NEW 52 Month 13, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #13: We are witness to the sentencing of Dr. Xa-Du to the Phantom Zone. As he is being sent away for 20 years, he promises to make Jor-El and his family pay. He never gets a parole hearing because that is that day Krypton explodes. So he is stuck there for a long, long time. In the present day Fortress of Solitude, Superman gets projected into the Phantom Zone by a mysterious figure. While attacked by hardened criminals, it’s Krypto who comes to his defense, along with that of the Phantom Stranger, who has been trapped here by Xa-Du. With Krypto’s help, Superman gets free and sends the villain back to the Phantom Zone, even as a mysterious villain plots to free him again. In the back-up story, we get Krypto’s orgin, complete with his being trapped in the Phantom Zone to save his master. Throughout his life on Earth, the phantom dog has always been there.

Grant Morrison turns in an average story in the main piece which just manages to act as a point to introduce Krypto to the New 52 Universe. Travel Foreman does an okay job with the art. Maybe it’s me, but there are some books that cry for comic style art, as opposed to painted ones. This is one of them. As far as the back-up goes, a very nice and touching piece by Sholly Fisch and Brad Walker.

ALL STAR WESTERN #13:  We start out with a killer clown taking out a priest in rather grisly fashion and it’s up to the trio of Arkham, Black and Hex to investigate. Haly’s Circus is in town and all sorts of weird things are going on. Then there’s Yanmei Tsen. who is being hunted by The Golden Dragons(as it appears everyone is as of late). She fights them off with a little help from Jonah Hex, but then disappears. In case you might forget, Yanmei Tsen is The Barbary Ghost. Anyway, they go to talk to Mr. Haly and we discover the several of his performers are missing AND ONE OF THEM, Jingles the Clown, goes on a psychotic rage and gets a bullet in the head for his troubles. The animal trainer gets eaten by one of his own tigers before Tallulah takes it out. It looks like the Dr. Jekyll formula is getting distributed to folks via the ever popular medicine man. Meanwhile, Doctor Jekyll has become Mr. Hyde and he wants his little black diamond back. Can you say Eclipso? The back-up story features the NEW 52 version of Tomahawk and he isn’t the character I grew up with.

This is just another killer issue from the team of Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Moitat. The book looks great; the story is just a roller coaster that does for comic Westerns what DEADWOOD did for TV Westerns, minus the cussing! Ariel Olivetti provides one really creepy cover and if you weren’t afraid of clowns before reading this book, you will be now!. The back up story, by Gray, Palmiotti and Phil Winslade, crafts a new legend for Tomahawk. He’s not an Indian a scout anymore. He’s an Indian with an agenda, especially after the slaughter of his family. Yeah, this guy is the Native American version of The Punisher: the character who does what he needs to and you find yourself cheering for him. This a great title and DC should be proud of it.

ANIMAL MAN #13: Buddy Baker finds himself back home and highly confused. A zombie Hawkman attacks and the save gets made by Steel, Black Orchid, and Beast Boy. The trio find is hard to believe that Buddy is who he says he is, but they head off to Red City as Steel tells the story of the past year. We see most of the heroes fall including The Flash, Batwoman, Supergirl and Poison Ivy. We also learn that Red City is created by the Totems and they keep the city alive and safe. Upon arrival, Buddy finds John Constantine, who quickly blames Buddy for the end of the world. He also finds the Shepherd, who informs Buddy that the rest of hi family is dead, including his daughter.  And that’s understandable as, in the parallel portion of the story set in the here and now, the family seek Cliff, who has been possessed and passes his disease along to his mom.

Poor Buddy. He is gone for what he thinks is a month and finds out it’s a whole year and almost everyone he knows is dead. And now he has to deal with the consequences and the guilt. And how DOES this tie into continuity? We have stories five years in the past, in the now and now one year in the future. Jeff Lemire and Steve Pugh continue to make Rotworld a very scary place!.

AQUAMAN #13: We start with a conversation from six years ago between Vostok and Aquaman. But now Vostok is dead and Aquaman is pissed!  Black Manta has Ya’wara’s teleportation orb and manages to split just as Aquaman gets there. The Others use the Operative’s airplane to track Manta. We learn that Dr. Shin hired Black Manta back in the day, which led to Arthur’s father’s death. Aquaman takes blame for accidentally killing Manta’s father, even though the rest try to convince him it was righteous because Manta’s father was wanted for murder. Black Manta meets with a group of Atlanteans who pay him for the scepter and promise to give him control of the surface world once they take over the world. Aquaman arrives to break the deal and tries to gain access into this Atlantean ship that he believes contains his brother the Ocean Master. The ship leaves, after taking possession of the scepter, and the two foes duel with Aquaman defeating Manta, but not killing him. The Others are left in charge of keeping the artifacts safe while The Operative gets to go to the families of the dead and give them a moment to come to grips with their grief. And Arthur and Mera? A time will come when the Atlanteans attack and fear that Mera will stand in their way.

Here we have another awesome issue from Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. The art looks great and the tale, which has lumbered on for so many issues now, comes to a satisfying conclusion. But where is Ocean Master? This tease is killing me! Bring on the brother!!! This remains one of my favorite books, which I thought I’d never say, especially after Geoff Johns habit for writing goofy dialogue. But THIS is his finest work!

BATGIRL #13: Back in issue #12, Batgirl was stabbed by Knightfall. Knightfall is preparing to make the killing blow when Batgirl convinces her that her the rest of her villainous team has been taken out by Batwoman and company. Knightfall removes her mask and reveals she is Charise Carnes. She then reveals her origin: how her boyfriend Trevor murdered her entire family. She never mentioned him when she was tried for their murder, and went to Arkham just to learn from the inmates there. She got out , found Trevor and has been keeping him captive. As Knightfall beats on Batgirl, Ricky lends a hand so Batgirl can finish Knightfall off. Meldoy McKenna and Batwoman arrive, placing Carnes under arrest. McKenna takes Batgirl to a doctor who won’t ask questions and she gets stitched up. Later, Barbara’s roommate introduces her to their new cat, Alaska. Barabra mentions that her family had the same breed of cat when she was a chuld. And the cat was named Alaska. Mrs. Gordon gets a visit from three men dressed as clowns in Hawaiian shirts. They claim it’s a night for making new memories. Lastly, The Disgraced get Mirror, Gretal and Grotesque out of prison with one goal” kill Batgirl.

Gail Simone, or perhaps the editors at DC, pull a fast one on us by saying it’s a DEATH OF THE FAMILY tie-in when it really is just the conclusion to the KNIGHTFALL story arc. Either way, we see the reach that James Jr. has into his sister’s life and that someone thinks it may be funny to duplicate Barbara’s crippling act. Some really nice art from Ed Benes on this issue too.

BATMAN #13: Bad omens have been popping up in Gotham City. Gotham River has been running backwards and a two-headed lion was born at the zoo. The Joker shows up at GCPD wearing the same Hawaiian shirt that he wore when he shot Barbara. The lights go out and soon Gordon is surround by an army of dead cops with broken necks. The Joker is gone and so is his face. Batman gets on the phone and he makes the rest of the Batman family aware of the situation. The Joker appears on TV and kills John Claridge, the son of Henry Claridge, thus repeating his first murder he ever committed in Gotham on the son of the first guy he murdered. He also threatens to kill the mayor in 24 hours. The mayor’s office is locked down but The Joker manages to poison all of the police officers with a a toxin of Acetaminophen, Chlorine, and Ethane. Batman realizes that refers to ACE chemicals where Red Hood became the Joker. Batman confronts The Joker in his Red Hood costume. It’s actually Harley Quinn and she traps him in a vat that is filling with some liquid. Meanwhile, Alfred finds a two-headed lion cub at the front door of Wayne Manor and finds the Joker wearing his old face and laughing. In the back-up story, we find out how Harley ends up in the Red Hood costume and what mental mind games her “puddin” puts her through.

Scott Snyder brings back our favorite psycho villain and he is bigger, badder, and more insane than ever. And this is just one of the prelude titles to DEATH OF THE FAMILY. By the time December rolls around, the crossover will be ripping through eight DC titles bringing the final total to 23 parts. Greg Capullo’s art is totally creepy and The Joker wearing his own face is both hilarious and scary at the same time. Best reference: during The Joker’s rant on TV he says that the mayor is going to be as dead as a baby bird smashed with a crowbar. Yeah-nice Jason Todd reference there. Regarding the back-up, it just goes to show how far Mr. J. will go to make his plans work. Great moody artwork from Jock on this one.

BATMAN INCORPORATED # 4: As you may remember, Leviathan has pretty much infiltrated all walks of life. Matches Malone, one of Batman’s alter egos, finds himself being strangled and suffocated. But Matches gets free just as all of Batman Incorporated attacks this safe house, including Wingman and Red Bird (Damien’s new identity!). Bruce shows his displeasure with Damian but allows him to continue on with them. They all defeat Leviathan’s henchmen and Batman arranges for GCPD to pick them up. He also calls Talia and asks her to call off this war, which she refuses to do. Meanwhile, Wingman reveals his identity to Damien. It’s Jason Todd, which really pisses off Damien who feels he has been totally left in the dark by Batman. The issue concludes with Batman telling his son that, for the safety of all of Gotham, Damien must go back home to his mother.

Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham continue to weave an amazing story! We all know who Leviathan is, and have known since the Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! But the question is how far Talia will go to see her version of world domination come to fruition? She already has a huge bounty out on her own son. What’s next? Only Morrison and Burnham know. Check this title out while Grant is still writing it.  

BATMAN AND ROBIN #13: Batman and Robin take the rocket ship out to perform maintenance on a communications satellite. Damian then asks his father if he ever loved Talia. We know Damian doesn’t ad Talia has a $500 million bounty on her son. Back in the atmosphere, they spy the Bat Signal. Damien takes the Bat-Shuttle back to the cave, while Batman goes to meet with Commissioner Gordon. Damien doesn’t stay at home for long and he’s off to look for one of the assassins Talia has sent after him. In the process, he runs into a band of zombies who are chanting “Eat to Live.”  No matter how hard bhe fights, Damien is soon overwhelmed by them, Damian attempts to fight them off, but is soon overtaken.

Another gem from Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, with a four page art assist from Tomas Giorello. Batman has a spaceship? Well, of course he does!  The writing bounces from being campy fun (not total camp but enough to make me smile) to ghastly nasty. Zombies in Gotham? When did this become THE WALKING DEAD? The artwork shines and next issue, we get DEATH OF THE FAMILY.

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #13: We start with Scarecrow collecting the tears from the girl he kidnapped. But he is also troubled by the horrific memories that his father’s research put him through. Batman wakes and finds himself strapped to a table. He orders his wrist armor, which is attached to the Batsuit across the room, to activate a laser and cut his chains for him. Batman puts on the suit and goes after the Scarecrow, who cuts him open with a scythe and then points out that Batman is still strapped to the table, thanks to the fear toxin. This has all been an illusion. By now, the Super Toxin is complete. It has no antidote and is so strong that Scarecrow has to wear a special mask to keep himself from falling victim to it. We get Jonathan Crane’s truly twisted origin as we learn that he was locked in a little dark room, while his father conducted tests on him. Crane’s father had a heart attack and died. It was several days before Crane’s colleague found the young boy afraid and starving. As he monologue’s away and goes to get his scythe, Batman breaks free and is now ready for the showdown.

Gregg Hurwitz has been responsible for writing the most twisted version of Scarecrow yet. And, at the same time, he has made him somewhat sympathetic due to the way his father treated him. This story is amazing. And David Finch, inking over his pencils, totally submits himself to his art. While he is a great writer and I love what he has done in the past, his concentrating on one medium instead of two just allows his work to be that much more intense! This is just another awesome issue and continues to be a true cornerstone in the Batman Universe.

BATWOMAN #13: Wonder Woman and Batwoman team up and head beneath the coean to see what is going on with Medusa. It turns out that prisoners and guards are dead and Medusa has escaped. It also turns out that Nyx, the goddess of night, was responsible for all this carnage. They get attacked by a huge amount of black worms and become captured by Nyx. Batwoman sets off a flash grenade and uses one of Black Manta’s flying subs to help them escape. They head off to the desert, where they meet with a decaying Pegasus-the child of Medusa and Poseidon. Back in Gotham, Cameron Chase and Bones plot the future. f Kate comes back alive, they will blackmail her into telling Wonder Woman’s secrets. If she does not return, they will recruit a recuperating Bette Kane to replace her.

I so LOVE having the team of J. H.Williams III and W. Haden Blackman back as the driving forces on this book. Kate Kane is such a great character and her entire supporting cast shines, from Maggie Sawyer to Director Bones and everyone in between. This still remains one of my favorite NEW 52 titles and is always at the top of my MUST READ stack.

BIRDS OF PREY #13: The Birds are in the process of recovering from being poisoned and remain isolated. Katana makes a food run, gets attacked by ninjas and has her sword stolen by the Dagger Clan. So, despite being warned not to do it because of her weakened condition, Tatsu heads to Japan where she is quickly drugged, blindfolded, and tasered. When she wakes, the Dagger Clan's leader wants her punished for dishonoring the clan. They plan on torturing her and then melting down the sword. And they are also getting ready to set off a bomb that will poison Japan for generations to come. The Birds come to the rescue but are outnumbered 100 to 1. They capture one of the Clan and Starling threatens to remove his eye from his socket, but leave his optic nerve intact so she can “turn it around so he can look at his own face.” He explains the man with the sword is named Condor and he wears a bird suit. Unseen by the Birds, the man grins, knowing he has totally lied to them.

One month, we have Poison Ivy being a total anarchist and the next, we have the team in Japan getting lied to about a guy in a bird suit. This is one wild ride. Thank you to Duane Swierczynski for writing such a compelling series for me to dwell over. And an equal number of kudos to the amazing Romano Molenaar for providing the art. Critics and fans have complained that this isn’t the BIRDS OF PREY they were used to. And they’re right…DEAL WITH IT!

CATWOMAN #13: Selina finds herself in a funk because The Joker has stolen some of Lola’s old toys and is using them to freak out Selina. So she ends up getting rid of a bunch of Lola’s belongings. She later meets a mystery man and gets contracted to make changes in a game of human chess which results in a pawn being taken off the table.

This is one weird issue and probably the weakest in the series so far. Ann Nocenti is not scoring any points with me with her work thus far and she can’t really make me feel for Selina like Judd Winick could. And Rafa Sandoval is good but is not Gullem Marsh. I am finding myself losing interest and it will certainly take a shot in the arm from DEATH OF THE FAMILY to really energize me again. Also, not points to listing this as a prologue unless we find out that the chess game is part of Joker’s plot.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #13:  Our story begins in Los Angeles where Blue Devil arrives to break up a drug deal being orchestrated by Tobias Whale. Black Lightning also arrives and the two heroes, not realizing each other are herfoes, begin to fight and let the bad guys get away. The Los Angeles Police show up and cause the heores to go in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Tobias Whale  has a plan and that is to figure out who these two heroes are and have them killed. As in pre NEW 52 times, Blue Devil is really a stunt man(or was at one point) and Black Lightning is a school teacher. Bad guys are threatening Black Lightning’s father and he attempts to save him. At the same time, one of the thugs shows up at the movie studio where the Devil is working and kills Blue Devil’s grandfather who dies in his grandson’s arms.

Okay, this title has just enough cool stuff in it to keep me interested. If you haven’t noticed, DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS is the NEW 52’s way of trying out possible future titles. Some have been really good, like CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN. Others, like the KID FLASH piece, were awful! This one harkens back to the good old days and I love it. Blue Devil BEFORE he became a devil (maybe Grandpa’s death will kick start that). And we get Black Lightning fighting crime in a suit nowhere near as ugly as his old one. And the ‘fro is gone too. But his major foil, Tobias Whale is BACK and that just makes me giddy like a schoolgirl, kids!!! Marc Andreyko writes a fun story but it’s the art of Robson Rocha and, more specifically, the coloring of Gabe Eltaeb that elevates this to new levels. The final splash page is magnificent! I cannot wait for the next issue of this one. It was just way too much fun!

DEATHSTROKE  #13: Deathstroke tries to spend some quality time with Zealot but ends up being ambushed by a guy named Deadborn, who spends the entire issue beating the heck out of our anti-hero. Before the end, Deathstroke uses his sword to take off the guys’ arm, who informs Slade that he was only warming up. Meanwhile, Jericho trains to build an army and kill his father.

Aren’t we through with Liefeld yet? Nope-he shows up with a crappy plot and leaves it in the hands of Joshua Williamson who can’t do much with it except gives us a fight issue with a lot of diary entries. Eduardo Panscia provides the art and it’s better than looking at Rob’s six fingered figures, but not by much. I have tried and tried but the specter of Mr. Liefeld Has tainted this book way too much for me. I had hope that it would be restored to the earlier greatness. But I don’t think there is hope here. This is the last of it.

DEMON KNIGHTS #13: Down in Hell, Etrigan’s companions are acting out strange scenarios. The Shining Knight witnesses his/her wedding day and is told to make a decision about his/her sexual orientation by a demon priest. The Knight, having drunk from the Holy Grail, manages to destroy the demon and heads off to rescue the rest.  Al Jabr is offered a cool alcoholic beverage to relieve his parched throat; something his religion forbids. Vandal Savage is hung upside down and has to deal with the droves of children he has abandoned. They want him to confess to all the horrible things he has done, but he begins bragging about his acts. The Horsewoman watches her parents be slaughtered again, just as in her past. Lucifer tells Exoristos that he will send her back to Earth if she sends souls back to him. He also shows her a black diamond which he claims will be important in the future. Madame Xanadu finds herself forced to tend to every whim of Etrigan. Meanwhile, Jason Blood, still on Earth, decides he can’t go on without Xanadu and prepares to kill himself. But his suicide attempt is interrupted by The Questing Queen and Mordru.

So how DO our heroes manage to break themselves out of Hell? Paul Cornell continues to lead us down all sorts of weird roads without ever truly answering the question fans have been asking since issue #1. Bernard Chang’s art is a nice substitute for Diogrenes Neves work. In fact, it’s almost seamless. Of course, we all know this storyline gets a full wrap-up with issue # 15 as Robert Venditti, who will be writing the recently announced CONSTANTINE title, will be taking over this title with issue #16. And he jumps the tale thirty years from now. THAT should be interesting! So…I guess we’re STILL not going to get many answers from Paul Cornell.

DETECTIVE COMICS #13: Bruce Wayne is supposed to be at The Neville Community Center for a donation and the opening of the Martha Wayne Children’s Wing. But he keeps getting involved in handling problems. These problems have all been set in motion by The Penguin to keep the Dark Knight busy. It seems Mr. Cobblepot has hired the Ghost Dragons to assassinate Bruce Wayne. And with Bruce Wayne out of the way, Cobblepot, who says he is one of Gotham’s four founding families, uses his threats to have the wing named in honor of HIS mother. Batman takes out the assassins but arrives at the Center, as Bruce, just in time to see it named for Esther Cobblepot. Penguin orders his assistant to cancel the hit, but it is too late. The Dragons finish a job once it is started and one Dragon is here to attack Bruce with a flaming sword. In the back up, an out of town crook proves he is too smart to work with one of The Penguin’s crooks and gets himself killed in the process.

This is the first issue by the new creative team of John Layman and Jason Fabok. While Tony Daniel set the bar especially high on the title, I happen to really like Layman’s story and his dialogue is very peppery. And Fabok’s art style is nowhere near as dark as his predecessors. It reminds me a lot of John Workman’s style and I’m good with that. His proportions are right on and his lines are nice and crisp. I cannot wait to see more from this crew.

DIAL H #5: Although his best friend was killed by the Squid, Jent teams up with him. His dial has stopped working and he needs to rescue Manteau from Ex Nihilo. Nihilo has let Abyss loose but the creature refuses to listen to her. Squid sacrifices himself so Jent and Manteau can escape and try and fix his dial. While watching Twitter feeds looking for Abyss, Manteau reveals her origin. She was once known as Roxie Hodder and ws a PhD candidate back in 1967. Soon after the Joy Festival, she discovered the dial and was overwhelmed with it. Ex Nihilo dials up and becomes the Hairbringer. Manteau fixes Nelson's dial, but not 100%. He becomes the silly looking Cock-a-Hoop. The US Army shows up and launches missiles into Abyss, to no avail. Nelson ends up teaming up with Ex Nihilo, who turns Abyss into stone. A strange figure with its’ own dial on its’ checst, flies out of Abyss and damages Ex Nihilo's dial with a screwdriver. She becomes human and falls to her death. Manteau and Nelson head home and wonder what will happen with a new player with a dial.

This is the most screwed up title in the NEW 52. I really have nothing else to say. If you want cute comic superhero stuff, this is NOT the book for you. If you want to scratch your head trying to figure out where the creative team is sending you, dive in.

EARTH 2 #5: Wesley Dodds, better known as The Sandman, leads his Sandmen and helps extract the President from the situation. Khan, the Commander of a group known as Sentinel tries to convince The World Council that Captain Al Pratt can handle the Grundy situation and there is no need to drop a Nuke on the area. Pratt has taken out Grundy and Green Lantern, but the dead vines get hold of him and it takes Hawkgirl and Flash to get Atom out. Green Lantern tries to convince the heroes to let him communicate with the Green and battle the Grey that way. The Grey tries to convince Alan to let them turn the world into decay and offer him his dead lover. Meanwhile, Terry Sloan is sent to Sentinel as a new advisor, much to Khan’s dismay. Sloan has ordered a nuclear strike.

Leave it to James Robinson to take these classic DC characters to a whole new place. Here is a man who knows these characters too well and it not afraid to break the mold and start anew. Factor in Nicola Scott’s beautiful art and this book is a major winner!

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #13:  Frankenstein continues to spar with his reborn creator, who now serves Anton Arcane.  Victor explains how he was rescued from death by The Rot and plans to help it conquer the world. In the middle of it all, condors arrive to take Frankenstein to metropolis, which has been overrun by the creatures of The Rot. He battles his way through and eventually is found by Vincent Velcoro, who informs him that Victor showed up at S.H.A.D.E. Headquarters and destroyed it and everyone in it.

Matt Kindt and Alberto Ponticelli weave the next portion of the ROTWORLD crossover and it’s a shocker. However, as much as I love this book, DC has put the axe in and this book will end with issue #16. That gives the crew three more issues to help out the Green and wrap up any loose plot threads.

GREEN LANTERN #13: We begin with Amanda Waller briefing the President about the new Green Lantern. Simon Baz is a presumed terrorist so President Obama tells her to make the Justice League aware. Meanwhile, Simon wakes up in Florida and hears parts of a corrupted message from Hal Jordan and Sinestro that tells him to find Arkillo and Carol Ferris. It gives him a Green Lantern uniform and tells him to fight the Guardians of the Galaxy. Now able to fly, Simon heads to Michigan where he finds Sira. He tells her that the ring has chosen him for a reason. He asks her to meet him that night and, when he arrives at his old school, he is surrounded by the Justice League. Meanwhile the Third Army begins their invasion.

Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke make you sit up and take notice with this NEW Green Lantern. Already the government is branding him as a terrorist and the Justice League is after him. It even looks like his sister may have sold him out. Goeff Johns lights this book up monthly and Mahnke continues to make the visuals pop. And, with the whole Third Army crossover in play, this is a must read title.

I, VAMPIRE #13: Andrew Bennett has technically wiped out all vampires on earth by absorbing their energy. Now he is the sole vampire and he has turned to the dark side. He took Tig as his queen and has corrupted her too. Matry Seward, long a vampire queen, is now human and struggling to deal with that. Despite being powerless, she confronts a mugger in the streets of Boston and he proceeds to knock her out. She strokes back the only way she can: she partially impales the guy on a spike of splintered wood. She may be powerless, but she is still a cold bitch. The decision is to go back to the beginning. John and Mary decide to look for any five -hundred-year-old man living in England. To do that, they seek out Deborah Dancer in the woods of Maine. But Andrew gets there first. Tig attempts to feed, but Andrew explains that she had once been his companion before John was. Mary and John burst in, armed to the teeth with the tools of the trade. Deborah is confused: just WHO IS the good guys here?

Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino have done such amazing things with this title and this is just another issue in a series of great ones. Each issue turns in a new twist. Here, we see the hero become the villain and the former villain become the hero. What happens now? Follow the last true vampire as he attempt to try and rebuild his empire. This is definitely NOT your father’s Gothic horror tale!