ACTION
COMICS #23: Lady Lourdes and the
Pax Galactica have arrived on the moon where Straith and Superman have been fighting.
The Pax Galactica have come to fight an enemy called the Lexus and they are
hoping Superman can help them out and he agrees. Lexus, also known as the Devourer
of Life soon appears. Lexus is described by Lourdes as “evil incarnate” that wields dark
magic. When Lourdes
began to battle Lexus, there were 500 in the Pax Galactica, which is down to
only four. Superman takes Lourdes
enchanted blade and, using his x-ray vision, thrusts it through Lexus’ heart,
destroying the creature. At that point, the Pax Galactica declares him their
ruler. In the back-up, the World of Krypton story concludes with Zod and Jor-El
defeating The Colonel.
Scott Lobdell and Tyler Kirkham turn in a
confusing and really boring issue. PLEASE get this man off this character! I am
tired of the Big Blue Boy Scout being turned into the Big Blue Whining Guy in
Tights. I mean, I had issues with Grant characterization, but this is so much
worse. Superman wielding a sword and thrusting it through the bad guy’s heart?
C’mon: this is dumb, dumb, dumb. And the back-up: just glad it’s over. I
couldn’t stand the story and having it show Zod and Jor-El as good buddies just
really put me off. And all this time, I thought THE COLONEL was ZOD. Shows how
much I PAID ATTENTION!
ALL STAR
WESTERN #23: While Batman is
looking into Jonah Hex’ story, Hex and Dr. Arkham tear up the town as Hex is
searching for Booster Gold, so he can get back to his own time. Hex decides he
needs a drink and he and the good doctor end up at a bar, where they are accused
of being homosexuals by some trouble makers which is the perfect excuse for Hex
to start a brawl. So impressed is the bartender that she and Hex end up in bed
together while Jeremiah ends up with her flirtatious roommate. The next
morning, the foursome end up at a chop-shop to change vehicles. Afterwards they
pass a breast cancer awareness march, which suddenly gets interrupted by a speeding
car that crashes into the camp. Hex heads into a nearby gun shop and is given a
rifle by a sympathetic owner. The driver is seeking revenge for his wife's plan
to divorce him. Jonah responds by putting a bullet through the driver’s head.
Jonah gets arrested as a mass murderer even though he saved countless people in
the process. Suddenly Bruce Wayne arrives at the hospital and says he will
provide legal representation for Hex.
Jimmy Palmitotti, Justin Gray and
Moritat craft a weird feeling one this issue. We have Hex and Arkham playing
male versions of Thelma and Louise in this buddy road trip. Then they end up in
a bar where the whole concept of homosexuality and gay marriage is debated. I
love that someone has to explain to Hex what gay means! Then we get to watch
Arkham get nervous around the positively excited roommate of the barmaid and
then Jonah and the barmaid make post coital small talk. Then we get an
explanation of what breast cancer awareness is before the vigilante who looks
like he old Wild Dog character shows up, pissed as his wife and mows down
innocents. Wow! This is a totally weird chapter. And, if that wasn’’t enough,
what IS with the mutants?
ANIMAL
MAN #23: With Buddy nominated
for Best Actor, the conjecture is that the View-Tube video of Buddy fighting the
splinterfolk is nothing but a publicity stunt. Buddy is
pretty upset by it and has locked himself in his hotel room. Later that night,
Buddy attempts to break into Belle Reve to talk to Clinton Hogue and find out
more information about the splinterfolk. Meanwhile, Brother Blood complains
that he was born with a connection to the Red but the Totems passed him over
for Buddy. He believes if he drinks Buddy's blood, he will gain access the Red.
Unfortunately, when he drinks the blood, he breaks out in the same bloody
tattoo that once affected Buddy long ago. Maxine is still within the Red trying
to find her brother Cliff, but there is a chance that his soul is on its way to
the Rib-Cave to be reincarnated. Brother Blood enters the Red and begins to
murder the Totems. One of the Totems admits he called on Brother Blood to put
an end to the Parliament of Limbs.
Jeff
Lemire, my hero when it comes to writing creepy, continues to turn things loose
on this title. With art from Steve Pugh, Buddy Baker’s life continues to get
more and more complicated. His marriage is in disarray, with son is dead, his
daughter deep in the Red and Brother Blood, long a Teen Titans foe, trying to
tap into the energy of The Red and get some help in the process. It’s gonna be
a long road for our hero.
AQUAMAN #23: Aquaman and Mera attempt to escape from the Xebel
forces who are loyal to the Dead King. We learn that Mera’s father used to be
king of Xebel and she inherited his ability to control water. The pair decide
to return to Atlantis because they believes Vulko knows about the Dead King. Meanwhile,
Tula, Murk and
Swatt prepare to enter the prison to rescue Orm when they learn Atlantis is
under attack. When Aquaman and Mera arrive at Atlantis, they lead the attack
against the Scavenger. Urn sacrifices his life to save Aquaman from a missle
attack. Using his telepathic powers, he gets Topo to attack the Scavenger's
fleet. But the strain of the telepathic command causes Aquaman to pass out,
just as the Dead King and his Xebel forces arrive. When Aquaman awakens, he is inside
a tent with Vulko taking care of him. Aquaman, sporting a beard, has been in a
coma for six months.
So Geoff Johns has decided to slap the beard on
our sea hero. How long will it be before he loses a hand to a shark? Speaking
of which, have we jumped the shark by jumping ahead six months in time? What
will have changed in all that time? And how does this tie in to the FOREVER
EVIL storyline? Anyway, the story is fun, Paul Pelletier’s artwork is great, as
always, and the dialogue, even when there are silly bits, is compelling and
fun. Yeah: it’s a fun read!
BATGIRL #23: Comissioner Gordon and Detective McKenna arrive at
Charise Carnes apartment and he asks for her help in finding the killer known
as Batgirl. They set their sights on questioning Ricky Gutierrez. Her alter
ego, Barbara in out shopping with her roommate Alysia Yeoh and Barbara defeats
some would be muggers in the process. Arriving at home, Barbara gets a call
from Ricky, who explains he can’t see her anymore. Ricky is off the meet with
the leader of the Sixty-Eight
Kings street gang, who have captured his brother Rolo.
Gordon and McKenna arrive just as Rocky heads off and he accidentally knocks
McKenna unconscious in the process. Gordon searches the house and sees pictures
of Ricky and Barbara together. Barbara follows Ricky and, having decided top
give up the mantle of the bat, disguises herself and gets into it with some of
the Sixty-Eight Kings. Outside, Knightfall has assembled The Disgraced to kill Commissioner
Gordon. Gordon and his men burst in just as Tyrell prepares to kill Rolo. The
Commissioner takes a shot and it apparently kills Ricky.
First we start out with a tremendous looking Alex Garner cover. Then we move
to the story where Batgirl is trying to deal with her brother’s death AND now
the APPARENT death of her thug boyfriend. Jim Gordon is in a major snit about
Batgirl killing his son(he thinks-read SUICIDE SQUAD Jim) and Knightfall is so
paranoid she thinks the Gordon is after her so she plans on having him killed.
This is all just part of the neatly tangled tale by Gail Simone and Fernando
Pasarin.
BATMAN #23: Bruce has been blasted into the bottom of
the well and the Red Hood Gang are in hot pursuit. They grab a bunch of ancient
weapons from Bruce's collection and beat him severely, while the Red Hood mocks
him. As the place burns and the walls start coming down, a monologuing Red Hood
grabs a portrait of Bruce’s parents and fires a gunshot through their faces and
into Bruce's stomach. He manages to activate the secret panel that leads to the
tunnels below and eventually to the manor, where he collapses. When he awakes,
Alfred is tending to his wounds. That night, he discovers his father’s mapping
device and begs his father for some kind of sign. The mapping device activates and
creates a 3D image of the cave he had fallen into as a boy. Standing by the
open window, a swarm of holographic bats fly through. Seeing this as a sign,
Bruce vows to become a bat. Meanwhile, Philip Kane is having issues with his adviser Edwrd Nygma, as he believes Nygma is responsible for sending Red Hood
after Bruce. Kane threatens to kill him and Nygma says "Cain", which
activates a ginat magnet in the floor and drags Kane, who has a metal plate in
his head, to the floor. Nygma’s quits, but is told he will always be a question
mark. In the back-up, we see Bruce involved in a death-match fight in Norway.
Purists will be flipping out over this retooling
of the origin (you think that’s something, wait until ZERO YEAR invades the
rest of the NEW 52). Well, as much as I recall the classic Bruce in the smoking
jacket being inspired by a bat, the whole smoking jacket thing REALLY made me
think Dr. Wertham was right! Anyway, I like where this is going, even if I
don’t truly buy the whole Edward Nygma was a villain in Bruce’s life BEFORE
Batman. Of course, I don’t buy the Red Hood being under the command of Nygma.
But, this is the NEW 52 and I am willing to suspend disbelief. After all, I am
ready to believe that Ben Affleck can be Batman…
BATMAN
AND ROBIN #23: Bruce has been
using a virtual reality program to relive the events that killed Damian,
convinced he could have saved his son’s life. Alfred calls Nightwing back from Chicago to have a talk
with his former partner, but instead the former Boy Wonder joins him within the
simulation. Nightwing ends up killing the Heretic with a spear and Damian
lives. But Bruce realizes it was only a simulation and Damian is still dead. Dick
suggests he takes Damian's death to become a better Batman. Later, Alfred runs
the simulation himself. In that sim, Alfred pricks the boy with a tranquilizer
before he can leave the cave. Bruce finds a tearful Alfred using the device,
and the older man apologizes for letting Damian go. Bruce agrees to shut the
simulation down permanently.
Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
continue their epic run on this title with the ever changing name. This time it
is called BATMAN AND NIGHTWING, obviously. We continue to see a father’s grief,
but it is now tended with sorrow as opposed to the desperate anger which he
first approached it with. Remember: he originally was trying to pull a PET
SEMETARY and resurrect him suing Dr. Frankenstein’s methods. So we proceed into
Villains Month with The Dark Knight a little more at ease. Not totally at
peace, but more at ease.
BATMAN INCORPORATED SPECIAL #1: Batman is checking the
Bat-computer’s case files on members of Batman Incorporated. The first tale
involves Jiru, the Batman of Japan. Seems someone has been storing human organs
in vending machines. Jiro and Canary end up at the Capsule Hotel, where
businessmen are being killed and their parts are being sold. The man
responsible is Doctor Inside-Out and our heroes eventually capture him. The
next case has Squire who battles and defeats Srpingheel Jack before becoming the
Knight. Raven Red battles Coyote while remembering a moment with an old man at the
top of a casino. The next case file features Nightrunner, El Gaucho, and Dark
Ranger. The next story is followed by The Battlin’ Bovine Bat-Cow breaking up a
kidnapping. In the end, Batman decides not to archive the case folder for
Batman Incorporated.
And thus BATMAN INCORPORATED
comes to an end. This was a fun little anthology that gave us some cool stories.
Chris Burnham needs to be given a MONTHLY BATMAN JAPAN title…just because it’s so
much fun! Yeah I know: ANOTHER Bat Title? So cancel BATWING and give us this.
And I don’t even READ BATWING. The Knight tale by Joe Keatinge and Emanuel
Simeone is a nice way to pas the torch. The Raven Red was okay and highlighted
by the art of John Paul Leon. The El Gaucho tale was also okay with a lot of
action and some nice art from John Stanisci. The higghlight of the book had to
be the adventure of Bat Cow by Dan Didio and Ethan Van Sciver. Six silent
pages. Proof that Didio does his best work when he’s only has to write one line
of dialogue: “MOO!”
BATMAN SUPERMAN #3: We learn that
the Earth Two Wonder Woman stabbed Lois
Lane because Kaiyo the Trickster from Apokolips
possessed her body. Kaiyo convinces Superman of Earth Two that Batman has the
means to kill Superman if needed. The leads to a flashback where Clark and his
family first met Alfred and Bruce. Going back to the present, which is actually
the past, Superman finds the crystal he had knocked out of Batman’s hands. Apparently
it comes from a government bunker studying it. The two Batmen attack the two
Supermen and, in the process, our Batman and Superman learn each other’s secret
identities. Kaiyo returns and tells them all that the weapon they want to
destroy is the only weapon that can defeat Darkseid.
I have total mixed feelings
about this title. Jae Lee’s art is his usual great work but the story by Greg
Pak makes me yearn for his HULK work. It is a confusing mess. We have the
trinity from Earth 2 and the heroes of Earth Prime and unless you pay attention
to the costume, it is extremely difficult to see who is who. And then we fill a
good portion of the book with the first meeting of Bruce and Clark of Earth 2.
It’s kind of weird and a little creepy and the fact that Clark and Bruce would
spar without Clark killing him accidentally is
hard to swallow. And this is all going to lead to a meeting with Darkseid? So,
we certainly know where this falls in the timeline. And I really don’t care.
Even with Scott Lobdell doing a smash up job(?) on the main Superman titles, I
would take his titles over this in a heartbeat.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #23: At
the Gotham Securities Exchange, Clayface manages to
sneak in with a tour group and begins to short out the computers there, causing
the market to immediately crash. Done with his crew, he then murders his
henchmen and turns his attention to one witness. Just in time, Batman arrives
and rescues her. Clayface pursues Batman who tries several times to use his new
weapon on the villain but it doesn’t work. He needs it to create a complete
seal, otherwise Clayface slips out. Batman ends up in Arkham where he questions
Mad Hatter about who he told about his relationship with Natalya Trusevich but
to no avail. Soon the Darek Knight is in Penguin’s bedroom who he accuses of
hiring Clayface to make the market crash. Clayface attempts
to steal some rare cat's eye diamonds, but Batman arrives. Actually
several Batmen arrive, confusing the villain. Finally the real Batman flies
overhead in the Batplane with the perfect ait tight container. The various
Batmen were Jim Gordon and the rest of the GCPD. With Clayface in jail, Gordon
knows it’s only a matter of time before Clayface finds a crack to slip through.
The concluding chapter in Gregg Hurwitz story is great with the shape
changer being held in the ultimate trap. But if it cracks during the FOREVER
EVIL story…? Alex Maleev delivers some
of his best work since DAREDEVIL and I could almost get used to him being the
regular artist as I see Daredevil and batman as being cut from similar cloth.
Next issue is part of VILLAINS MONTH and we get the origin of Clayface. I
wonder which origin and which Clayface. It should be interesting…
BATWOMAN #23: Kate and Maggie Sawyer discuss the incident where Kate
accidentally injected Maggie with Fear-Toxin. So Kate injects herself with it
to see what Maggie went through. With Maggie waiting beside her, Kate rides out
the violent hallucinations. When she awakens, she apologizes for hiding her
true identity, promises to never cheat, never kill someone who wasn't going to
kill her, and never hurt her daughter. Kate proposes for a second time and Maggie
accepts. Meanwhile, Bette Kane watches her father interrogate a DEO Agent and
decides to take a different approach to getting home to talk. After explaining
what she believes will happen when Director Bones lets the people in Washington down. With
that the Agent agrees to talk. Speaking of the DEO, Cameron Chase releases a
whole batch of dangerous criminals, including bane, who she leaves in charge,
as part of "Operation Batfrack".
J. H. Williams III and W. Hadem Blackman continue to build towards what is
going to be an interesting war on the Bat. We get a boatload of trippy images
during Kate’s psychotic reaction to the Fear Toxin, followed by a proposal and
an acceptance. We get Bette using intellect to get info on the DEO versus her
dad’s military tactics. And the fact that Bane is leading a team for Operation Batfrack
(LOVE THE NAME!) is just scary wrong and so right! But I don’t like Trevor
McCarthy’s art at all. It just is too formless as opposed to Williams’
wonderful style. This is the only negative I can find. This is still one of my
favorite titles. As I have said before: she’s gay and you need to get past it
to get to the heart of this book. Unfortunately DC seems to have issues as
Williams and Blackman have announced that, because of issues with DC Editorial,
they will be exiting this title as of issue #26. Guess who isn’t happy about
this?
BIRDS OF PREY #23: Basilisk has subdued the Birds and Uplink is
feeding them all dreams that never happened. Condor dreams of he and Dinah
falling in love with each other. Dinah dreams of Team 7’s encounter with the Pandora
Box. In this dream, Kurt survives but he fades and turns into Condor. Barbara
dreams of a happy family where her brother is sane and she gets accepted into
the FBI. Strix dreams of her grandmother and how Mary tries to warn people
about the balloon that explodes, killing everyone and burning her. Uplink’s
control is weakened and soon the Birds, minus Condor and Black Canary who have
already been shipped back to Tsiklon, wake. When Dinah wakes, she discovers that
her Canary Cry won't work because her husband Kurt, who is supposed to be dead,
is being held in a tube in the room with her.
So NOW we get some interesting stuff and
we have to wait for the last THREE PAGES to get the big plot piece? We have an
entire issue full of “would of, should of and could have” to get to the
revelation the Kurt Lance is still alive. This is another issue of Christy
Marx’ usually boring dialogue that I find myself having to struggle to get
through. But Romeo Molenaar’s art is the BOMB!
CATWOMAN #23: Catwoman and Princess Tinderbox are on
their way to the land of the Warhogs to broker a peace that will allow Selina
to find Rat-Tail. During their journey, Catwoman begins to be bothered by this
cat that continues to follow them. As they get closer, the Warhogs attack. They
are captured and brought inside, where they immediately receive a cleansing gas
shower and meet the chief Warhog, who is developing bacteria that will help
humanity survive a biological event. Convinced that this Bio-Toxin will
eventually kill everybody in Gotham, she
steals the test tube and uses it so she and Tinderbox can gain their escape.
Unfortunately, the Joker’s Daughter and the strange cat are waiting for them.
The Joker’s Daughter?
For the history impaired, the
original Joker’s Daughter was Duela Dent, the biological child of Two-Face and
Gilda Dent. She was a member of the Teen Titans and Titans East and certainly
didn’t look like the Joker currently does. Perhaps she is wearing his face, as
it did sort of float away at the end of the DEATH OF THE FAMILY storyline. The
story is interesting, but Ann Nocenti’s dialogue, even with an assist from
Scott McDaniel, is like something from a high school writing assignment…and one
that probably got a C+. The bantering between Selina and her charge is ridiculous
and it only gets worse when they arrive at Warhogs bunker. Rafa Sandoval’s art
is consistently great and is the true high
point of the issue.
CONSTANTINE #6: Constantine may soon be dead, especially since Lloyd
called Zatanna and gets her answering machine. John is having an out of
body experience and Chris is his tormentor, as he has been cutting deals with
those on the Astral Plane to make Constantine’s life and afterlife a living
hell. Constatine warms him that it’s not good to make deals with the spirits of
the Cult. But he gets dragged away
by the Cult's eliminators who warn Constantine
that they will come for him when he truly dies. Meanwile, Tannarak learns of
John’s impending death from Mister E and Sargon and sends cultists to the bar
to finish the job. But they are halted by Lloyd and a rifle. When he runs out
of bullets, Papa Midnite comes to his aide, because his man MopMop was
corrupted and killed by the Cult. While Tannarak heads to Dotty's Pet store,
Midnite uses his voodoo magic to bring John back to life. Unfortunately,
Tannarak has found John’s secret room where all of the occult weapons and
artifacts are hid.
Yeah…he’s pretty much screwed! Actually, not really. After
all, he IS John Constantine. He could take a snake out of its’ skin while it’s
still slithering. Ray Fawkes, with the artistic assist of Renato Guedes, has
managed to quickly grasp the concept of the man and is doing a competent job of
translating that to the NEW 52 Universe. I had pretty much written this book
off with the first issues, but persistence does pay off as this book continues
to get better in style and substance. And I REALLY LOVE Papa Midnite.
DEMON
KNIGHTS #23: Despite the Shining Knight being healed and the Horsewoman
getting her legs back, the Giants are bombing al-Wadi. Jason Blood goes back to
Hell and unleashes the Demon Etrigan to help his fellow Knights battle the
Giants. From a hot air balloon, al Jabr and his troops attack. And the prize of
the Black Diamond gets knocked from his hands by Xanadu and in falls into the
hands of the Giants who find themselves fighting over it. When all is said and
done, Vandal Savage escapes and all of the Giants end up dead. Al Jabr takes
the Black Diamond and locks it away with the Holy Grail, as they cancel each
other out. This allows the Demon Knights to ride off into the sunset of future
comicdom.
And thus ends one of the
original NEW 52 titles which never really gained enough of a fan following to
be a success. I personally was surprised it lasted this long. In the end,
Robert Vendetti and Phil Winslade become the final creative team and bring the
series to a satisfying conclusion for me. I’m sure many of these heroes will
pop up again, especially Etrigan. You can’t keep a demon down this long.
Personally, I would expect to see him pop up in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK with his
former team mate Xanadu. It was a sometimes fun and sometimes frustrating ride,
but it will be missed.
DETECTIVE COMICS #23: We learn that the guy who got tossed out of The
Wrath’s plane was a crook named Clyde Anderson who Batman had tried to mentor
to three years ago. Batman also is pretty positive that E.D. Caldwell is The
Wrath, although he has no solid proof. Bruce meets with Caldwell, which includes martial arts
sparring during their negotiations. Caldwell
has special video contact lenses that allow him to watch Alfred as he is going
through Cladwell’s private armory. Excusing himself, Bruce takes a call from
Alfred but it is cut short when the butler is suddenly caught and menaced by The
Wrath himself, who announces he is coming for Batman next. In the back-up, we learn that Francine Langstrom married Kirk Langstrom
because her employers at Caldwell Industries had instructed her to, along with
making sure he completed his Atavistic Gene Recall Serum. After the serum got
loose in Gotham, she realized the operation
was compromised and developed her own formula, which is both addicting and
turning her into a killer. Kirk tries to convince her to let him fix it, but
she attacks him and flees.
John
Layman and Jason Fabok continue to turn E.D. Caldwell and Caldwell Industries
into a major player in the NEW 52 Gotham
City. With plans to start
a war while also trying to align himself with GCPD, this sly businessman is
poised to become a major player in the Rogue’s Gallery. And, for once, I find
myself a FAN of the back-up, as we finally get a resolution to the Man-Bat
story and learn that Francine was just a hired hand sent by Caldwell to get the formula created and kill
off her husband. Cold stuff! And not the Francine Langstrom from the old DCU
where she was the loving concerned wife. I actually look forward to more of
this story, especially if it’s by Layman and artist Andy Clarke.
DIAL H #15: Nelson and the Dial Bunch
have finally made it to the Hub: where all realities connect through the
Exchange. The Centipede is waiting for them, leading to attacks on him by Dwan,
Nelson and Roxie. The Fixer arrives and he and the Centipede take off with
Nelson. Roxie and the Dial Bunch find a section of the Hub where the wires are
frayed and cut, allowing elements of an infinite number of worlds to arrive
here. Nelson wakes up and is introduced to O, the Lost Operator. We learn that
he has created a D-Dial, which destroys realities by randomly dialing up apocalypses.
He dials and wipes out the reality of Metacastle. Fixer tells Nelson that O has
promised the Centipede an E-Dial(for Evil). Fixer explains the true workings of
The Hub and how people of various realities found their way to the Hub and that
the Lost Operator nearly caused genocide with the Doom Dial. He broke time and sent
Dials off to other realities, which the Fixer has sent a lifetime trying to
retrieve, only to find that the Exchange tower fell only days after he left
this world. Meanwhile, Open-Window Man gets inside and finds hundreds of dials
inside. Roxie replaces her S-Dial with a flawless H-Dial that she can use to
battle Centipede. The Fixer and Nelson team up to take down The Operator, while
The Centipede cranks up his E-Dial. Nelson creates a mash-up hero with Chimney
Lacrymose, which can’t be shut down by O, and continues to dial mash-ups. O
dials a mash-up that is unrecognizable as any one thing and causes the Operator,
the tower and Centipede to explode. Nelson, Roxie, and Open-Window Man decide
to dial again to find their friends.
And so ends one of the most confusing titles in
recent history. This book was so far out there it was truly destined to fail
from the start. But somewhere down the road these characters will reappear in
the NEW 52 DCU and someone might even declare this as one of the most
underrated series ever. Credit to be given to DC for even attempting to find
and audience, and to China Mieville and Alberto Ponticelli for sticking it out
and turning out some amazing, if not bizarre, work.
EARTH 2 #15:
The Flash, Wesley Dodds and his
Sandmen have been knocked about by a battle with Steppenwolf’s Hunger Dogs, as
have many of the other New Wonders. Green Lantern was trashed by Brutaal,
Doctor Fate found himself defeated by Beguiler and The Atom was taken out by
Bedlam, after he had been driven mad and taken out The Flash. While all this is
going on, the World Army is getting ready to cross the Dherain border. In Casablanca, Hawkgirl continues
her investigation into the death of Alan Scott's murdered fiancé. The trail leads
her to the Double Zero Casino and a man named Darcy Twain, also known as Roger
Sharpe and Hazard. In Gotham
City, Scott Free and
Barda are being attacked by Fury, who graduated from Granny Goodness’ finishing
school with Barda. Scott steps in to help when a red robot calling itself Red
Tornado Unit 1.3 interrupts telling all parties to yield to her by order of the
World Army.
Nicola Scott and Tervor Scott’s art is
awesome! James Robinson’s story-not so much. I like that he is throwing in a
bunch of Fourth World characters and has even
reintroduced Red Tornado as the female she was back in the Golden Age of Earth
2. But the story is so disjointed right now with action in Dherain, at the
Dherain border, in Casablanca and in Gotham City.
So stories have one plotline that plods along. This one has four that will
eventually all intersect. I hope that happens before Robinson bids farewell to
this title and DC.
GREEN ARROW #23: The
implant that gives Count Vertigo his powers has been taken out by one of
Oliver’s EMP arrows. As one of Vertigo's doctors tries to repair it, the Count
plots to recapture Oliver and Shado. Against doctor’s orders, he proceeds after
them. Oliver is still reeling from the revelation that Emiko is NOT Komodo’s daughter
but Shado’s by Robert Queen. Vertigo’s men arrive to attack and Shado takes
them out of the picture quite quickly and handily. With the bad guys taken out,
Shado explains how Komodo killed Robert Queen, and took Emiko from her. The pair had sought the ancient artifact
known as the Green Arrow, which was also sought by The Outsiders. Lacroix
killed Robert, who was his rival for leadership of the Arrow Clan. Count
Vertigo attacks and Shado collapses, but recovers quickly. She kills off
Vertigo's men and takes down Vertigo, telling him to tell Komodo that she is
coming for him. In Hungary,
Henry prepares to tell Naomi how he feels about her but she confesses her
feelings for Oliver, crushing Henry. Meanwhile, Seattle Mob Boss Jimmy MacGowan
finds that someone is killing off mob bosses. He gets tossed from an upper
floor window by Richard Dragon, who plans to take control of everything in Seattle.
Richard
Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter, gets introduced into the NEW 52. Of course the Richard
Dragon we knew was once Richard Drakunovski and trained Oracle,
Huntress and The Question. But this one appears to be on the Dark Side, as the
original character once was. Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino are making this
title as fun as it has ever been. It is a far cry from where it started in the
NEW 52 and, I would have to say, is truly being saved by the twists and turns
Lemire is throwing in. I love the introduction of Shado and wonder how long
before she and Ollie become a couple. Would that be weird? The mother of your
half sister is your lover?
GREEN LANTERN #23: Hal mourns the
fact that Lantern recruits have died battling Larfleeze and his Lanterns. And,
making things worse, prisoner Prixiam Nol-anj has escaped, killed a Lantern
guard and has become a Star Sapphire in the process. Hal goes after her and
finds her on a barren world where she has reunited with members of The Clann.
There is a battle and she manipulates him with his love for Carol Ferris.
Suddenly, their rings cut out, only for a moment. He rushes off to try and save
Carol as he has seen a vision of her and Kyle Rayner battling against Relic,
even though his ring can no longer detect them.
I’m still trying to get used to
the non Geoff Johns/Doug Mahnke version of GREEN LANTERN. Writer Robert Venditti
is doing an adequate job, although I think he’s trying too hard to get Hal back
into the driver’s seat and show some backbone. Hal, as of late, has become the
Green Lantern we love to hate. Unfortunately, Hal is still hung up and his
former lover and this will probably be his downfall. I ALMOST wish we had
Sinestro back at the helm as you KNEW where his motives sat. Billy Tan’s art
gets better with every issue, so that is a big plus here.
THE GREEN TEAM #4: Last issue, J.P. and Commodore unmasked Riot and
left us in the air. We still don’t know as the team battles Riot and he rips
Cecilia’s arm off. Riot wants Commodore's mecha-suit. He is soon captured and
taken away while Riot’s clones continue to battle the remainder of the team.
Riot is Commodore’s father and he takes his son to his hideout in France.
Apparently Riot has infused the mecha-suits with nanites and that is helping to
keep him alive. The rest of the team arrives just as Commodore’s suit dissolves
his father. The issue ends with the team cemented together, even though the
after effects on all of the team will remain.
I really wish I knew what Art Baltazar and Franco are trying to prove on
this book. I don’t get it. I really don’t. We have a rag tag bunch of
uninteresting characters brought together by common greed and then becoming
superheroes because…? Again, I like Art and Franco’s work over the years, but I
don’t understand where this book is going and give it another four to eight
issues before DC drops the boom on it. And that you have to have three
pencillers in the form of Ig Guara, Robson Rocha and Travis Moore to finish a
book. My biggest gripe about the NEW 52 and many comics in general is that you
cannot keep a team in place for more than an issue or two, if you’re lucky. WAY
TOO MAY fill-in artists. I have done the rant before: where are the heroes of
our comics past, who were drawing countless issues each and every month, when
you need them?
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7: We begin with Lex Luthor’s lawyers telling
him they may be able to get him out of prison. He is more concerned that
someone set Superman up and it wasn’t him. Pandora arrives and thinks he may
have the darkest heart to open her box. Meanwhile, Plastique infiltrates
A.R.G.U.S. and places a device on Dr. Light’s body. In Pittsburgh, Doctgor Psycho is battling many
of the Justice League members and Martian Manhunter manages to enter his mind. Psycho tells Manhunter that
he was sent to Kahndaq by the Secret Society, but never received his orders.
The Atom then confesses that she is a mole for the JLA, causing Superman to
order them to head to A.R.G.U.S. to
question Amanda Waller. Elsewhere, part of Batman’s team is trying to get
inside the House Of Mystery after The Phantom Stranger absconded with the other
half. Catwoman asks the House to open its’ doors and it does. The Phantom Stranger's image appears in a window and explains how the team tried to
interrogate Dr. Light’s soul in the afterlife and now the Stranger may not be
able to return. He warns that Xanadu must be found as she knows the truth
behind the box. Back at the prison, Pandora presents the box to Luthor, but
Wonder Woman arrives and pulls Pandora away. The Amazon touches the box in the
process and finds herself possessed by it. At A.R.G.U.S., the Secret Society detonates
the device on Dr. Light's body and a massive explosion destroys the building
and possibly all in it.
Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire and Doug Mahnke bring us Chapter Four in this epic
crossover which will lead into FOREVER EVIL. In its own weird way, this so
reminds me of the old JSA/JLA team-ups of the Sixties and early Seventies. Only
we don’t know who the real bad guys are that have been setting things in
motion. Just who makes up the Secret Society? We now know Plastique is a
member, or at least a hired gun. But who are the rest of this Super team. Maybe
we will even get to see the old Legion of Doom headquarters! And, just because
this is all about spoilers, get ready for JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA as the JLA team
will end up folding after FOREVER EVIL and relocate to the Great White North.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #23: The
aftermath of the last chapter is felt. Back at what is left of A.R.G.U.S., the
search for survivors begins. In Luthor’s prison cell, Wonder Woman is possessed
by Pandora’s Box until it is freed from her and it possesses Shazam, turning
him into an evil version of himself. The evil influence makes its’ way through
the assembled heroes, moving to Frankenstein and others until it ends up in the
hands of John Constantine, who joins hands with Zatanna and transports to the
Temple of Hephaestus in Greece. It seems that Madame Xanadu is trapped in a
bunker beneath the site. Batman’s team arrives as Madame Xanadu explains that
Pandora’s Box is not a prison but a doorway. And that is when a strange thin
man, who we have seen before, arrives and tells all that it is time to open the
doorway.
Jeff Lemire and Mikel Janin bring us the penultimate chapter in the TRINITY
WAR crossover and it looks like the mystery is revealed. The doorway will lead
to another Earth, because obviously two is not enough. Here we see someone who
looks like an alternate reality version of Alfred Pennyworth promising to open
the door. Does the arrival of super humans from another world signal the
“death” of our heroes or will they just end up on said Earth and leave the
super humans to run rampant? Read JUSTICE LEAGUE #23 to find the answers and
then prepare for VILLAINS MONTH.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #23: Apparently when the Justice League fought
Darkseid five years ago, it weakened the boundaries between universes and
allowed two people to escape their world. One of those was a man known as The
Outsider, who built the Secret Society and put a mole within one of the
Leagues. He arranged to frame Superman for murder and blame it on Pqandora’s
Box. At the Temple
of Hephaestus, all the
Leaguers decide they want the box, which Madame Xanadu has revealed is a
doorway to another world, for them. The craziness concludes with Superman,
convinced that Wonder Woman and Batman are having an
affair, attacking them and knocking the box away. It momentarily shuts down and
the influence fades. Firestorm and Element Woman find out that Superman is
suffering from Kryptonite poisoning because of a sliver of it inside his brain.
The Atom quickly admits that she did it at the exact moment Dr. Light was
murdered. Cyborg accuses her of being a traitor and she accuses him of being
the same, at which point his metal form rips away from him and reveals itself
as Grid. The Outsider arrives and picks up the box which had been created on
his world and placed here. It could only be open4d by someone from his world-the
birthplace of evil. Declaring that the butler did it, he opens the portal and a
version somewhat like Aquaman emerges and falls to the ground, dead. Xanadu realizes
the "Trinity" she had envisioned was actually the number three, as in
Earth Three. Meet the evil versions of the Justice League: the Crime Syndicate.
And they are prepared to conquer the world.
No real commentary needed for this. This issue had everything you could want in a concluding cliff-hanger! The villains are revealed! Earth 3 is here! The traitor is revealed! Earth 3 is here! Cyborg is pretty much reduced to what is left of his human self. Did I mention Earth 3 is here? Sorry-fanboy here!!! I cannot wait for FOREVER EVIL and VILLAINS MONTH. This could define where the NEW 52 goes from here.