DC'S NEW 52: MONTH #11 Part 1

ACTION COMICS #11: In the wake of the death of Clark Kent, Superman constructs a new secret identity in the form of firefighter Johnny Clark. He visits Star Editor George Taylor in the hospital and Taylor confesses that Clark Kent was one of the best reporters he had ever known. Superman is also having issues regarding killing his alter ego and discusses them with a fairly uninterested Batman. Lois Lane’s niece Susie is apparently cosmically aware and has some connection with the mysterious Adam. He battles Superman, turns the citizens of Metropolis against him and critically injures Lois. The back-up story is a tale of how Superman got his original costume. Or is it?

The main story was okay with some nice bits by Grant Morrison. The fact that it takes three artists, Rags Morales, Rick Bryant and Brad Walker, to tell the tale concerns me. Overall, we see that Superman may just have shot himself in the foot by eliminating his alter ego. It’s not like Clark Kent was Mike Murdock (there’s a reference for the comic fans). In all fairness, the back-up story, by Sholly Fisch and Cafu, was a rollicking good time! It tells how Superman, at the beginning of his career, ending up ordering his logo t-shirts from one shop owner and now he sells them as souvenirs. At least, it MAY be this particular shop. It was fun and I would love to see more of the early days.

ALL STAR WESTERN #11:  Arkham is concerned that The Court of the Owls will get involved in a war with the Followers of the Crime Bible. Lucius Bennett gets attacked by Tallulah and Hex, who takes out Bennett’s bodyguard Mr. Baroque. Then the female Talon shows up and pulls Bennett out of the firefight, only to hang him from a bridge. The Crime Bible Followers promote to replace their lost members and get the Gotham Police to arrest Tallulah, Arkham and Hex on charges of killing Bennett. But they aren’t taken to jail. They are carted to Slaughter Swamp and are hooked up to the “Steam Powered Death Machine”. The Followers arrive and discover Tallulah has escaped. They’re in trouble now. In the back-up story, we get a Western introduction to Doctor Terrence Thirteen who is helping to investigate the case of the Haunted Highwayman.

As always, this is another awesome issue from Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Moritat. The Court of the Owls jumps headlong into the plot and begins their war with the Crime Bible folks. And we see how nasty Tallulah can be, not to mention how scarred both she and Hex are (in an interesting bedroom scene). Now the back-up? It’s way too early to tell on this one. Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Scott Kolins turn in a standard piece of work that just serves to set the story and introduce our cigar smoking hero. Certainly a far cry from the parapsychologist we last saw in FLASHPOINT.

ANIMAL MAN #11: Animal Man gets remade in a new image as the Rot has taken over his body and is terrorizing Cliff. Socks tries to help my becoming a giant, vengeful cat but gets a broken arm for his trouble. Animal Man arrives with a vengeance and beheads his old self. That’s when Cliff passes out and says he can see Arcane coming. Arcane? Yeah…it’s crossover time.

Jeff Lemire and Albeerto Poticelli cut loose and prepare for the horrific crossover of the year. That having been said, you need known nothing else. Everything since the first issue has been leading up to this moment and it will bring the entire battle with The Red, The Rot and The Green into the forefront of the NEW DCU. Get yourself a ringside seat for this epic starting next month.

AQUAMAN #11: We begin this story 6 years ago as Aquaman and his cohorts are in the tomb of the first king of Atlantis. In present day, Aquaman and his team greet Vostok-a long lost member who has been on the moon for two years. Meanwhile Manta kidnaps Shin and takes him to the tomb of the first king to search for the Seventh Relic. At last, he succeeds: the Scepter of the Dead king-the weapon that sank Atlantis.

Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are truly doing some of their best work of their careers on this book. The whole book has become this great epic which not only rewrites Aquaman’s long storied history but blazes a new path. I’ve been reading the Sea King’s adventures for most of my life and he has had great moments and really rotten ones. This is truly one of the better ones.

BATGIRL #11: Knightfall, really Charise Carnes, and her team face off with Batgirl. Just when it looks like Batgirl will meet her maker, Detective McKenna arrives to break up the party and save the day. It seems Charise and McKenna have some history together. It also seems that Charise may have been responsible for her family’s death. We do know she spent time in Arkham and saw McKenna’s husband die during a riot-a riot that McKenna was in the middle of. And she tells Batgirl there is a mole in the organization. And Batwoman is ready to move in. Meanwhile, Barabra’s brother takes her roommate home and gives her a kitten. This looks like the start of something bad.

This is a nice end to the story. And Detective McKenna arrives again and makes Batgirl more interesting. Add Knightfall, dressed like a poor man’s Azrael, into the Rogue’s Gallery because we KNOW she’ll be back. Fanboy critics still complain that we haven’t resolved Batgirl’s ability to walk again. But they need to get beyond it. She’s on her feet and picking up her life. They should too.

BATMAN #11: As the hype on the cover declares, it’s “the epic finale of The Court of the Owls”. It’s the battle we have all been waiting for: Bruce Wayne versus his brother, Thomas Wayne Jr. But is it REALLY the brother of the Bat? The battle takes place in a variety of places including on the outside of an airplane and the skyscraper the Bruce had planned to make the centerpiece of his revitalized Gotham. Instead, it becomes a tomb for Bruce’s alleged brother. but no body is found. later, Bruce explains the whole thing to Dick Grayson and believes he was a John Doe who was convinced early on that he WAS Thomas Wayne Jr. In the back-up story, we find out how the Court of the Owls dispatched Alfred’s father.

And so it ends, not with a bang but with a whisper. The book looks great thanks to Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion. Scott Snyder has truly crafted an epic story and introduced a villain who I am certain with return as part of Batman’s ongoing Rogue’s Gallery. All in all, this was a nicely crafted story by someone who truly appreciates the business and the character’s history.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #11:  Jason Todd gets quite a surprise when he finds a crowbar on his bed. It must be that wacky Damien who is messing with the former Robin who was, after all, beaten to death by The Joker. But you realize that ends up with a battle between these too. While this is going on, Terminus is having his followers cause major chaos in Gotham City, complete with police officers being branded with the bat symbol across their chest. Terminus reaches his end but not before he unleashes explosions throughout Gotham City that form the bat symbol. Oh…and there’s a surprise for the dynamic duo at the end of the book. And it could very well be terminus in a new life form.

And Damien continues down the highway to his own hell by messing with the already crazy Jason Todd. This is becoming a major dysfunctional family book! Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason keep making this a fun read. It reads like a buddy book even though it’s Batman and Son. I love this one! As far as I am concerned, the Bat Books are the winners in the NEW 52 sweepstakes.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #11: The introduction of the Scarecrow in the NEW 52 Universe continues. Bruce continues to find himself in hot water by continually running out on his girlfriend of the moment, Natalya. Jim Gordon is still within the clutches of the Scarecrow, who continues to capture children. We get some of his back story and it seems his father was even more of a torturing soul than his son is. Batman goes to visit Clair and discovers the van that abducted her was driven by the “Hello Man”. Actually, the license plate says “HLLWMAN” or Hollow Man. Batman pays the Hollow man and visit and ends up being treated to a massive injection of Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin.

Welcome to the dark and creepy corner of the Batman Universe. This Scarecrow is so tortured and so psychotic that I think he rivals The Joker for his sickness. Gregg Hurwitz turns what was an interesting but not spectacular book into something magical and allows David Finch to concentrate on his art. This is one of my favorite books to dive into when it comes out and immediately goes to the top of my “must read” pile.

BATWOMAN #11: The Drown the World storyline finally reaches a conclusion. Just when it looks like they will be pulling the plug, Bette Kane comes out of her coma. Batwoman battles with a possessed Sune (not really possessed…a shapeshifter) and Sune is shot by Agent Chase. Croc grabs his mistress and they leave in a portal while the ghost of Maria floods the building. When all is done, Sawyer and Kate have a quiet moment and we learn of Sawyer’s daughter.

This issue represents a somewhat satisfying ending to a long, drawn out story. All loose ends, mostly, are tied up and we move on. Unfortunately, this book lost a great deal of momentum along the way. The rotating artist merry-go-round helped create that. This issue it’s Trever McCarthy and Pere Perez. I understand that Williams is in high demand and will be illustrating the new SANDMAN book that Neil Gaiman is writing but a great deal of the allure is Williams’ art. So this story ends and we wait for a new one. Please bring this back to where it was prior to this six part story. 

BIRDS OF PREY #11: Poison Ivy gets revived in the Amazon even as a their drug dealing pilot gets killed by The Perennial. She also informs them that she has six months to live and all of the Birds have been given a toxin which means they have six months to live…unless they become eco-terrorists like her and help her save the planet. They attack a firm in Dubai and attempt to force them to change their company policy. This should be interesting.

Okay, I LOVE the story and HATE the art! Duane Swierczynski has turned the team upside down here. There IS a choice: fight Poison Ivy, die and pollute everyone on the planet. Or join her cause and truly save the planet. That’s quite a tough moral choice there. But the art job that Travel Foreman and Timothy Green II is very distracting. I don’t care for distorted face and noses bigger than they should be. Learn to draw with proportion intact!

CATWOMAN #11: Catwoman strikes up a deal with Detective Alvarez. Gwen gets propositioned by a mysterious stranger with a nose like The Penguin (just guessing here). The Dollmaker continues to deal with a broker about the organs he/she has for sale and later, during a stakeout, the villain strikes and, among other things, captures Detective Alvarez.

Judd Winick turns in another interesting chapter in the Dollhouse saga. And we get a hint onto the perp’s identity. He may be a she after all! Adriana Melo handles the art chores this issue and is no Guillen Marsh, but tries really hard. One more issue to go for Winick to wrap this up as Ann Nocenti takes over the writing chores as of issue #0. I hope her characterization of this feline is fine.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #11:  We discover that the crazy killer who has been creating havoc is actually the son of the man that captured Vandal Savage and paid for it with his life. This copycat killer has attempted to frame Savage and now has his daughter in his clutches. Just before he is about to slaughter the girl, her father arrives and does battle. In the end, it’s a well-placed bullet from her that saves her father’s life. Ultimately, she does what she has to: she arranges for him to be taken into custody. But we can expect to see him again, as he vomits up the key to his shackles while in prison.

And so James Robinson and Bernard Chang bring this tale of Vandal Savage to a conclusion. Ultimately, it was an okay story. Robinson is well known for his love of classic DC characters and, even after creating this unexpected tale of the immortal villain, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I truly expected more, not about Savage himself, but about his daughter. But she is a truly uninteresting character. I’ve seen SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and she is no Clarice Starling.

DEATHSTROKE #11:  Deathstroke and the Omegas take on Lobo, who apparently has been around for Centuries and enslaved the Omegas parents. We learn that Lobo has regenerative healing factor and he can totally trash Deathstroke’s Nth metal armor. And he’s going to blow up the planet. Could this be the end of the book AND the New 52 Universe? We can only hope!

So what is the best part of this issue? There is none! What was one of my favorite guilty pleasure reads has turned into a big steaming pile of poo! THIS is what I expected from Rob Liefeld. Each issue, the artwork decreases a bit more as he rushes through his illustrations. And with each issue, the writing gets that much less exciting. Stop trying to make this BLOODSTRIKE! I’m so done with this!

DEMON KNIGHTS #11: Last time, the team was afflicted by magic that turned them into monsters. All that is except for Madame Xanadu, who isn’t transformed because she has a connection to Avalon. The zombie corpse of King Arthur leads the team to healing waters that reverses the magic, including reviving Arthur. The team proceeds to a tower which emits eerie green light. There they fight an evil monster, that they manage to defeat. When all is done, we learn the team is headed right into a trap set forth by Xanadu’s sister…Morgaine LeFay.

That’s a twist I had not expected. Xanadu and LeFay are sisters. Very cool!  So now we have a great medieval story with a ton of mystical goings on and magic galore. Paul Cornell is doing a great job of putting all these characters together into one big anti-superhero team. And, after the last few issues being a bit slow moving, it was nice to see this one come roaring back. 

DETECTIVE COMMICS #11: Batman continues to battle Mr. Toxic and tries to save Hugh Marder. But what happens when Batman bashes own Toxic’s helmet to reveal…another Hugh Marder. Things get might curious as Bruce ends up meeting with one of the allegedly missing scientists who explains that Marder was working on forward Time Travel and using his own clones to experiment with it. Soon, two of the five Marder bodies regenerate, killing the morgue physicians in the process. With a sample in his lab, Batman begins doing his best detective work when the sample begins to grow and consume him. In the back-up tale, the resurrection of Two-Face come to a surprising conclusion as the man sent to kill Two-Face doesn’t.

Mr. Toxic is one of a series of clones? Yeah…that’s new. That would be sarcasm there. I don’t find this villain interesting, I don’t care about his multiple clones and I don’t care if Batman solves the crime or not. Tony Daniel’s story isn’t interesting to me at all and the fact that we have ANOTHER Fill-in artist in the form of  Julio Ferreira is just annoying. I have a hard time buying into a lousy story to begin with and then a rotating art cast just makes it less enjoyable. Regarding the back-up: I didn’t like the first parts and don’t care about the ending. If you want to reintroduce Two-Face into the Batman corner of the New 52 Universe, then do it for real and not with a half-assed effort like this one.

DIAL H #3:  Nelson Jent and the mysterious hooded woman, who we find is named Manteau, find themselves right in the middle of a gunfight.  To make things worse, a stray bullet takes out Nelson’s H Dial and breaks it.  The pair escapes, taking the dial with them. Manteau produces her own dial and explains that she has trying to solve a mystery. Every time there is a population increase in Littleville, the visitor comes from Fairfax, Maine. X.N., who we learn is a woman and her monster Squid has targeted someone and Nelson, now a female hero, arrive in time to see Abyss to rip out of the chest of the victim.

Welcome to DIAL H, where it’s one weird twist after another.  China Mieville, Mateua Santolouco and Brian Bolland combine for a package that kicks about everything else on the shelf today. It’s truly weird, totally wild and will hopefully make sense someday. Go buy this book and you will find it an amazing adventure.

EARTH 2 #3: Alan Scott, surviving the explosion from last issue, learns that his partner has died. Of course, he learns this from a glowing green light that heals his wounds, suits him up and gives him the Green Lantern ring. Alan Scott begins his superhero adventures and dedicates his life to the memory of his partner. Meanwhile, The Flash meets Hawkgirl and learns that everything is being affected by rot. The Rot comes from The Man of Grey. That man is Solomon Grundy.

James Robinson and Nicola Scott continue to retool the world Earth 2 and the image is amazing! While I really don’t like the costume of The Flash and am not so keen about Hawkgirl’s costume, I like Green Lantern and where the story is going. He is dedicating his life to the man he loved. And then we get Solomon Grundy. It’s a new image for a new millennium. And it’s a scary image. 

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #11: Frankenstein and Nina explore Untropolis after their long fall last issue. We learn that Frankenstein is trouble by memory flashes of the past lives of his various parts. We also learn that this place is where agents go to retire and the only way out is to kill Leviathan. So guess what our hero plans to do?

Another great looking cover for a scene that doesn’t exist!  Harvey nominated Matt Kindt continues his confusing run on this title as Frankenstein continues to have mental issues. Alberto Ponticelli continues to grow as a storyteller and, as always, the book looks great!

GREEN LANTERN #11:  William Hand is back and resurrects this whole family and shares a nice Chinese takeout dinner with them. The Guardians continue to plot the future. Hal Jordan has control of his ring now. Sinestro and Jordan go back to Sinestro’s home world and open the book of the Black Lanterns. They see visions of what will come and get transported to Hand’s bizarre dinner party.

Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke hit another creepy home run with this issue. William Hand digs up his family, that he was responsible for killing, so they can have a nice chat? Shades of Norman Bates! Great story and great art. I have said it before and will say it again: if you can only read ONE Geoff Johns written book, make it either this one or AQUAMAN.

I, VAMPIRE #11: The battle between vampires, mummified Van Helsing followers and Van Helsings continues. There is a problem because the vampires who BITE the mummies…turn into mummies themselves, which means more mummies and more of a mess. After dismembering Van Helsing and putting him pack together just for fun, Tyg takes him out for good. But it ain’t over yet: here come the reinforcements!

This book is so far off the hook that I can’t even go into more detail. Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino just turn the whole vampire story into a full-blown action yarn that is required reading!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #11:  The League wrestles with the spirits of the dead that have stirred up their most traumatic moments. Graves has managed to get away and pays a visit to Steve Trevor’s sister. The League arrives and Graves departs, leaving Steve’s sister angry and resentful. It seems that something Graves’ and his family were exposed too during the battle with Darkseid gave them all terminal cancer. Wonder Woman prepares to find her ex-lover, which leads to an all-put brawl between her and Green Lantern and leads to her putting the hurt on Superman! And this is all being broadcast live across the world. The team transports to Graves’ writing cabin in Maine, settle their differences and then transport to The Valley of the Souls. They all experience the ghosts of their lives and eventually Dian experiences the ghost of Steve Trevor. I guess it’s too late for him. In the SHAZAM back-up, Black Adam attacks Sivana and his assistant, who pays the price for not speaking Adam’s language. Billy and Freddie have a run in with the brothers and Billy ends up on a subway train to escape them. But where he ends up…it’s certainly not on any map we know. But it does have a big lightning bolt on it.

Okay, so Jim Lee’s art still isn’t up to what we are used to, but it is better than last month. And we only have two inkers and two colorists, so that is an improvement. I can’t believe that DC is going to kill of Steve Trevor, especially with him playing a major role in the new TEAM 7 book (although that is set in the past). The SHAZAM story still rocks my world! The story is fun, Billy Batson is still an annoying punk that is the complete antithesis of who we are used to and Sivana is a villain in the scheming sense of the word. Give me Mr. Mind!!!