DC UNIVERSE Month 102, Part 2

HARLEY QUINN #64 by Elliott Kalan and Carlos Olivares. Batquinn is being hunted by the Harley Quinn Revenge Squad and is forced to fight Amenity, Forehand/Backhand, Colonel Blimp, Penny Plunderer, SUPR, and Super-Hunter. She is also looking for Mrs. Grimaldi, who she believes has been kidnapped. Forehand/Backhand take her to meet the “big boss” and there they find Mrs. Grimaldi. But she is not the boss; that would be Harleen who says she had to turn bad to save Harley from herself.

JSA #21 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui. Metron takes Doctor Fate, Stargirl, Kid Eternity and Jakeem to the Dawn of All Things, where they see Lucifer Morningstar attempt to have a rebellion against God. Lucifer became the Prince of Hell while Aztar was a demon lord. When Aztar went back to Heaven, God made him The Spectre: the dealer of Divine Wrath. Over the centuries, The Spectre acted with vengeance and eventually ended up with Jim Corrigan to be Aztar’s chosen host. Recently, Darkseid tried to be combined with The Spectre but Corrigan and The Spectre refused, but The Spectre was ripped from Corrigan’s body, allowing it to try and find a new host.. Meanwhile, Jade unites with her father to try and dispel The Spectre from Obsidian’s form, with Jade begging to take The Spectre into herself to save her father.Alan begs his daughter to allow him to become The Spectre, but the spirit departs and makes its’ new home in Yolanda Montez. Metron sends the Society members away to find Corrigan, sending them to Gotham in the 1940’s.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #21 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. The Brainiac Queen has escaped into the Internet and the League is trying to find her. The Queen is looking for Waller but they have no idea where she is after Dreamer had released her from imprisonment. When Red Tornado admits that he knows Waller’s location and knows the Queen will come after him, which she does by infecting the League’s mainframe. As Red Tornado resists, Atom shrinks her and traps her inside a Faraday cage. Tornado reveals he does not know Waller’s location and simply used that as bait for the Queen. Meanwhile, on the planet Dronnda, Terrific’s team is defending itself against the reptilian population and they discover the alien captain and crew were escaping from Despero. Hawkgirl believes they have a numbers advantage but the rest of the team is suddenly vaporized by a blast from Despero’s third eye. Back on the Watchtower, Batman confronts Lex about his actions and the two share a vision about a man, covered in a muck from a swamp, walking through the streets of Gotham: a man who will eventually be revealed as Prometheus. Continued in JUSTICE LEAGUE: KNIGHT VISION SPECIAL #1.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: KNIGHT VISION SPECIAL #1 by Mark Waid, Joshua Williamson, and Miguel Mendonca. Batman and Lex Luthor team up in Slaughter Swamp fighting a group of gunrunners when a displaced crooked house appears; the home of Prometheus. They encounter more gunrunners who have been horribly corrupted by the alien tech in Prometheus’s home. Lex wants to kill them and Batman explains they need to be dispatched but not killed. The pair drop through a trap door and find themselves encountering multiple implanted visions until Batman takes out the projector, where they find more alien tech. Prometheus battles them, with his natural abilities merging with those of the Justice League. To adapt, Batman and Lex change their tactics long enough to remove his helmet, revealing he too has been corrupted by alien tech. The duo race out, carrying the gunrunners, before the house folds up and disappears. In the end, Lex recognizes the tech as coming from Apokolips.

LOBO #5 by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. Mr. Kzzt has put out a bounty on Lobo. Lobo gets a visit from someone named Lip Bomb and it looks as though they will have some intimate time together when she turns out to be an assassin, leading to Lobo being shot at until he can take her out. Then The Johnnies arrive and they are also poised to kill Lobo and, despite being shot up by them, he defeats them. Next up is Murder Mouth and Fisty Claws, who he viciously defeats before paying Kzzt a visit. Kzzt offers him a lot of money to take out the dental vendor who has raised their prices. Who is the dental vendor? The Tooth Fairy, of course!

NEW TITANS #37 by Tate Brombal and Marcus To. Neibros has a baby given to him as tribute and calls upon the citizens of Happy Harbor to face off against the Titans. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Tara are facing off against Draggo, with Cyborg using his powers to force the creature to flee. Nightwing is able to grab Draggo as it heads towards Neibros and the Titans. Eva manages to snatch the baby from Neibros allowing the Titans to detain him until Red Devil can send him back to the Sixth Circle of Hell. In the aftermath, Titans Tower has been smashed and Tara uses her power to rebuild it. In the end, Virgil Hawkin’s long suffering girlfriend breaks up with him, just as Jon Kent arrives, offering him a spot in the Titans.

NIGHTWING #140 by Dan Watters and Denis Cowan. Nightwing is making his way through the seedy underworld, looking for Cannibal Colm. He eventually tracks him down and is told that Colm used to drive for Roland Desmond until he got killed and now drives for the Mayor. Colm reveals a meeting between the Mayor and Charles Halstead, who revealed he was once the Psycho Pirate: a role now attributed to Roger Hayden. The men designed the super highway to purposely make life worse for everyone who lives in Bludhaven. Colm executed Halstead. Nightwing tells him to come with him and testify but the police burst in and kill Colm. They attempt to execute Nightwing but fail.

POISON IVY #46 by G. Willow Wilson and Leandro Fernandez. Juhi and Janet are walking down the street, discusses Ivy’s current state of mind, when they spy the police beating up a boy for loitering. Janet declares her anger to them and one of them strikes her. When they discover Janet works for Ivy’s administration, the police leave and leave the boy, who it is revealed was the person who shot the assassination video, with Juhi and Janet. Hearing a noise that turns out to be a cast, Juhi summons her Familiar. Catwoman arrives and berates both women, saying they work in Ivy’s office and should keep her on a leash. The boy heads back home and soon the women cross paths with Great White Shark, who says that the women are going to mess up his “gig”, causing Janet to kick him in the groin and they run, Later, Juhi says she was responsible for the Shakespeare quotes appearing on the walls. As she starts to explain, a building explodes from a gas leak, leaving Janet more determined than ever to get Harley involved.

SUPERGIRL #15 by Sophie Campbell. Supergirl and Lesla battle The Black Flame. Connor arrives and lends a hand as does Thundergirl who turns her allegiance away from The Black Flame. The Black Flame gets powered up by direct sunlight; unaware that her exposure, thanks to her yellow ring, is overloading her cells, weakening her but raining her to the point of near death. Supergirl takes the ring away and Zora is brought back to Kandor proper, where Surpergirl insists that Zora and the Council should stand trial. Lesla stands up to her father, saying Zora does not belong in the Phantom Zone and how they should all work together to rebuild Kandor. Kara gives Lesla the yellow ring, saying that Kandor needs someone to light the way as Luminary. Back home in the Fortress, Kara decides to put together her Super Force: Lena, Luna, Nightflame, Princess Shark, Thundergirl, and herself.

SUPERMAN #40 by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora. A resurrected Manchester Black works to torture Prime mentally but Prime manages to take their fight into Asteroid Comics. As the latest issue of SUPERMAN falls off the shelf, Prime and Black emerge. Black wants to steal Prime’s knowledge of the world and Prime opens his mind to him, overloading Black’s mind and putting him into a catatonic state where he is then sent to the Phantom Zone. Mister Terrific is concerned that Prime relinquished the secrets. At Asteroid Comics, Prime apologizes for his lies while his boss promises to protect his secret. He apologizes to Rebecca and promises to stay in touch with her. Supergirl arrives, requesting him for a special mission. Later, he finds himself in a brawl with Connor.

SUPERMAN ANNUAL: YEAR ONE THOUSAND #1 by Joshua Williamson and Eddy Barrows. After winning the King Omega Tournament, Superman has repaired the reality damage but senses trouble and enters the Timestream, eventually landing on Hourman’s Timeship. Hourman tells Superman that the distant figure in the midst of the Timestorm, revealed to be the Infinite Man, is causing the chaos and feeding on it. Superman uses the Alpha Energy to undo the damage in time and he gets pulled through multiple possible futures eventually ending up in the 31^st Century ruins of Metropolis. Noticing a small settlement of houses, he sees Saturn Girl carrying two small children, who explains that she does not want to fight and things have changed. Lightning Lad comes out of the house and explains they have been forced to hide from their enemies and their former master and have been forced to hide for years. Cosmic Boy arrives and shows him the monument to the dead Legionnaires. Superman tells them that, to fix the timestream, he needs to send them back to their original universe. Infinite Man arrives and he is here because this is the last version of the Legion that he can kill while also saying he is becoming the new Time Trapper. Superman blasts him and restores all versions of the Legion along with their timelines, but losing his cosmic power in the process. Powerless and floating in the Timestream, he is being pulled towards the End of Time until he is pulled to safety by his younger self as seen in ACTION COMICS #1100.

SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #15 by Dan Slott and Lucas Meyer. Ultraboy continues his attack on Tomorrow Man and Steel while the mutated Kryptonite crystals continue growing and it looks like it might consume Smallville. Because of exposure to the Kryptonite, Lana has mutated and now has the power to absorb Kryptonite radiation. At the Kent farm, Lois wakes Krypto and powers up the Supermobile, with the two of them protecting the people of Smallville while the Kents sound an alarm to have their neighbors head to their storm cellars. Batman and Robin arrive, with Robin equipped with Blue Kryptonite weapons. He then attacks Ultraboy, revealing he is from Universe-3 and is Ultraman’s son. Batman starts spreading a chemical that will turn Green Kryptonite into Blue, negating its effects. Tomorrow man convinces Ultraboy to save the people of Smallville, resulting in Ultraboy gathering up all the Kryptonite crystals and throwing them into space. As Tomorrow Man unmasks, although both Batman and Lois knew who he was, Txyz arrives, giving Jon a choice: save himself in the past or let Ultraboy stay here. He decides to save Ultraboy. Txyz opens a portal and Superwoman arrives, forcibly dragging Ultraboy away with her back to Universe-3. In the end, Batman agrees to help John Henry find a cure for Lana’s condition while Robin plans to investigate if those Kryptonite samples had been weaponized.

WONDER WOMAN #35 by Stephanie Williams and Clayton Henry. Twenty years from now, Wonder Woman has committed suicide and now the Fates have provided a boat for them to traverse the River Acheron. Along the way, Steve tells the story of how he and Diana met. A long time ago, Diana would spend her free time to stare into the Magic Sphere and see what the outside world looked like. Hippolyta tells her that she is wasting her time and tells of her time with the Justice Society but, because of their apprehension and suspicion, she left man’s world to head back to Themyscira. When Steve’s plane crashed on the shores, the Amazons tend to his wounds and, once he gained Hippolyta’s trust, she decided it was time to send their greatest champion to the outside world to protect Themyscira. Despite forbidding Diana to compete in the tournament, Diana donned a mask and entered the tournament. Steve ends the story there, frustrating Lizzie.

ZATANNA #4 by Jamal Campbell. Zatanna has been dispatched to Zehuti’s home to find out how she became Prime Magus. She creates shadow constructs representing the personalities of the mages. Hecate is the first Prime Magus who spread out pieces of herself when the universe was still young, creating Homo Magi during the Age of Creation. Next shade is the Upside-Down-Man: the second Prime Magus, who was responsible for the Age of Horror. The third shade, Zehuti, explains he brought order to the nature of magic in the Age of Wisdom. She is then called to a fairy-populated forest in the Sea of Dreams as the fairies of the four seasons believe each other to be responsible for the destructions of their gardens but Zatanna helps them restore their forest. She saves a huntress from demonic beasts before going off to stop an edification device from destroying a magical academy in the Sea of Dreams. Returning to Zehuti and tells of her exploits. She heads to Turkey, taking Allura to the hidden city of Homo Magi, only to find it immersed in flames.

DC UNIVERSE Month 102, Part 1

ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #2 by Scott Snyder, Che Grayson and Bengal.  Nine years ago, at the Gotham Calico Clubhouse, Selina and Holly are making plans for a heist. Selina, Holly, Helena Bertinelli, and Victoria Sage break into an office building and proceed to drain the bank accounts belonging to Falcone, Thorne, Elliott, Crowne and Bertinelli. Now, Selina is in China and not only trying to track Holly’s recent movement but what the story is The Sphere, which she sets up an auction for as bait. Back in Gotham, an unknown person sees the auction posting. At the auction, Selina is greeted by Victoria, who says she had previously met with Holly. Helena arrives and soon the trio find themselves fighting Cassandra Cain and her gang of Shadows. Cain steals The Sphere as everyone flees, thanks to an explosive charge Selina had set. In the end, it is revealed The Sphere is the key to unlocking the map to find something called The Yarn, that can create an “unimpeachable reality”..

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #22 by Scott Snyder and Werther Dell’edera. In the past, Harley Quinn lives in a broken home with her mother and, because of her fear of monsters at night, her mother gives her a mallet to fight them off. As she grew up, she took a DNA test and tracked down her father, who was a doctor living in France. One day, she found a panel at the back of her closet, which set an elevator in motion bringing her to Ark M, where she discovered a captive Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, along with a dead Calendar Man, who was giving birth to a reborn Calendar Man. Her mother arrived, saying Grimm was helping people. Her mother was Dr. Arkham. Fleeing the space and going back to the surface, she is met by her father: Jack Grimm, forcing her to flee the house. In the [present, she is trying to assist Batman in his battle against the Robins, but he continues to refuse her help. She finally convinces him that they need to hide for now until the Robins give up and agree to reconvene the following day. Bruce goes to his father’s grave and begins to dig, opening the coffin to find it empty. His phone rings and he sees a video the Scarecrow has sent him that shows Thomas Wayne alive and held in captivity.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #17 by Jeff Lemire and Haining. Three days ago, Rick Flagg contacted the Rogues, paying them and saying that they would get the balance when they bring him Grodd-dead or alive. They made their way to Colorado and discovered that Flagg’s troops had been compromised, eventually doing the same to all but Jesse. Currently, Jesse is prepared to kill Grodd until Wally explains that it is Grodd’s father causing all the havoc. Grodd leads them to his father where they find the compromised Rogues. Wally takes them out and they all go outside to see Grodd’s father with a lot of compromised townsfolk. Grodd convinces his father that these people are his friends and there seems to be a peaceful resolution until his father is killed by Jesse, who tells Wally he can find Thawne in Kansas, where she is hiding with Brainiac.

ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #3 by Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque. Dinah continues her digging into who the Green Arrow killer is, leading to her interrogating Roy Harper, who tells her that Hammond stole Ollie’s body and that Ollie is still alive. Roy breaks into a secure facility while telling Dinah how Hammond bought Tyler Pharmaceuticals to gain access to the super steroid known as Miraclo, which was used to resurrect Ollie. There, they discover one of Hammond’s test subjects: Solomon Grundy.

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #16 by Al Ewing and Sid Kotian. Jonny Double had a dream in which Kari Limbo appeared as purple light telling him that he is going to die and that he needs to tell Jo, who apparently will kill him, that there is something bigger than what she learned from the Oracle. He wakes after receiving a call and heads to the D.E.O. parking lot, where Simon attempts to strangle him, stopping the action by tearing off Simon’s mask and showing him his own face in the rear view mirror, leading to Simon fleeing. Jonny yells to Cameron, telling her he did not betray her to Hammond. In response, she shoots him in the head before heading to his office. Inside the Green Lantern, Tomar Re tells Jo that Mogo is pointed at the Lantern and will destroy them all, condemning the people of Evergreen to death whether she goes with Re’s plan or not. Mogo responds saying it will destroy the Lantern and Rann and the Blackstars. Mogo fires at the Lantern, but Hal creates a force field that blocks the beam. Salakk attacks Hal and tears his heart out but ends up with Kari Limbo telling him that he needs to tell Jo about the Big Black Zero. He wakes and finds that Guy is using his own body to link Hal’s circulatory system with Salakk’s, keeping Hal alive. Katma Tui berates Salakk, telling him that destroying Rann is wasteful. Jo tells Re that Evergreen isn’t the ammo but the weapon. One woman, revealed to be Jessica Cruz gives Jo her own power before she grows to giant size and claims she is on Mogo’s side.

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #12 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. John is dying and Bridget is upset and confused; especially as Despair the Zero tells her she must kill John and save the universe in the process. The Martian arrives and chases Despair the Zero off, arriving at the worldwide conga line, led by a possessed Tyler, with everyone under the influence of the White Martain. The Martian shows John his son in a coffin and then John relives moments in his life, from his birth to when he met Bridget and beyond. All across the known world, the effects are being felt; by Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Bridget tells John the world is falling apart and forces him to use his Martian Vision, allowing him to reconnect with Tyler, which causes the end of Despair-the Zero and the White Martian. In the end, the world rights itself and John looks to be able to repair things with his wife and son.

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #21 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. Before he headed to the moon to fight King Shazam, Superman gave Lois and Jimmy a list of people he helps around the world, so they can take care of them if something happens to him. During the fight, Superman tries to appeal to him to work together, but Shazam refuses and takes back his mace and gains his own Nth metal armor, using the mace to knock Superman through the moon. He says he is no longer Teth-Adam but is Shazam and that triggers his transformation back to Teth-Adam. At the same time, on Earth, Talia uses the Fatherbox to escape her bonds and attacks Lois. When Hawkman arrives, she orders him to kill Lois, but he refuses and takes the Fatherbox. Jimmy runs into the ruined Lazurus Corp basement and shoots Talia in the leg. Teth-Adam begins having trouble breathing and Hawkman arrives and blasts Teth-Adam with lightning from his own mace, then teleports Teth-Adam to an alien planet, where he turns into Shazam again as he is seen by spiked gray aliens. Berating Superman for his own doing what Superman couldn’t, Hawkman flies to Venus as Superman repairs the moon. In the aftermath, Jimmy quits the Planet to go to Thailand and join up with the other Omega Men Lois moves to Smallville to take a job at the Smallville Gazette. John Henry Irons takes up residence on the Kent Farm. Talia is imprisoned and Lois occasionally visits her, reading from the book Superman had given to Ra’s.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #22 by Kelly Thompson and Dillon Snook. Diana is in the Underworld where Circe is being held. Determined to free her, Diana fights against Scylla. Circe manages to free herself and joins the battle. But it ends up being Hecate who dispatches Scylla, then tells Circe and Diana how this was a foolish task and that they should consider their future actions. Meanwhile, Barbara is tempted by Urzkartaga and seemingly accepts an offer for her to become a god like Diana.

ACTION COMICS #1100 by Mark Waid, Joshua Williamson, Dan Slott, Ryan Sook, Daniel Sampere, Skylar Patridge, Dan Mora, and Lucas Meyer. In the past, Superboy, in armor and with sword and shield, battles Epoch while Bruce Gordon is trying to find a way to restore Superboy’s powers. Epoch destroys Gordon’s equipment and tries to kill Superboy, who explains that Epoch would not exist if the past is changed. Epoch says he is protected by a “paradox engine”, but Superboy short circuits Epoch’s armor with one of the cables from Gordon’s machine and that also restores Superboy’s powers. This causes Booster Gold, Mary Marvel, and Martian Manhunter to reappear in the timeline and they defeat Epoch. With Epoch defeated, the heroes journey through the timestream, where Booster, despite the objections of Mary and J’onn, shows glimpses of Superboy’s future to him. They eventually reach the end of time where Superboy saves a person trapped in the singularity. The person he saves is the former King Omega-Superman. As they head to the present, we see Lois having a not-so-fun game night with Supergirl, Conner, Jon, and Thundergirl. When Superboy-Prime arrives, Conner tussles with him. In El Caldero, President Castilho is trying to get control of the Kryptonian fortress he had built. He calls his trusted lieutenant, Bruno, to help him and Bruno attacks Castilho, telling him he is not fit to be king. The Krypto-Knights help Bruno put a Kryptonite mask on Castilho and removes his helmet, revealing his name is Dru-Zod and the Krypto-Knights kneel before Zod. To be continued in SUPERGIRL #16.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BOOK OF EL #10 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski. Superman is fighting the Unmade Mongul, telling him he did not deserve the fate from Kryl-Ux. Meanwhile, Brainiac-4 is leading Rowan, Ronan, and Osul-Ra to the wreck of a Warzoon ship, which he can control because they use Brainiac technology, and uses a Boom Tube to send them to Superman. On Tamaran, Prince Doukis tries to escape but is caught by Theand’r. A Boom Tube appears and Bryl-Ux arrives, which excites Doukis until he is crushed by Kryl-Ux, forcing Theand’r to surrender. Superman attacks Kryl-Ux until Theand’r orders them to stop, telling Kryl’Ux she will give him the Passion of Olgrun if he promises to leave in peace. He agrees and she hands it over. When the House of El arrives, he grabs the God-Aspect and leaves saying the next meeting with Superman will be their last. Kryl-Ux finds Thularamm and attacks but Kryl-Ux controls the constructs and stabs Thularamm, telling him to help remake the universe or die.

BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #3 by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. Barbara is still adjusting to life in prison after numerous beatings. Sparrow keeps feeding her painkillers which bring about horrendous nightmares involving the Grim Reaper. At one point, she notices a strange symbol on the wall of the prison and shifts into another Grim Reaper nightmare, with her falling into the electrified prison fence. As she also struggles with memories of a mission with the Bat Family many years ago, that was actually a trap, she realizes this too is some sort of trap, as a shadowy figure, presumed to be Commissioner Savage, watches it all.

BATGIRL #21 by Tate Brombal and Stephen Segovia. Cassandra remembers Doctor Forget-Me-Not asking her who killed Victoria while also flashing back to training against Victoria. Tenji and Jaya make their way through the GCPD when Bronze Tiger shows up, finding Cassandra’s unconscious body and Victoria’s corpse. As she struggles to remember a particular incident, she discovers who the murderer was: herself.

BATMAN #11 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez. During a meeting of The Shadow Board, a Mr. Blake is tasked with meeting with The Ojo to tell her that her services are no longer required, leading to her kill Blake by dismembering him. Meanwhile, The Penguin meets with members of the various crime families and has a plan to take down ‘The Minotaur’.  Bruce meets with Dr. Zeller, telling her of his history with Ra’s and Talia. Gordon and Bullock are mourners at Lannie Davis’s funeral, with his widow berating them both. That night, Batman confronts The Ojo, telling her that Zeller is protected, The police arrive and Savage orders them to shoot him, but he escapes. In the end, Verity Pennyworth arrives at one of Batman’s homes, telling him she is his new Majordomo.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #53 by Mark Waid and Adrian Gutierrez. Robin and Mariah deal with Lizardmen, who is slain by her, much to Robin’s disliking it. This villain had super-breath, meaning other of Superman’s powers are still in play. The corrupted Superman and Batman fight against Machiste and Tara. Batman takes Tara out and Machiste is taken down by a Lizardman. In the lair of Tyrant Rex, Shakira has been captured and Tyrant Rex declares that Batman and Superman will secure his exit from Skartaris. Robin unites with Warlord and they attack Tyrant King with Robin purposely engaging in a death-defying fall that snaps the heroes out of their corrupted state. Leading to the villain being defeated.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2026 ANNUAL #1 by Mark Russell, Mark Waid, Tyron Hitch, Clayton Henry, and Pat Boutin. It is Father’s Day and Clark and Bruce are entertaining Jonathan Kent and Alfred at a steakhouse. Alfred does not seem entirely interested while Jonathan is all about enjoying himself and needling Alfred. When Batman gets a distress call regarding The Flash being missing, he leaves, finding Barry in a trap that he is also stuck in; one where either of them attempting to leave will trigger an explosion somewhere in the city that will kill hundreds. Clark gets antsy and he tracks Batman and also gets stuck in the trap. Alfred and Jonathan bond and then go after their “boys”, using Alfred’s SAS skills along with Jonathan’s strength to take out the guards and make their way into the trap, allowing the heroes to escape and deactivate the bombs. In the end, Jonathan says it was his best Father’s Day ever while Alfred says it was his first. In the second tale, Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk mess around with Superman and Batman as Bruce is tasked with watching over Lois and Superman does his best to embarrass the civilian Bruce Wayne, complete with Bruce having to wrestle a pig.

BATWOMAN #5 by Greg Rucka and Dani. Kate is determined to find her sister and she and The Question head to where Despina and Pagona have her and convinced her she is Alice. The Question encounters one of Despina’s guards, leaving Kate to find her sister, who is wearing the spare Batwoman costume. Kate convinces Beth that she is actually Batwoman and she should save her sister, while also explaining that batwoman does not kill. The pair leave but Beth may not have broken free from her Alice persona, if Despina has anything to say about it.

CATWOMAN #89 by Torunn Gronbekk and Davide Gianfelice. Selina has a dilemma: save Slam Bradley or find the bomb planted by the fake Selina and dispose of it. Selina saves Slam while Holly discovers Maggie ina water trap and manages to free her. Of course, Selina and Slam allow themselves to be captured, with her tossing the live grenade at Black Mask.

CLAYFACE: CELEBRITY DIRT #1 by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Fran Galan. In Los Angeles, an assistant brings a new wig to an actress known as Lorna, only to find her having a literal meltdown, as she is made of clay. In Arkham Tower, a doctor meets with an inmate who is a Clayface and insists that he is Basil Karlo, although the doctor informs him that he is not. Later, Clayface escapes, discovering that Basil Karlo is making movies, leading Clayface to question who he really is. Clayface sees a news broadcast, complete with interviews from a reformed Karlo. In the end, “Basil Karlo” kills a woman named Maria.

THE DEADMAN #2 by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. Batman, Plastic Man, and Deadman go on a mission dealing with the Bestiary of Bedlam, which exists in the mind of Tomas Vahrilong. While interrogating him, at Blackgate Prison, Mr. Bloom attacks, killing Plastic Man. While Batman battles Bloom, Deadman calls upon Brahmans to save his life. Bloom explodes with Batman revealing it was actually a vivipary. In the end, Rama Kushna tells Deadman to go the underworld to fight the soul-eaters.

DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #5 by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Slade accepts a contract from a woman who wants him to kill her husband Dylan. Meanwhile, Deathblow and Deadshot meet with the fake Deathstroke, who has kidnapped Ravager. He finds the target and is preparing to act when the fake Deathstroke kills Dylan, denying Slade his bounty. Slade fights the trio of villains, with the fake Deathstroke revealed as his ex-wife Adeline, who has killed Wintergreen and threatens to kill Rose. In the end, a gunshot goes off. Is Rose dead?

DETECTIVE COMICS #1111 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. In the past, Prion is presented with his own uniform, made for him by Batman. Later, in a sparring session with Dinah, a misplaced blow caused him to have a heart attack and die. In the present, Dinah explains this to Arabella, trying to convince her to leave Rita and go with her but Rita attacks. Arabella stops the attack and she and Dinah flee, meeting up with Batman and Green Arrow, who fly away. Dinah gets a notification that her gym is on fire and the heroes head there. As Batman puts out the fire, Rita confronts him, telling him to turn over Arabella to her or everyone Batman knows will die. He zaps her with an EMP and hands the egg to her which breaks the brainwashing she has been subject to for the last decade. Batman decides he needs to find the people responsible.

DETECTIVE COMICS 2026 ANNUAL #1 by Tom Taylor, Dave Wielgosz, Nicola Scott, and Fran Mariscal. Batman is enjoying a nice tea and toasting to his departed friend Alfred when Lobo shows up to arrest Batman for a murder he did not commit. During their fight, Batman tosses the heart of a shrunken yellow dwarf star down Lobo’s throat and threatens to blow him up with the push of a button. Together, they go off to the planet Durghan where Batman interrogates people, leading them to the Burghanian president. When they go to investigate the body of the slain king, the president infects them with a Black Mercy. This leads to Bruce ending up in a dream where he is married to Selina, has two children named Helena and Damian, and his parents are still alive. He manages to push himself out of the dream, freeing Lobo from his own. Batman goes home on Lobo motorbike while Lobo gets a dose of Black Mercy, where he visualizes himself as a space dolphin. In the second tale, Batman teams up with the citizens of Carol Street to rid themselves of Professor Pyg. 

EMPEROR AQUAMAN #19 by Jeremy Adams and Paolo Villanelli. Aquaman returns to Earth and is greeted by Batman and Wonder Woman, telling him they need to talk. He meets with members of the Justice League on the Watchtower, where he tells them he has not told them about his new powers as he had seen “the end” coming. He then tells the members that, if he turned evil, there is nothing any of them could do about it. Meanwhile, outside of Atlantis, Mera, Vivienne, and Lori spot the Manta-Sub, overpower the guards and investigate, finding Lolanna speaking with Manta, Siren and Ocean Master, among others, where Lolanna has a plan to attack Aquaman the next time her goes off-world. The trio is attacked and captured by Scavenger, except for Vivienne who manages to teleport away. Hila tries to murder Mera but Manta stops her, saying Mera is more useful as a hostage. Vivienne teleports into the Manta-Sub and takes control, freeing the others. They teleport to the area of the Curry Lighthouse and Mera warns Arthur, along with Jackson and Garth, that her mother is coming. That is when Poseidon arrives and says Aquaman has angered him.

THE FLASH #35 by Ryan North and Gavin Guidry. Heat Wave has managed to find the once sunken HMS Bulldog and claims Maritime Law allows him to salvage it. But a quick check by Wally reveals he cannot salvage it because it is considered to be an historically significant ship, leading to the villain to attack. Wally disarms him and convinces him to sell his story of how he found the ship. Later, he meets with Mr. Terrific, as Wally continues to figure out his predicting powers. Hye takes Linda with him as he goes to a bank and, with his new powers, is able to stop Captain Boomerang from a heist in rather humorous fashion. Having saved everyone and everything in Central City, Wally turns his attention to Metropolis with plans to do the same there.

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #4 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre. Lorraine meets with Stein, who reveals that Will Magnus, Simon Stagg, Niles Caulder, and himself had been working together on The Superman Project. She accuses him of grooming Ronnie and then asks if he was responsible for her creation, with him admitting that he engineered the “accident” that created her. He shows her a device he has created that he believes should contain the matrix and, with the huge device strapped to the roof of her car, they head to Pittsburgh, where a giant obelisk is in the center of the city, with soldiers saying that Firestorm is in there.

GREEN LANTERN #37 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. A streamer is playing video games in her apartment and gets killed by an unseen assailant he believed was delivering his food. Later, Kyle and Odyssey are watching news coverage of the movie premiere, with her being upset by all the negative comments left on her social media. Kyle decides to answer those comments which only makes things worse. After fourteen hours of answering the comments, he gives up and goes to breakfast with Jade. Odyssey gets a visit from a stranger and gets kidnapped, with the assailant calling Kyle to arrange a meeting to save Odyssey’s life. Kyle and Jade confront Odyssey’s kidnapper who is revealed to be an actual troll named Zmora who feed off negativity from the internet. Kyle uses a construct to cut up Zmora but the troll survives and is stopped only after Osyssey reveals Excalibur. After visiting with General Frankenstein at S.H.A.D.E. Headquarters, Major Force arrives and demands Zmora be released to him. Meanwhile, Hal and Jayna, stuck in outer space, finally get their ship working again, thanks to Tobi, and head off to the source of Hal’s visions.

 

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18 by Morgan Hampton and Fernando Pasarin. At the Citadel, Guy and Jessica argue about how to proceed when Jo lets them know that they need to enact Oan defense protocol against the Manhunters. Guy and Jessica end up in the Emotional Expanse so they can speak directly to the Emotional Entities. Jo bands the Lanterns together to create a massive robot from the various parts of the emotional spectrum to fight against the Manhunters. But it may be too late for Jessica and Guy as the Manhunters, led by a corrupted Aya, want the entities inside Guy or they will kill Jessica.

DC UNIVERSE Month 101, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DREAM GIRLS #1 by Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines, Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, J. Bone, Brandt & Stein, and Claire Roe. On Themyscira, Dreamer and Galaxy find a man in the water and it turns out to be Steve Trevlor. In actuality, it is the villain known as The Key in disguise. As Nia tends to Trevor, Galaxy heads off with Kasia and they exchange a kiss. Nia is preparing to leave with Trevor and he inserts a key into her forehead and shuts off this particular dream. That leads to a new dream, where Nia is Batgirl fighting against The Key and other villains. When that results in the apparent death of Galaxy, The Key shuts off this fantasy. It is revealed that these are only dreams, as Dreamer and Galaxy are comatose on the Watchtower. In the backup, Kate Kane gets involved with Ayla Raatko before finding out that she is the person responsible for an attack on a Data Center in Greece.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DREAM GIRLS #2 by Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines, Steve Underwood, Morgan Hampton, Alitha Martinez, Vincent Cecil, Brandt & Stein, Stephen Sadowski, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, and Joe Quinones. While the League debate whether they should trust Dreamer and galaxy, the women are still suck in a dream, with the pair fighting to protect a Pride parade from protesters, with Kat arriving and taking Galaxy to a quiet location to talk. The Key shows up and films a documentary with Dreamer, until they are interrupted by Galaxy, who declares that none of this is real. That leads to multiple scenario changes in different outfits, including fighting Despero and becoming Western gunfighters, before ending up in a castle. Dreamer expresses her ability to sleep forever and forces Nia out of the dream. When she wakes, she learns of the Justice League’s plans for her and Dreamer. In the backup, Jo relives an important moment in her ast before battling Lafleeze with the assistance of Guy Gardner.  

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DREAM GIRLS #3 by Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines, G. Willow WIlson, Maria Llovet, Brandt & Stein, Jan Bazaldua, and Rosi Kampe. With Galaxy fighting to keep her place in the Justice League, Dreamer is still in The Key’s dreamland, where he turns into Superboy and she gets the fantasy life she has always dreamed of. At one point, he kisses her and turns into a monster in front of her. Meanwhile, Nia looks for some alone time and is met by Kate Godwin: the former Doom Patrol member known as Coagula, who convinces her to go back into the meeting and fight for her place on the team. She does so and then goes back to Dreamer’s body, forcing herself back into her dream, only to find that The Key has her and has made his way into the Akashic Records, where he has gained the infinite knowledge of the cosmos. In the backup, it’s a quiet day with Harley and Ivy and some strawberry shortcake. Unfortunately, Bud and Lou have gotten to things first, leading to Ivy creating lots of strawberry plants, telling Harley she can now have strawberries every day if she wants.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: DREAM GIRLS #4 by Jadzia Axelrod, Nicole Maines, Brandt & Stein, Rosi Kampe, and Klaus Janson. The Key has Dreamer and has made his way into the Akashic Records. Galaxy fights back against him but goes to Dreamer’s side, allowing The Key to get his hands on the book, where he discovers it to be blank as Dreamer, in her costume, has snapped out of her trance and uses her power to send him to the deepest part  of the Dream Realm. Upon awakening, Galaxy reunites with Kasia before being told she has leadership potential, even if the Lanterns have classified her as an intergalactic threat.  Galaxy tries to convince Dreamer to rejoin the League but she says she needs to learn her powers better and she is not ready. In the backup, Klaus Janson tells is autobiographical tale and embraced his art and his sexuality.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #20 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Brainiac Queen has arrived, looking for Waller, attacking the Justice League. Air Wave manages to communicate with her and calms her down, until Luthor uses his power suit to injure her, with plans to have Warp create a portal and have Giganta throw her into the sun, which would kill Air Wave also. As the League garbs Brainiac Queen to keep her safe, she compromises Warp and transports herself to an unknown destination. Meanwhile, the Power Bank has ended up on an alien planet, thanks to Guy Gardner, along with their ship being damaged by the Hykraius warfleet, and that group of Leaguers find themselves under attack by creatures known as Dronndans.

LOBO #4 by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. Lobo gets his bounty hunting license back and heads off on a new mission, gathering his friend Maynard for the assist. They end up at an off world version of the Fortress of Solitude to steal a “box full of crows”. Once inside, they run into Supergirl and the pair begin to fight. In the midst of it, some officers who up informing them that their dogs have been out causing mayhem, which results in Supergirl and Lobo being arrested. In the end, Supergirl is told that a princess has arrived to see her. Continued in SUMMER OF SUPERGIRL #1.

NEW TITANS #36 by Tate Brombal and Marcus To. Cyborg runs tests on Eva, who eventually tries to connect with the Titans as they take their place on Happy Harbor and try to get used to their new headquarters. She is rebuffed by almost all except for Superboy. Among all of this, Tara discovers something that shocks her and Starfire tells Nightwing she is leaving as she needs to find someplace that feels like home to her.  Later, many of the team go to town and meets with a police officer who reveals that the townspeople regularly sacrifice babies to Nebiros. Tara discovers Cyborg’s secret Omega base, saying she sensed something, which turns out to be a giant monster.  

NIGHTWING #139 by Dan Watters and Denis Cowan. Nightwing meets with Eastbourne and tells her everything about the crash and the ‘witch’, but she responds by holding a press conference and claims that an arrest warrant has been issued for Nightwing. Sometime later, a group of dead bodies, fused together, appears in the harbor. Working with a former pathologist, Nightwing unravels the identities of most of the bodies except for one and that leads him to meet with a priest who killed that person who was a drifter who confessed to some horrible crimes. During a chase, the priest saves Dick and, although he will not reveal what this individual had done, asks Nightwing to decide what happens to him next.

POISON IVY #45 by G. Willow Wilson and Leandro Fernandez. Ivy is out of control and does not seem to care who gets in her way, even Comissioner Savage. She is also dealing with how she treated Harley and tries to write a note to ask her forgiveness. But she ends up meeting with the Kettle Hole Devil, telling the creature that she killed the Bog Venus and she won’t be the last if the Kettle Hole Devil bothers her again. After that, Xylon arrives and says Ivy is no longer protected by The Grey from the Parliament of Trees and proceeds to drop her to the streets far below.

SUMMER OF SUPERGIRL #1 by Sophie Campbell, Gail Simone, Mark Waid, Belen Ortega, Emma Kubert, and Cian Tormey. Continued from LOBO #4. Lobo, Supergirl, Princess Shark, Krypto, and Dawg are brought in front of a space judge for their crimes. Three of them are released but Lobo is sentenced to 30 days of rehabilitation while Dawg is released into Krypto’s custody. Once out, those who are freed are met by Crush and the go out for Mac and Cheese sandwiches. One week later, Supergirl has to chase after Dawg, who is chasing Streaky, leading to some neighborhood destruction and Streaky being temporarily put on ice. Lobo comes back, finally having served his sentence, and fights with Supergirl before making friends again with Dawg after feeding him a Mac and Cheese sandwich. But by fighting with her, he violates part of his sentence and goes about doing good deeds with Supergirl as part of his community service. In the first backup, Supergirl and Mary Marvel become friends, with Kara acting as her big sister. In the second backup,  Natasha Irons and Connor try to unravel the various histories of Supergirl

SUPERGIRL #14 by Sophie Campbell. After her long fall, Lena is rescued by the Super Substance Science Scouts and, seeing that Superboy has been captured by Zora, she heads off and meets with Kara and Lesla. She gives Kara a drive with the cybernetics and the S-Matrix and Kara uses it, just as Black Flame arrives and freezes Lena. But Supergirl has transformed from being cybernetic to completely flesh and blood again, now in a white suit, and the pair brawl. Zora appears defeated until she captures Lesla and threatens to kill her unless Supergirl surrenders. But Lesla has a trick of her own, pressing a button on a device that turns her into Luminary and she and Supergirl defeat Black Flame.

SUPERMAN #39 by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora. Superboy Prime finds himself in the midst of a fight with several superheroes including Superman from Earth-2. He soon discovers this is all Manchester Black’s doing and ends up in a variety of comic inspired scenarios including a cartoon version, several Science-Fiction adventures, and even a Romance comic. He is eventually attacked by many Superman variations and even Wonder Woman, dispatching all of them. Manchester Black has used his powers to get Prime to strike a specific spot and free him, saying it is time to reboot something.

SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #14 by Dan Slott and Lucas Meyer. Superboy and Tomorrow Man face off against Thaddeus Kilgrave and, later, Volcana, where young Jon has a panic attack. Meanwhile, Lois visits with the Kents, expressing that she is unsure if her young son is truly her son. Later, Tomorrow Man and young Jon help Metallo, who has had his Kryptonite heart removed by Dabney Donovan and his clones. At Steelworks, Steel, Lois, and Lana are looking at a Kryptonite specimen from the El Calderan when the sample breaks free, infecting Lana. Tomorrow Man and Jon arrive, with Jon in a panic as he goes to free Beppo. When he discovers the ape is in a containment cell and Steel suggests Jon be placed in one also, the young man reacts violently, picking up Steel’s hammer and attacking. In the end, Batman has deduced that Jon is actually from Earth-3 and the child of Ultraman and Superwoman, making him Ultrababy. 

WONDER WOMAN #34 by Tom King, Daniel Sampere and Bruno Redondo. In the past, the Matriarch has killed John Stewart and has taken his Lantern ring. Soon after, she kills a Guardian of the Universe, declaring herself stronger than any Lantern or guardian. Twenty years from now, Diana faces off with The Matriarch, with Diana wielding the God Killer sword and The Matriarch with her own Lantern powered sword. Diana gets disarmed and, as The Matriarch is preparing to deliver the killing blow, Diana grabs her hand and the ring goes to Wonder Woman, as it belongs with someone with honor. Powered by the ring, Diana punches The Matriarch and defeats her. She visits the Three Fates and they fear for their lives until Diana says the God Killer sword was never meant for them, but for her alone and she runs herself through with it.

ZATANNA #3 by Jamal Campbell. After what happened in the previous issue, Zatanna travels to met with The Loa, who grants her three gifts, provided she deal with three labors: an issue with the Hidden City of Homo Magi, helping Elodie in the future, and swearing. Papa Midnite rebukes her for casting the spell that blew up the theater. She travels to Hades, meeting with Persephone and Mnemosyne, requesting their aid. In the Maison D’Aede, Agent Di Manes has brutally captured the spirit, leading to Zatanna fighting him, with Di manes casting a silence spell upon her. As much as she fights against him, he manages to make his escape with Dr. Gui. She is finally able to cast a spell of remembrance on Aede, reuniting her and Clara.

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 101, Part 1

ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #1 by Scott Snyder, Che Grayson and Bengal.  A dozen years ago to the day, young Selina Kyle is trying to survive in a rough foster home, complete with an abusive foster father. Ten years ago, Selina meets another young girl named Holly Robinson and the pair develop a friendship, In the present, Selina goes to the Cat Cave, which houses all sorts of gadgets from an earlier time in her life. Today is her 25^th birthday and suddenly Holly arrives, carrying a birthday cake and apparently asking for her help regarding a problem. Inside the cake is a small ball. Later, someone dressed in a cat costume is trying to crack a safe when another person in a similar outfit, revealed to be Selina, shoots her with tranquilizer darts. Soon after, more “catwomen” called the Calicos arrive and, during their fight, a bomb goes off, sending Selina out the window of the building she is in. Her A.I. named Jonesy releases a parachute, allowing her to land safely. and she gives pursuit on one who has absconded with Holly. She is unable to free her friend and decides she needs more firepower. In the end, the kidnapper receives a call looking for an update and the kidnapper is revealed to be . . . Cassandra Cain.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #21 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Batman fights against the Robins. Deathstroke orders them to knock out Batman’s communications and Jason Todd sets off an EMP that knocks out the power. As Batman runs into an abandoned buildingm Jason’s mech fires on it, leveling it. Harley sends in drones to distract the Robins and give her time to pull Batman out of the rubble. The following day, Bruce attends Gordon’s funeral and thinks of a time when he was working for the Falcones and Gordon paid him a visit, with Bruce saying he was working to pay back the monetary debt his friends incurred paying off that debt. After the services have ended, members of the Robin Program speak to Barbara Gordon and promise to avenge her father but she tells them that Jim would have approved more of Batman’s methods than theirs. Bruce’s friends were also at the funeral and muse if they each think Bruce was responsible for Gordon’s death. Ozzie says the people they were are dead but Waylon, lifting the magic arrowhead off his body and beginning to mutate, says they are those people and will always help each other out, including Bruce. The next day, as Bruce is at work on a skyscraper, he meets an investor who reveals he is Jack Grimm. Bruce lunges at him as The Joker changes into his monstrous form, actually saving Bruce as he slips off the girder he was standing on, telling him he does not get to die until Batman reaches his full potential. In the end, a pool of clay in Ark M begins to shape into a double of Batman.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #16 by Jeff Lemire and Haining. Grodd and his father have taken over the town of Montevale, Colorado; driving out all the residents in the process as they make their home in an abandoned strip mall. While scavenging, Grodd is confronted by soldiers and races back to his father with the soldiers opening fire. Meanwhile, Wally reads Palmer’s journal, which has a cryptic message at the end: ‘What lies below Still Point?’ along with a drawing of an atom and the Omega symbol. He recalls his future self saying that Thawne had taken his father below. He decides to give the journal to Linda to see if she can decipher it and then he receives a psychic scream from Grodd, revealing he is in danger. Wally picks up Linda, who wanted to meet Grodd, and they head to Colorado. After noticing a Blackhawl helicopter flying above, Linda sees a news report about trouble at the mall and heade there, finding it surrounded by empty police cars. Once inside, they find a police officer who growls at them with his eyes glowing green followed by the rest of the police who have been possessed. Possessed soldiers open fire on the pair. Saving Linda, Wally gets shot in the leg and Grodd arrives to stop the bullets with a telekinetic force field. Grodd brings the pair to his nest with him telling Wally that his father is hurt and angry, adding he is “everywhere”. As Linda bandages Wally’s wound, they notice Grodd is not around and soon are visited by Trickster who is holding a knife to Grodd’s throat and saying they need to kill the ape.

ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #2 by Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque. Dinah has a dream where Green Arrow suggests they work together and he unmasks, revealing himself to be Oliver Queen. Telling him he is dead, he screams at her as many eyes appear on his face. The next day, she meets with Merlyn, who get equipped with armored uniforms by Hammond to protect them. They go to visit millionaire Roy Harper, finding he has been out of the country for many months. They then go to visit Mia Dearden at a kickboxing gym but she refuses to talk to them until they get in the ring with her. As the pair fight, Mia tells Dinah that she was recruited by Oliver as a programmer but ultimately, once allegations about Slade came out, she told Oliver to chpose between her and Sladem resulting in her quitting GreenArrows. As the fight gets more violent, Mia accuses Dinah of trafficking children for Hammondm leading to Dinah ending the fight. Mia tells her that Oliver asked her to help him arrange for his son, Connor Hawke, if anything ever happened to him. She discovers that Hawke had recently come to Star City and follows him into an abandoned mansion. After a confrontation, Hawke reveals that Oliver had sent a pre-recorded video telling his son to come to Star City and collect his inheritance, but he says he is not interested in whatever Miraclo is or why Mia is obsessed with it. Hearing ascream, Dinah orders him out of the house. They find a dying man, filled with arrows, hung from the ceiling. As Green Arrow aims at her, Connor shoots him in his armored chest. Green Arrow fires a poison arrow that hits Connor in the shoulder, killing him. In the end, the police arrive to collect Connor’s body and also the other man, revealed to be Edvin Zytle when Dinah gets a call from Merlyn saying Harper was seen digging up Queen’s grave..

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #15 by Al Ewing and Sid Kotian.  The Blackstars face off against John as Hal watches. John, channeling the Red Initiate, unleashes part of his stomach and intestines, badly burning Black Hand Salakk.  Meanwhile, Jo faces off against Tomar Re and their mental torture, eventually channeling her power and caging Tomar Re, who continues to try to convince her to let her town be destroyed so billions can live. In the end, Mogo arrives, to the shock of John, Hal and the Blackstars..

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #20 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. In the recent past, Talia asks Carter Hall why he did not kill Superman when he had the opportunity. Saying he saw Superman save Metropolis, she guesses he wants more money and has the Peacemakers throw a bag of cash on top of his car, adding that she wants Superman in a hole next to Oliver Queen and the rest. He has done the bidding of the rich before but that was before the day that the Reign of the Superman began. In the present, Hawkman confronts Superman, Steel and King Shazam, with Hall telling King Shazam that he knows his story and offers to help him find his way in this world. Shazam calls him a liar and attacks, with Hawkman striking him with his mace and sending him away, so the trio can formulate a plan. Superman insists that Shazam is confused and refuses to let Hawkman kill him. King Shazam returns  and the battle sets off chaos throughout the planet, with Teth-Adam trapping the trio in his sand-cloak. Hawkman reveals he was the one who found Teth-Adam’s tomb and he deciphered the hieroglyphics in it, adding that it was the Brainiacs who found Teth-Adam in the desert, not wizards and he got his powers from a Father Box. He says that King Shazam had the chance to change the world but the Justice League from three thousand years ago betrayed him and imprisoned him. Finally, he says that he was never the savior and that it was Superman who was referred to by the Phantom Stranger. Outraged, Shazam stabs Superman with a lighting spear. The Parasite arrives to protect Superman but cannot affect Shazam. Steel and Hawkman agree that Shazam needs to die but Superman stops them, leading to additional arguments. Shazam destroys the Parasite and attacks the others, leaving them bloodied and beaten. As Superman promises to get help for Hall and Steel, Hall and Steel offer up their weapons, saying those will allow him to defeat King Shazam. King Shazam heads to what is left of the Lazarus Corp headquarters to get Father Box, but Superman sends both of them to the moon, with Superman’s armor in Tornado Mode. He tells Shazam that he won’t be leaving the moon until he says his magic word.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #21 by Kelly Thompson and Dillon Snook. On the Wild Isle, Diana is about to look for her mother. Along the way, she is forced to fight a Manticore, defeating him and making her way to Hecate; telling her that she will never forgive her if Circe or Barbara die. Meanwhile, agents have made their way to The Hieron, but are hampered from entering by some sort of magical defenses. At the same time, Etta is trying to locate Diana, even as Gia is heading off to Gotham for awhile. In Area 41.X, Barbara Minerva is locked away with the body of Cheetah when she hears from Urzkartaga who convinces her to taste Cheetah’s blood and is immediately affected by it. In the process, she sees how Priscilla became possessed and turned into Cheetah, thanks to Veronica Cale. 

ACTION COMICS #1099 by Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge. Epoch has stripped away Clark’s powers and he is frustrated about it, taking it out on John in the process. He also notes that he has been depending on his powers far too much. In the process, Lana invites Clark to a party at her house fir the weekend. Lana finds her house empty but gets a peek inside her father’s newest book and, when she opens it, she is shocked by what she sees. Clark adjusts to being powerless and is not in a hurry to find a solution, something that concerns his parents and Booster. Because of Clark seemingly changing the past, the future is also changing and Mary disappears, causing Booster and John to forget she even existed. They take Clark to meet Bruce Gordon: a scientist who will eventually become Eclipso. But he refuses to help because he feels he cannot waste his time helping Superboy. He eventually agrees and, with Superboy strapped to a table and being exposed to a heavy dose of yellow sunlight, Epoch arrives, having raided S.T.A.R. Labs and upgraded his suit, destroys the equipment. As Booster and John fight Epoch, Superboy dons armor, including a sword and shield, to fight the villain.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BOOK OF EL #9 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski. Pyrrhos begins to pull the Fire of Olgrun from within Osul-Ra but Osul fights back. while the Superman robot with the shard of Brainiac-3 inside recalls that Rowan and Ronan is its master and seeks a new core objective and they attack Pyrrhos. Ronan starts beating on Pyrrhos but Osul gets the beating to stop, saying Superman would not want them hurting others. They try to convince Pyrrhos to join them but he refuses. Elsewhere, Superman, Otho-Ra, Khan-El, and Alura approach Tamaran but come under fire from Warzoon ships. Superman heads off to save Tamarans and discovers they are The Unmade. In the palace, Prince Doukis and his crew search for Theand’r, killing civilians along the way. Theand’r arrives and orders Kryl-Ux’s forces withdraw but Doukis brings out Fatherbox and the Unmade mob as Superman and the others arrive. Doukis attempts to flee but Otho-Ra catches him. Mongul, now one of the Unmade, arrives, knocking out Otho-Ra and saying that the bloodline of Superman will end now. 

BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #2 by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. Barbara wakes in the infirmary, after having taken a vicious beating at the hands of an unknown assailant. With the help of an inmate named Sparrow, she is brought back to a cell where Sparrow gives her “pain medication” that acts as an hallucinogen. Sparrow meets with Die, telling her Barbara is alive but heavily medicated. There is another prisoner murdered in their cell and the inmates wonder who is next. In the end, Death comes calling. Is it real or just another hallucination? Meanwhile, Nightwing assists Jim Gordon, who tells Dick that he has sent someone inside the prison to watch over Barbara.

BATGIRL #20 by Tate Brombal and Stephen Segovia. The police discover the corpse of a nine year old girl and somehow this murder is connected to Batgirl. During her investigation, she has a seizure and passes out, having a vision of her training at the hands of both David Cain and Bronze Tiger.  Tenji calls his father and says that Jaya said the phrase “forget-me-not” and this happened. The vision further reveals Cass and the girl and she is being hypnotized by…Dr. Forget-Me-Not.

BATMAN #10 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez. With Wayne Manor destroyed, Damian texts Duke and Stephanie and informs them of it, telling them to trust the plan. The next day, Savage holds a press conference, announcing the ‘Rat out the Bat’ program that encourages citizens to get cash rewards for informing on the Bat Family. Meanwhile, The Minotaur visits Mr. Tozuki, presenting him with the bloodied glasses of Hugo Strange, who he killed because of his betrayal of Tozuki. In the end, Batman activates the bat-Signal 2.0, consisting of 3,00 drones.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #52 by Mark Waid and Adrian Gutierrez. Superman has been captured by the transformed sorcerer formerly known as Randall Kreitzer. After an argument with Travis, Batman heads off on his own to find his friend. When he does, he sees he has been corrupted by Kreitzer, who plans on heading to an underground laboratory created by the ancient Atlanteans. Elsewhere, Robin and the others are attacked by super-powered followers of Kreitzer, and they have been joined by the corrupted Superman…and Batman.

BATWOMAN #4 by Greg Rucka and Dani. The aftermath of Renee getting stabbed is found by Despina and her people. Meanwhile, Colonel Kane patches up Renee, who believes that Kate was not responsible for this. That night, Renee meets with Kate, who claims she was responsible for killing her sister Beth, who had been turned into Alice. Elsewhere, Batwoman returns and struggles with her identity, believing she is Kate Kane. In the end, Kate and Renee realize that a spare suit is missing and they believe they know what happened to it, with Kate suiting up and promising to bring her sister home.

BIZARRO: YEAR NONE #2 by Eric Carrasco, Kevin Smith, and Nick Pitarra. Three months ago, Lois Lane was interviewing Bizarro Superman, as she mentions some people are offended by his motto of ‘Truth, Justice’ and the American Way’. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Perry are navigating Bizarro World, with Jimmy becoming the Editor in Chief and Perry being the intern. After returning with coffees for the staff, Jimmy sees a note on his cup and proceeds to meet Perry at the corner of Fifth and Tilton, where Perry shows him the silhouette of someone in white against a wall with a backwards Superman logo spray painted above it. Jimmy touches the silhouette and finds it has texture and moves along his fingers. Jimmy later meets with Bizarro for an interview. In the end, Perry investigates Bizarro’s home, discovers Bizarro’s typewritten manifesto and also sees a broken table with another silhouette. It is revealed that three months ago, convinced that his Lois betrayed him by looking into the “other world”, dropped her from high in the atmosphere into their home, killing her.

CATWOMAN #88 by Torunn Gronbekk and Davide Gianfelice. Catwoman is able to convince Holly that the person who attacked her was not her and they fight their way out, even as they are being attacked by a faceless assailant. After defeating him, Black Mask calls, informing Selina that the fake Selina planted a bomb. Meanwhile, Slam Bradley gets Maggie out of her house and the pair head off in different directions. Back in the city, Selina is met with a woman wearing a mask who leads her to a specific location. Once there, the woman unmasks, saying she did what she was told, before being executed by Katarina Belov. She hands Selina a key and, after showing a video of a captured Slam Bradley holding a live hand grenade, tells her she has a choice: save Slam or find the bomb and dispose of it.

THE DEADMAN #1 by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. Boston Brand, former circus performer and now The Deadman, goes about helping souls transition and saving others because it is not their time. He resides in Robertsville with other spirits and the living. Elsewhere, a mysterious Mr. M is revealed to be a cannibal and is connected to a bunch of Hindu demons, one of which The Deadman fights against after it had taken a soul. He tell Rama Kushna who responds by giving him a new costume..

DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #4 by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Deadshot and Deathblow are ready to finish off Deathstroke when he gets saved by Ravager; but that is only because she wants to watch him die for killing Wintergreen. He convinces her to join with him as he claims he has a lead and they leave in a car she “borrowed” from Red Hood. Inside the restaurant, Slade has a verbal altercation with an unruly customer and later kills him in the establishment’s bathroom. Shocked to discover this, she leaves on her father, all while Deadshot, Deathblow and…Deathstroke watch.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1110 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. In the past, Prion, Black Canary and Green Arrow have teamed up with Batman to stop hijackers on a train. Now, Batman and Arrow discover that the girl who they had a tussle with is currently with Black Canary. They warn her that the girl is an assassin and possibly Prion’s daughter, but something is different about her. They track her to the outskirts of Gotham where the girl, whose name is Arabella, is handed an egg and whatever was possessing her ends. Later, Dinah sneaks into Arabella’s bedroom, convincing the girl to leave with her. Arabella takes a tool box her father had left that says to keep it hidden until she is ready to know the truth. While leaving, Dinah fights against armed opponents. Arabella’s grandmother arrives and orders Dinah to tell the girl how she killed Prion.

EMPEROR AQUAMAN #18 by Jeremy Adams and Paolo Villanelli. Aquaman is enjoying his new life and his time with his family when Bill from the Omni Omega+ Entertainment Corps arrives and says that  he is revoking Aquaman’s ability to travel to Prataxia Prime. Of course, that does not sit well and Aquaman heads there right away, but is quickly captured. At the same time, Hal Jordan has been captured by OOEC but breaks free, finding Aquaman, who is being tortured with false visions. With the help of his new powers, Aquaman and Hal escape.

THE FLASH #34 by Ryan North and Gavin Guidry. Wally is with Mr. terrific and trying to understand his future sight powers when he sees Gorilla Grodd and his army invading in the near future. That leads him to go to Gorilla City and tries a number of different scenarios to keep that from happening but all fail. So he rethinks his plan and eventually gets Grodd to temporarily curtail his attack. Later. Mr. Terrific has Wally try to predict the weather and Wally finds that the city is covered in fog. He finds several machines are the course and the source of the machines appears to be…Heat Wave!

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #3 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre. Many years ago, Professor Stein is leading the Department of Metahuman Affairs and has his own agenda, resulting from his son being killed during a rampage by Dr. Polaris. Stein wants to create his own hero and has chosen the person he wants as his template for it. He hires Ronnie as his assistant and, it is revealed, he knew about the bomb that gave them their powers as he was responsible for planting it to achieve his goal. Meanwhile, the heroes continue to fight against Firestorm and lose badly. Now, Firestorm is heading to Pittsburgh.

GOTHAM ACADEMY: FIRST YEAR #5 by Brendan Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, and Marco Ferrari.  It’s September and the first day of Olive’s second year at Gotham Academy, but she has decided to dig into her mother’s history, finding that her mother was the fire starter called Calamity. Pomeline comes in and notices the files on Calamity, taking them to read to the entire student body to embarrass Olive. Olive is haunted by horrific visions until she is comforted by Kyle and then her mother; all of which are visions courtesy The Scarecrow. But everything leading up to that may actually be a result of Fear Toxin and the issue ends in August with Olive comatose, having been found by Tristan and taken away by Batman, so he can help her.

GREEN LANTERN #36 by Jeremy Adams, Ig Guara, and Montos. Kyle and Odyssey are menaced by Dr. Skin, who has transformed into a hideous creature, forcing Kyle to use his White Lantern powers to dispatch the creature. Jade arrives and takes the creature with her but Odyssey is going to a movie premiere later with Kyle as her escort and Jade as his date. Elsewhere, at a meeting for Big Belly Burger, a staffer introducers a group of mascots, which leads to him getting taken out later by them as part of a “hostile takeover”. The mascots proceed to take out a food truck, as this is Big Burger territory. Jade and Kyle arrive on the scene after the fact and share a kiss.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #17 by Morgan Hampton and Fernando Pasarin. Guy finds himself floating through space and troubled by his past and his abusive father. He gets rescued by an alternate future version of himself who, after a long discussion, gives him the insight and drive to break out of this Black Hole prison he finds himself in. Meeting with the Emotional Entities, they agree to join him, as long as he agrees to protect them and the Emotional Expanse, which he does. Filled with new hope and a way to recreate himself, he arrives at The Citadel on Oa, showing the gathered Lanterns he has brought backup.

HARLEY & IVY: LIFE & CRIMES #6 by Erica Henderson. Ivy reveals how she and Harley met during the earthquake but Clayface captured her and kept her for six months, forcing her to grow food he could sell while also using the children for slave labor. But now she is ready to fight back and does so, with the assistance of Red Tornado Ma Hunkel. It is Ma Hunkel who convinces the pair to patch up their differences, resulting in the two admitting they loved each other. In the present, they rob a boutique of some jewels and a wedding dress.

HARLEY QUINN #63 by Elliott Kalan and Carlos Olivares. Detective Phil Charles touches Harley and she begins to turn monochromatic. Being pursued by police, she goes to visit Althea but is refused entry by Amygdala. After making her way through the sewers and having flashbacks to her, she ends up at Helga Grimaldi’s, who plans to clean her up and take her in when a massive explosion rocks the building, courtesy of the Harley Quinn Revenge Squad.

JSA #20 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui. The Spectre is back and unleashing vengeance on everyone he believes has sinned, taking possession of Hourman in the process. Part of the team transports to the House of Mystery to search for Jim Corrigan while Green Lantern and others remain behind with Hourman. The Team meets with Madame Xanadu who cannot find Corrigan but gives Kid Eternity a vision of her past life where she sees her grandmother. In the end, Metron arrives, ordering them to help him save the universe from damnation. 

DC UNIVERSE Month 100, Part 2

 
HARLEY QUINN #62 by Elliott Kalan and Carlos Olivares. Brain Harley and her friends are watching a television show where Convoy is about to be interviewed. But the interview does not happen as Backhand, the man with the wrong-way arms interrupts it. Meanwhile, Brain Harley gets a visit from Detective Philo Charles, who takes her to the police station. At the television station, BatQuinn shows up to battle Backhand. Chicken Fingers arrives and tries to convince her to control herself and be his teammate, which she refuses before flying off. In the end, Backhand and Blimp find themselves in the same hospital bed when they get a visit from the Harley Quinn Revenge Squad.
 
JSA #19 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui. In the Unseem Realms, Kid Eternity has been taken over by the spirit of The Spectre and she gets confronted by the spirts of the deceased JSA members. Dr. Fate manages to separate The Spectre from Kid Eternity and Wildcat orders Kid Eternity to flee, with Mister Keeper ordering her to find Jim Corrigan. In the brownstone, Detective Chimp reveals that The Spectre may be coming back and his reappearance made be connected to the missing Kid Eternity. Later, a portal opens in the brownstone and Kid Eternity comes through, saying “it” followed her. As the JSAers race outside, they see the image of The Spectre overshadowing the entire city.
 
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #19 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. The Justice League has initiated an amnesty program for the villains who were involved with the K.O. event and that is not sitting well with the world. Gordon confronts Batman about it, but he says that Lex leaked the news but the League will handle it. :Later, Wonder Woman, along with Captain Marvel, The Flash, Doctor Polaris, Lex and Starro head to a military base where Neutron and Felix Faust are attacking. Starro disables Faust while the rest of the team catch up with Neutron. Lex holds a press conference saying Neutron and Faust were not given pardons but Polaris was because his desire for redemption and specific ability for this mission. Meanwhile, Mister Terrific’s team continue to Oa with the power bank. With Guy inspecting the power bank, their ship is hit by another ship and the power bank is thrown into space, with it crashing onto the planet’s surface. In the end, batman is surprised that Lex has managed to quell public outrage. Air Wave feels like he is losing control of his powers and disappears in a flash of green light, with the Brainiac Queen appearing in his place and asking about her mother.
 
LOBO #3 by Skottie Young, Jorge Corona and Nicoletta Baldari.  After having left his left job, Lobo has a virtual meeting with Dr. Bixwell of the Omega+ Department of Bounty Affairs. When asked about any traumatic events in his life, Lobo tells of a field trip with Miss Tribb’s class and he decides to release all of the Space Dolphins, which gets him in deep trouble as he continues his reckless ways. Later, he meets Francis Dalex: the Mauve Lantern. In the process, he steals the Mauve Lantern ring and creates butterflies that, unfortunately, bite and stab. After a week of chaos, Dalex makes a call and Green Lantern Staraor arrives to use their power to stop a rampaging mauve bear.Dalaz is stripped of his title and Lobo steals the mauve ring. In the present, Lobo refuses to go any further with the therapy session and decides to turn down continuing his duties as a member of the Intergalactic Bounty Union.
 
NEW TITANS #35 by Tate Brombal, Sami Basri, Jordi Tarragona, and Vicente Cifuentes. In the past, Eva meets with Victor Stone. In the present, Victor explains to his Titans who Eva is when the Fearsome Five attack. Red Devil transports the team away, with them ending up in the Justice League’s Secret Sanctuary where they face more hard-light constructs. Eva connects with Victor and he finds himself in Robo-Cyborg’s virtual world, playing video games with his younger self in a virtual moment; eventually convincing his younger self to merge, bringing the real Cyborg back to all of the Titans. In the end, Eva asks Cyborg when he will tell the Titans the truth about everything and he tells her he will when he feels they are ready.
 
NIGHTWING #138 by Dan Watters and Denis Cowan. Nightwing is still trying to figure out everything that has happened lately and that takes him to visit a farmer whose animals are being attacked by some kind of two-legged feral creature. Starfire arrives and Dick tells her that he tested alien blood and it’s a Psion. While they are talking, the Psion attacks, with Starfire cremating him. Then they discover what was his spaceship. Upon investigation, they see a prerecorded message from the alien who was named Vikil Shivic who asks for help. Starfire destroys the ship, setting the alien’s spirit free. In the end, Nightwing meets with D,A, Eastbourne to tell his side of the highway pile-up as the Witch of Bludhaven accepts a ride from someone who says they can help her..
 
POISON IVY #44 by G. Willow Wilson and Jaime Infante. Despite the Parliament of Trees expressing their anger at Ivy, she rebukes them, saying she has a city to run. She meets someone who has lost their job because of budget cuts and immediately reinstates him before holding a budget meeting, saying she wants to use money saved from firing certain contractors to reinstate services but gets pushback from the city council. The next day, Ivy finds out that The Den newspaper put out a hit piece on her and heads off to the newspaper to take care of things and learns the publisher was friends with Marie Henley, who Ivy killed. That night, Ivy makes her way to the publisher’s home where she kills him with a slow poison. With everything going on, Batman visits Janet and tells her she needs to find a way to convince Ivy to resign. In the end, Ivy brings the deceased publisher to the Parliament representative and feeds the corpse to it.,
 
SUPERGIRL #13 by Sophie Campbell. Black Flame is on a rampage and kills Thunderlad 002 and Thunderlad 004.Unable to help them, Supergirl flees and heads off to find Lesla, as Black Flame convinces Thundergirl to join her. Conner and Lena arrive and a fight ensues with Lena falling to the ground below as Thundergirl watches. Supergirl gets to Lesla’s lab, with lesla shocked to see the condition of Kara’s body. She agrees to leave, but wants to bring Grab and Melt, her two lab assistants, with them. Heading through the tower where the lab is, Lesla talks about how she wished she could undo everything. Then she decides to show Supergirl something in the sub-basement: a miniaturized Argo City, which they enter.
 
SUPERMAN #38 by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora. C.K. has closed the comic shop when he sees a woman being chased by monsters, that turned out to be illusions created by the girl, who reveals herself to be Witchfire. She hits him with a fire spell and that has no effect on him, exposing him as Superboy-Prime. She tells him she was trying to use a regular person to draw out demons her coven had discovered. Prime offers to help her. Changing into Goth themed clothing, they go to a nightclub that contains dark magic. She explains that her exposure to dark magic has led to her being killed and resurrected many times. Inside a secret tunnel, they encounter two of her coven: Encantadora and Mirabai, with the four of them continuing into a dungeon that has an effect on gravity. They eventually reach Blaze and Satanus: siblings of Neron. While Prime flexes his strength, the witches cast a spell that banishes the demons from Metropolis.  Later, Witchfire thanks Prime and considers them going on a date but Prime’s speech is distorted with him being dragged into a white void on a comic book page. There he meets Manchester Black, who provokes Prime into punching a hole in the white space, with Prime now in his black suit and being right in the middle of Infinite Crisis.
 
SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #13 by Dan Slott and Lucas Meyer. Two scientists, Rho and Sigma watch Beppo having lunch with Bippo. Robbers show up and Beppo bites one, who shoots Bippo in the chest. Beppo, irate, takes down the robbers and then  attacks the scientists. Meanwhile, Jon is troubled by nightmares and Lois calls for help, with Krypto responding while Tomorrow Man deals with another matter. Tomorrow Man eventually arrives and he heads off on a mission with Jon while Lois hears about the rampaging Beppo. Tomorrow man and Jon go to the devastated laboratory of the scientists and discover the scientists, who look remarkably like Dabney Donovan. Beppo attacks and bites through Tomorrow Man’s armor, causing Tomorrow Man to be infected by the animal that has been injected with Kryptonite. Beppo attacks Superboy, who fights back by almost knocking out the monkey. Tomorrow Man calls the Planet to find that Bippo is safe in the hospital. He also tells Lois about the Kryptonite experiments and she wonders why Jon was not affected, leading Tomorrow man to wonder what his younger self will do next..
 
TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS: GUY GARDNER #1 by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, Laura Braga, and Vasco Georgiev. Guy captures an alien drug dealer and brings him to the planet of the Drekonites, where he demands to be paid 500 credits. Zardum from Green Lantern Internal Affairs has issues with his recent conduct and his paranoia about the Manhunters, who he insists are incapable of reactivating. Zardum summons John Stewart to meet with him, telling John that he needs to “reel in” Guy. On Earth, John heads to guy’s apartment, where he finds a lot of spoiled food and a pre-Lantern Manhunter in guy’s shower. Meanwhile, Guy is in space fighting space gorillas. John shows up and Guy immediately wants to know who he really is as “the real John” died. After a full-on, knock down, drag out fight, Guy is finally convinced that this John IS his John. Later, Killowog, at the direction of Zardum, that the Manhunters had been subverted by an alien from the Dark Pocket Universe; something they would have not known about if not for Guy and John. In the end, John and Guy go to dinner together and, after that, Guy had best watch his back as there is an angry gang of gorillas gunning for him.
 
WONDER WOMAN #33 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere. Twenty years from now, on the shore of Themyscira, Trinity gets a brief reunion with her father Steve Trevor but Wonder Woman tells the two that they need to follow her as she opens a way into the Underworld. Reaching the gates of the Underworld, they are greeted by Cerberus but the beast is easily tamed by Diana. They find Charron, who Steve had previously punched in the face and stolen his boat. Steve nicely asks to let them pass and Charron attacks them. Trinity subdues him and Diana knocks him out. Crossing the River Styx, they meet Zeus who refuses to let them pass so Diana cuts off her leg and they head to the palace of the Three Fates, where Diana demands they unmake the world they made which they refuse, saying what they did was not a mistake. Meanwhile, the Matriarch uses a Green Lantern ring to simulate Kryptonite and torture Superman, where he refuses to betray Diana and dies in the process. She races out and meets up with Diana, preparing for battle.
 
ZATANNA #2 by Jamal Campbell. Zatanna has gone to the Serpentes Shrine in the Sea of Dreams where she performs a purification spell, banishing the black tide from the shrine. She explains that the tide was the result of someone in the realm misusing magic. She returns to Shadowcrest and is greeted by Papa Midnite who says the spirit of singer Elodie Arnette has requested her. Elodie tells the story of Clara DuBois: a famous singer who died last week after being allowed to live for centuries. Aede, the spirit in the opera house where Clara had performed was devastated by her death and has become a plague spirit and started killing musicians. Meanwhile, Agent Di manes informs Director Bones at the DEO about the events from the last issue, which resulted in the deaths of civilians and agents. He is not happy and has found that the spirit’s origin is from a village in Southern France and instructs Di Manes to go there and finish the mission. Zatanna and her allies set up a performance to attract Aede while Di Manes and DEO agents watch. As soon as Zatanna begins to cast her spell, Di Manes and Agent Rhodes cast their own spell that knocks Zatanna out, with Di Manes taking control of Aede, with the spirit spreading flowers and red vines throughout the house.