in the Green Lantern history.

I, VAMPIRE #12: Stormwatch arrives as Andrew Bennett, Mary, Tig, and John battle the zombified Van Helsings. Unfortunately the vampires who kill the zombies become zombie vampires who want to kill vampires. Apollo decides it is best for Stormwatch to just kill everyone. After trying to kill Andrew and realizing the “Lost Boys” rules don’t apply, Apollo joins forces with Bennett. Tig gets bitten by a zombie vampire and gets turned. Jack Hawksmoor reminds Bennett that he is the Demon's Lock and he can suck up all the dark magic in the area. Doing so, he returns all to their human selves, including Mary. Tig awakes cured and goes to help Bennett, who bites her and tunrs her into the firtst of his new vampire army.

And thus ends the first year and first major story arc of this masterful series. Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino continue to craft a mostly min-numbing series which truly takes the vampire legend and turns it into a whole new direction. If you had told me a year ago I would still be reading this title a year later and I would have told you that you would have been crazy. I seriously expected this to be another vampire rehash and be done with it. Of course, I also thought I would be still reading BLACKHAWK: a title that crashed and burned as part of this first series of cuts.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #12: The League struggles with the false images Graves has created, all but Hal who fights through it. Steve Trevor, who we all thought was dead, shows up and shoot Graves, which frees the others. They defeat Graves and discover that the disease that affects Graves and killed his family had to do with ashes from Darkseid's Omega beams. Collectively they debate if they are to blame or are actually helping the world. They have a huge discussion on whether or not they're at fault for it and if they're doing enough to protect people. Among the discussion, Green Lantern decides to leave the group, allowing them to make him the scapegoat. Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman end up kissing. In Belle Reeve, Amanda Waller shows up with a typewriter and has Graves write his next book. Then we get teasers for the upcoming year. Cheetah.  Aquaman and Atlantis invading. Superman battling Shazam (or is it Captain Marvel?). Cyborg telling Batman that a new member is a traitor (is it Captain Marvel?). Pandora gives her box to a mystery figure. Superman wailing on Batman. And finally, the team splits and forms…THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA.

Yes…there is a new Justice League title coming by Geoff Johns and David Finch and it appears to feature a very diverse cast: Vibe, Catwoman, Steve Trevor, Martian Manhunter, Stargirl, Katana, Hawkman, Green Arrow, and the new Green Lantern (see the GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #1 for info regarding that). But enough about that: this issue is all about THE KISS. Is this the start of something big? It has been said that Clark and Lois don’t hook up in this universe. If that’s so, is this the moment that an Olympian and a Kryptonian start a relationship? Can this lead to a New God?  And does Booster Gold disappear from the timeline if their relationship continues? See the next 12 months for those answers.

X-TREME X-MEN #1 reviewed

The current incarnation of the X-TREME X-MEN title takes its cue from four issues of THE ASTONISHING X-MEN, issues 44-47, written by Greg Pak. For those people who never read them, here is a quick synopsis.
 
Cyclops uses a Ghost Box to travel to a parallel timeline where the X-men fought a war against Magneto to free the human race. Charles Xavier, now known as Savior, creates a device to save their planet by using mutant power, mostly from other universes. Cyclops. finds himself imprisoned in the device along with alternate versions of Wolverine (General James Howlett), Emmeline Frost, Kitty Pryde (Shadow), and Kurt Waggoner. They manage to escape and, because of Cyclops' refusal to sacrifice himself to save this universe, the device is destroyed. It now becomes the work of these four heroes from various realities to fix this world before it is ripped apart.
 
This new series directly leads out of that storyline. It begins with Kurt Waggoner imploring with a host of Xavier heads linked together to transport all of this soon to be destroyed Earth to an uninhabited alternate earth. On our Earth, we get to see Alison Blaire in her role as Dazzler. She ends up being called to Utopia where Cyclops needs her help in powering up a Ghost Box. Unfortunately, this Ghost Box sucks the recently relocated X-Treme X-Men into our world, along with some tentacled creature that is the Xavier of that world. The creature drags Dazzler into that world, where Howlett defeats the creature. And it’s not long before the floating headed Xavier of this world sends this new team, featuring Dazzler, on a new mission where it seems they will find a team made up of another universe’s Sabretooth, Namor, Storm, Angel and Thor.
 
I have to admit I bought the book out of curiosity and will end up leaving it on the shelves out of boredom and confusion. I like Greg Pak’s work, specifically his work on HULK and the various spin-off titles (WORLD WAR HULK, SKAAR, etc). But this title is confusing and disjointed. If you have NO IDEA who these characters are and just jumped in out of interest, you will be sadly disappointed. Not to mention we get Dazzler, one of my old guilty pleasure characters, and she is thrown into the title because she can be. She is a cast-off character who Pak has dug out of the Marvel pantheon of mutants. If you are going to do that, use her to her fullest capacity or kill her off. Oh wait: this isn’t SUICIDE SQUAD.
 
On the artistic side, instead of Mike McKone, who illustrated the ASTONISHING X-MEN, we get Stephen Segovia who is doing his best to try to finally take on his own style as opposed to trying to draw like so many other Marvel artists. He doesn’t always succeed, but after this horrible story, his art is actually welcome relief.
 
I will be avoiding this title. Even as along-time comic reader who knew the back-story, I was confused and truly bored. My three bucks will go elsewhere, thank you very much!

Vertigo's FAIREST reviewed

In 2002, Bill Willingham, whose work I first became attracted to in the mid `1980’s when he was working on JUSTICE MACHINE, THE ELEMENTALS and IRONWOOD,  began writing FABLES for DC’s Vertigo line of comics. The series deals with various fairy tale characters who have been forced out of their home and now live in a section of New York City known as Fabletown. The series has remained popular for the past 10 years and now has resulted in a spin-off series, written by Willingham and beautifully illustrated by Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning. The series is called FAIREST.

We begin by meeting Ali Baba, the Prince of Thieves, and a bottle imp named Jonah Panghammer. They end up in a goblin camp, where Ali Baba tries to wake not one, but two captive women with a kiss. He also battles with a certain Captain Oakheart, who we learn is made of wood. Victorious, at least one of the women, the raven haired Briar Rose, wake up as do the goblins. A wall of ice appears as the other woman, the Snow Queen, was also wakened by true love’s kiss. She threatens to fins them after she deals with the goblins and instructs the trio to run for their lives and they hide in a cave.

The Snow Queen's giants approach and Ali lets the entrance to get closed off by snow. Ali and Briar Rose snuggle for warmth, although he thinks otherwise. Once they get out of the cave, they realize ice giants surround them and capture them. This gives Jonah Panghammer a chance to explain Briar Rose’ history. Back in the day, the kingdom of Seppantyre celebrated the birth of the king and queen's new baby daughter. Hadeon the Destroyer was not invited and had Borian, a man she cursed to be used one thousand times, take her to the castle to place a curse on the child who we know is Briar Rose. Fairy godmothers bless the child with beauty, the wit of angels, grace, wealth and the singing voice of a nightingale. Hadeon curses the child before as final blessing can be bestowed and it is revealed that she will lose all her gifts when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and dies.

At this point, the trio is at the mercy of the Snow Queen  who invites them to stay for dinner. They do and enjoy themselves until they discover they are eating Goblin, which causes Briar Rose and Ali to throw up their meal. Jonah reveals his motives to the Snow Queen-that he serves who owns the bottle but really wants her to own the bottle so he can serve her. Jonah discovers Ali attempting to escape from the Snow Queen's ice palace and doing so without the bottle. Jonah claims he is now free to serve the Snow Queen. Ali sees the betrayal but Jonah convinces him otherwise. Jonah also begins telling tales to the Snow Queen. He relates the story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, which only bores the Snow Queen. Jonah tells the last part of Briar Rose’ tale.
 
Leysa the Defender modified Hadeon’s curse so that the death curse would be could be spread out among the kingdom. This way everyone would fall asleep, not die and Briar Rose would then only be woken by a true love’s kiss. And of course Briar Rose did prick her finger and the kingdom fell asleep. We discover that Prince Charming eventually rescued her but every time Briar Rose pricked her finger, everyone would again fall asleep until true love's kiss woke her. 
 
We also  discover that the Snow Queen was never truly evil. She had been under the influence of a loyalty potion given to her by Geppetto. But Snow Queen slept during Briar Rose’ last turn and because of that, the potion wore off  now she is her own woman and not under anyone’s control. Then Hadeon appears and destroys the ice castle.
 
Days go by and Briar Rose pulls Ali Baba from the ruins. It appears that is a duel occurring between the Snow Queen and Hadeon. Jonah has also been cursed to burn from the soul outwards. But he has no soul, so he just burns.The Snow Queen and Hadeon battle and while the Queen tries to kill Hadeon, it appears she has moved her vital organs. But the Snow Queen calls upon the fairy godmothers to defeat Hadeon. But she brings up The Judgment at Morencaire which says the fairies cannot perform acts of aggression unless they are directly attacked.
 
Briar Rose shows up and starts beating on Hadeon, knocking her out. The fairies marvel how Ali woke someone who wasn’t his true love as we all realize that trhe Snow Queen IS his true love. The fairies suggest Haedon’s vehicle curse be turned against her and she becomes Briar Rose's vehicle. Briar Rose and Jonah ride off together but not before the Snow Queen gives Jonah his bottle and essentially his freedom. Jonah finds his true love in a burger joint while Briar Rose rides off looking for her version of true love.
 
And Ali Baba and the Snow Queen? Well, poor Ali makes a comment about multiple partners and the Snow Queen punishes him with years of being frozen to the ceiling of her castle.

Thus ends the first story arc of this fun and clever title. There are so many great, light-hearted moments here and some of the coolest lines in comics. My personal favorite involved Jonah’s DVD collection which features all eight seasons of INAPPROPRIATELY TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, the complete SEVEN MILLION DOLLAR GOAT and the first six seasons of FIREFLY because “the seventh season with the new skipper” sucked (true fans all know FIREFLY only lasted one season!). Willingham’s writing, as always, is spot on and the of Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning is simply breathtaking. Andrew Dalhouse provides the colors and they are both loud and muted at the same time. This is truly one of the best looking comics on the market today. And with Adam Hughes doing your covers, including the beautiful wraparound that graced issue #1, it just jumps off the racks.

I cannot wait to see where the next series of issues takes us and with what characters. I hope to be in with this for the long haul and hope you find it as fun a ride as I do. The trade paperback for the first seven issues(this review includes the first six issues) is out in November.

DC's NEW 52 MONTH #11, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #11: Felix Faust and his demons battle Steve Trevor who luckily has some help when Justice League Dark shows up. A decision is made that the only way to defeat faust is to let John Constantine get to the Books of Magic. But Trevor tells Dr. Mist and Black Orchid not to let him out of their sight. Constantine gets the Books and the upper hand. But there is a traitor in their midst in the form of Dr. Mist. Elsewhere, Madame Xanadu seeks for the last person to handle the Books of Magic: Timothy Hunter.

Another killer issue from Jeff Lemire and Mikel Janin. While we’re all watching out to see what kind of sneaky move that John Constantine is going to do, Dr. Mist sneaks in the back door and proves to be the bad guy within the team. By biggest complaint isn’t with the book but with the fact the we now have two DC titles with traitors on the teams. What next? Superman a bad guy too!

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #11: The team has been captured by Breakdown and his gang of super baddies and they are being publically harangued. But leave it to Guy Gardner to anger O.M.A.C. enough to get Kevin’s persona t go away and the real beast to emerge(can you say HULK?). The team breaks loose and defeats the villains, destroying Breakdown and killing Lightweaver in the process. But Lightweaver’s brother promises revenge and gains his brother’s powers. All this and Booster and Godiva share a tender victory kiss.

This title is in the home stretch as it ends with issue #12 and it feels like it. This entire storyline has been good up until now. We get the big battle scene, O.M.A.C. doing his best Bruce banner imitation and a guy swearing revenge. here’ the revenge: your book has been cancelled! That’s a shame because I have said that this book by Dan Jurgens, Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan was my favorite Justice League title.

NATIONAL COMICS #1: ETERNITY: Christopher Freeman dreams of his father’s death and he finds himself in a world of the dead.  When he awakes he goes to his job at the coroner's office, where he sees this girl he has the hots for. He works on Darby Quinn: a murdered owner of an antique store. Christopher goes to the land of the dead and brings Quinn back for 24 hours. We learn that Quinn, a nasty, bigoted old man, tried to rape this girl from a band and, in self defense, she shot him. He sends the old man back to his dead space, saves the girl and solves the crime. Before it’s all done, we meet, for the third time, Mr. Keeper, who leaves us with more mysteries than answers. The next day at work, after a night WITHOUT his recurring dream, he goes to the table and realizes his next body to work on is that of the girl he had the hots for.

This is a strange new anthology title and this introduces a new version of Kid Eternity to thwe New DC Universe. Jeff Lemire, seemingly the king of supernatural DC books writes a killer, weird and confusing script while Cully Hamner provides the art. I guess, based on audience reaction, this book may or may not end up with a series. I hope so, provided we can get quality stories and NO FILL-IN ARTISTS!!!

NIGHTWING #11: Paragon tells the Republic of Tomorrow that Nightwing has to die to save Gotham. Nightwing battles back but has to save some civilians in danger, thus allowing Paragon and The Republic to escape. Nightwing has a confrontation with Detective Nie, who we all know hates Nightwing and has no problem with framing someone to get his way. Paragon and The Republic get into a heated discussion about putting civilians in harms way, so Paragon kills them. Sonia Zucco informs Dick that the bankers shot down hisloan application even thought she voted for it. And we find out that Nie hates Nightwing because he blames him for the death of a cop from issue #1, who was Nie’s lover. Later that night, Nie is visited by Paragon who says: “Do I have a case for you."

Okay, so we don’t know anything more about Paragon except he/she has no problem taking out his/her own followers. We still don’t get the agenda. Oh, but we do get Nie’s motives. And is it just me, or is the NEW 52 populated with a LOT of homosexual characters? No complaints from me. I understand DC is embracing their “audience” but populating it with characters just because they are waving the diversity flag is annoying. How about writing a great character and they HAPPEN to be gay instead of shoving it at us? Let’s look at comics’ history: Obsidian, Extrano, Midnighter, Northstar, Karma, Renee Montoya, The Pied Piper, Jennifer Kale, Rictor, Shatterstar. Heck: Marvel even eventually made The Rawhide Kid gay(although that was just embarrassing). But these were characters we accepted because they were good characters and not just because some writer was using their orientation as a plot device.

THE RAVAGERS #3: Brother Blood makes his NEW 52 debut in this issue. He goes after our heroes and tries to turn two of them to his way of thinking. meanwhile, Beast Boy and Terra have their own issues with hunters and Blood’s followers. And is the Red he keeps referring to the same Red that is running wild in ANIMAL MAN?

Okay…this is the LAST review you will see of this book from me. I’m done! Ian Churchill can’t even give us three full issues as he is assisted by Jon Sibal, Tom Raney and Norm Rapmund. Howard Mackie’s script falls flat and I find all these characters totally uninteresting. This is a poor attempt at a GEN 13 title. I won’t even give them the courtesy of finishing this storyline.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #11: Between last issue’s ending and now, Roy has been captured by the blight. We flashback as to how this happened. Starfire and her crew defeated the Blight fleet but sustained severe damage to her ship. Kori then proceeds to tell the tale of how she became a slave. Her older sister, Komand’r traded her for peace. During captivity, she met Orn, Depalo and Ktten, who make up her crew. She returned to Tamaran as a hero, but left with the Starfire(the ship, that is). The Blight are rather upset here because they have to listen to a flashback of a flashback while torturing Roy harper. But things get worse: Komand’r is working with the Blight.

Scott Lobdell writes another fun issue here, especially the flashback within a flashback and the entire bit with Jason wayward date. And, as always, the art on the book is great. Boy: is this book gonna look a whole lot different when Kenneth Rocafort leaves to go work on SUPERMAN.

RED LANTERN #11:  Guy Gardner leads a crew to Ysmault and discovers that it’s pretty much trashed. On Zamaron, Star Sapphire and Bleez battle each other and there may be a change of colors from Red to Purple. Rankorr needs to find his way out of deep space to rescue his other Red Lanterns but runs into the bodies of those Abysmus has killed. Atrocitus engages in a blood prophecy to help him find Abysmus, which he does. Can the “son” actually kill “the father”?

This title continues to disappoint me. Peter Milligan’s writing is getting more cohesive and I like what he is doing with Bleez. But Atrocitus is becoming Captain Ahab and Rankorr is boring. Can someone bring him back to life…please? Miguel Sepulveda’s art is the highlight of this title. At this rate, I may take the book off my list after the current storyline ends unless it picks up soon.

RESURRECTION MAN #11:  Mitch and Kim end up in the Soder factor in Viceroy, South Carolina as they search for the captured Darryl Roth. What they find is The Lab where Mitch was created and that Darryl is still a villain after all. Turns out it was a set up so that Hooker and the Body Doubles could take out Mitch, which they do. Can this be the end for Resurrection Man? No, but the next issue is!

Well, if you have read my work at all since the beginning of the NEW 52, you know how much I love this book. And you can also imagine how much I will miss this book. The team of Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Jesus Saiz and Javier Pina are responsible for one of the most entertaining and unusual books on the market and, once again, the book goes down because of less than stellar sales. While it’s late to jump on the book now, you can pick up the first volume of the trade paperback when it’s available in August.

STORMWATCH #11: We start the book 30,000 years ago with some sort of a Neanderthal super team. And somehow, while keeping their bloodline pure for all these years, they have also become known as The Hidden People. Three Neanderthals become Bloodline, Flame, and Soul designed to keep the line pure.  But now it’s 2012 and Stormwatch is battling the Neaderthal trio who are trying to use the Devolver. They get what they came for and leave. The Engineer digs through some records and learns of a previous team killed in a single day. And the Devolver lets loose, but The Engineer ends ingesting it and has to vomit it up later on,(but after Martian Manhunter’s joke, I’d vomit too). Mean, off in Antarctica, Harry Tanner has convinced The Projectionist to love him even while he tortures The Fox.

Oh please help this title! Peter Milligan is writing this book like it’s THE AUTHORITY and even though I loved that title, THIS AIN’T THE AUTHORITY. There is just too much back story being thrown about here for me to care. I like the concept that Stormwatch  has been around for most of history. But now we throw in their ancient enemies, The Hidden People. Nope…not buying it. Eduardo Pansica and Ignacio Calero provide the artwork, all though only Calero gets credit on the cover. And then to have to deal with The Engineer vomiting the Delvolver and a lame joke. Sigh…this book may be off my list soon. Maybe it IS time for what used to be the Wildstorm Universe to away for good.

SUICIDE SQUAD #11: The team is off on a new mission when a Basilisk supporter sets off her implant and blows up the plane they are all on. So those who survive end up on an island that it a Mayan paradise. They all end up in a big argument about who t6he traitor in the group is before they all end up taking unexpected naps. When they awake, they discover they are going to be sacrificed by the Mayans.

I found this to be one the lamest issue of this series so far. Adam Glass writes a nice story and Carlos Rodriguez turns in an okay art job (I am SO SICK of fill-in issues all across the NEW 52) but this issue is full of fluff. We get Waller giving El Diablo the third degree at the beginning because he didn’t find the cyanide tooth in Seattle (go back and do your research…I’ll wait) and then it becomes a long trip in the Mayan city. Please get this train back on track next month. This is one of the coolest NEW 52 books and everyone loves Harley. But this issue, and I’m sure the follow-up next month, was just a bore.

SUPERBOY #11: Bunker is visiting Superboy in his lavish apartment, which is furnished with money he stole(no one told him breaking into a bank and stealing money is illegal). Then it’s off to a tattoo parlor where Superboy gets the S symbol inked on his arm. They end their day battling an alien named Detritus.

Now, clever readers of this blog might be lost as the LAST issue ended with our hero on an upside island with a trap door. Well, that story is concluded in TEEN TITANS #10. So what we get here is a neat little buddy issue with the clone and his Teen Titan buddy. Nere we have another wonderful issue by Tom DeFalco from a plot by Scott Lobdell. DeFalco has spent a whole lot of years writing awesome teen dialogue and his work is almost as cool as Lobdell’s. And that’s a good thing as he will be fully taking over the title in September. I so love his characterizations! R. B. Silva handles the art chores this issue and that’s great to see again. This is still one of my favorite titles in the NEW 52 line.

SUPERMAN #11: Clark gets suckered into a double date with Lois, her boyfriend, and her sister Lucy.  Morgan Edge shows up and before too much verbal sparring can occur, they all receive word of a problem in Russia, and leaving poor Lucy stuck with the check. In Russia, Superman investigates the deaths that occurred when the scientists opened the cylinder Superman saved for them a few issues back. He also discovers a town not far away that also has had everyone killed. When the bad guy shows up, it speaks an alien language and looks like it escaped from PREDATOR. And it manages to totally whip Superman and destroy his suit.

I’m getting tired of stories that don’t pay off and misleading covers! First off, Dan Jurgens writes another story that starts in one place, flashes back a few hours, and then back to the present again. STOP IT!!! Did EVERYONE at DC just discover the flashback with NEW 52? It is really NOT a new device. It has been around for a couple of years. Secondly, we get the big cover story build-up  stating THE SECRET OF THE SUIT REVEALED. Yeah…that’s a half dozen panels showing how Kryptonian biotech forms the suit onto him when he goes off into battle. Wow! Sounds like Iron Man to me! Stop stealing ideas and be original.

SWAMP THING #11: Abigail battles Anton Arcane and the Un-Men wile Alec meets with the new version of the Parliament of Trees. Swamp Thing battles Arcane and his minions and, defeated, he eventually heads into a portal that leads to The Rot. Abby sees the future after The Rot takes control and that is when Animal Man, his wife, daughter and his kitty familiar arrive and tells them that Animal man and Swamp Thing must enter The Rot together! Welcome to the epicenter of the Crossover!

Scott Snyder delivers the payoff after 11 issues! Finally, with both books running alongside each other, we get the beginning of the true crossover. And, if that weren’t enough, we get Anton Arcane and his Un-Men going crazy, Abby showing why she is still one of the best and most unsung heroines out there and a newly formed Parliament . Marco Rudy handles the art this issue as we, once again, get a DC book with a fill-in artist. Other than that, another rocking issue!

TEEN TITANS #11:  Wonder Girl fights some invading creature, flips out, attacks her teammates and begs for help as she transforms. In the back-up story, three exiles from Mystery island raise havoc and lead into a story taking place in the next DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS.

What a waste of an issue! This story jumps around, goes nowhere and left me totally ripped off. We get a psychotic Wonder Girl in some bizarre Amazonian armored suit, attacking anything that moves and then relenting. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, we get a crappy back-up story feature characters I don’t want to care about. But the explanation is that they hitched a ride back on Danny the Street as he brought the Titans home. The highlight of the entire issue? Brett Booth’s art which always manages to amaze me! Keep up the good work, Brett. The rest of you: get back to doing what you do best-writing quality! And again I ask: where is Skitter?

WONDER WOMAN #11: Strife visits her mom; Demeter and Artemis have a conference. And Hermes, Lennox and Diana take Zola to a doctor. While they are there, they are visited by Artemis and Apollo and a battle begins. When it is over, Lennox is falling apart (literally) while Artemis and Apollo have taken Zola to Hera in exchange for Apollo getting Zeus’ throne. Not if Wonder Woman and Lennox have anything to say about it.

Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang continue to take the classic legend and turn it so far on it’s ear that it is almost unrecognizable. If this book doesn’t win MULTIPLE AWARDS I would be very much amazed. It is written in Azzarello’s amazing style, features Chaing’s quirky but technically perfect art and is just a ball to read. I LOVE THIS TITLE!!!

WORLD’S FINEST #3: The battle with Hakkou rages on and this time it’s Power Girl to the rescue. He retreats but not before he mentions that he knows they came from a distant place to get here. We get a flashback that takes us just under four years ago and see that Helena has been doing research on this universe’ counterparts. Karen tries to understand our computer programming and stumbles upon an article called “If you can’t build it, buy it”. Immediately, she decides to buy a genius (that explains part of how she landed Mr. Terrific). Two years later and she finally is getting that date with Michael Holt. When we flash forward again, the duo is fighting the bad guy again and this time, after destroying a good chunk of Tokyo, he gets tossed into Tokyo Bay. Now what?

The excitement factor for this book is beginning to wane for me. The modern day story should have taken one issue, not three and counting. And it’s not that good a story with a lame villain who seems like the Japanese version of Chemo. Give me Chemo! As I have found with the first three issues, the back story is the best part of the book. I’m running out of patience and enthusiasm. It’s going to take a home run in the next few issues by Levitz, Perez and Maguire to save this one for me.