DC'S NEW 52 VILLAINS MONTH Week 4

ACTION COMICS #23.4 METALLO: John Corben was the first subject of Project Steel Soldier with the Code name Metal-Zero. Although he was believed dead after the Brainiac Incident, General Lane has upgraded him. A year and a half earlier, one officer suggested they transfer Corben to long-term care at Walter Reed Hospital. Bur he gets a new power core made from Kryptonite. But the government feels Corben is mentally unstable but General Lane rules otherwise and Metal-Zero goes live. Metal-Zero is deployed to the Middle East where, despite technology that would save helpless lives, he opts for the most violent solutions. Unfortunately, he blows up a hospital and it gets caught on videophones, which now leads to major embarrassment for Lane who arranges to have Metal-Zero put on an unmanned aircraft and has it detonated over the ocean. Metal-Zero survives and makes his way to Project Steel Soldier Headquarters where he meets with Lane and unravels a conspiracy theory has he constructed. Sergeant Brizaula has been reborn as Metal-Two-Point-Oh. The two battle but the sergeant arms a self-destruct button and both are consumed by the blast. But Metal-Zero has been teleported out by the Secret Society. John Corben agrees to the deal they offer and Metallo is born. 

Sholly Fisch, King of the back-up story and Steve Pugh turn in a really good story here. John Corben, the arrogant tool of General Sam Lane, gets his revenge on the government by escaping from ultimate destruction three times: in his first appearance, when they try and blow him up and when the Secret Society saves him. The tale moves at a decent pace and the art is nice and clean. This could have been a lot worse than it was. 

AQUAMAN #23.2 OCEAN MASTER: We begin with Ocean Master leading his troops in the war again the surface world. but that was then and this is now. Belle Reve is his new home until the sudden appearance of the Crime Syndicate leads to the prison being torn down. Along with all the other prisoners, he breaks out, soon discovering that walking to wherever he is bound is a pain. He comes across a diner where other Belle Reve escapees are menacing the proprietor. Orm intervenes. More chaos is running rampant and a family is being menaced, including a woman with a small child. Orm walks away, even as it looks as though the mother and child will be slain. He enters the ocean and then quickly rises once more claiming “Eight is too young” and heads towards the town, seemingly revived.

Geoff Johns, has he has done on many during this month, provides the plot, along with Tony Bedard who is responsible for the “words”. So we get Orm moving from the mastermind of mass murder on the surface world to an actual attempt to humanize himself by saving some of them. Interesting. Geraldo Borges does his best Paul Pelletier meets Ivan Reis imitation and does a decent job at it. All in all, it should be interesting to see what happens next…whenever next is with this whacked out chronology.

BATMAN #23.4 BANE: Bane is going back to Gotham City and injects the prisoners of Pena Dura with venom, where he challenges each of them to kill him. This is his way of sharpening his skills as he heads back to the city that he will make his own, especially with word that the Batman is dead. While Bane continues to practice his skills on his own people, we hear the legend of Bane: how his father had been a revolutionary who was imprisoned at Peña Dura. But he escaped  and his young son, the man we know as Bane, was made to take his place. Meanwhile, at Blackgate Prison, interim warden Agatha Zorbatos realizes it won't be long before the prison is over-run and she will probably die. She orders her men to do all they can to keep 2000 of the most dangerous criminals in the country away from the rest of the world. Bane has men within Blackgate's guards who arrange for everyone’s release. And the police are too busy handling the breakout at Arkham. And Bane has sent venom-fueled assassins to kill the Scarecrow as a sign that HE is in control.

Well, we get a retooling of Bane’s origin and actually take pity on him…for about three pages until we realize that the hero of his country is still a crazy drug fueled murderer who broke the Batman. Yes…that story is still current even in this NEW continuity. Peter J. Tomasi does what he does best: he creates characters that are totally believable and peppers it with dialogue that sparkles. I wish half the people in this business could write dialogue as cool as this. And the fact that we pair him up with the legendary Graham Nolan is just the icing on top. This is a great story with a great look to it. Thanks DC Editorial for making a GOOD CHOICE on this one!

BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.4 KILLER CROC: Pity poor Waylon Jones who, as a child, had his Auntie Flowers scrub the scales from off  his flesh. In Crown Point, he could become a target so he needed to do it himself if she wasn’t there to do it for him. One day he was bullied by the other kids in his neighborhood. But he found a friend in Officer Hoolihan who explained that, no matter what, he might be a king someday. Six years later, Waylon had joined the Ed Geisel travelling circus where he would fighting a real crocodile. This was where he earned the name Killer Croc. It didn’t take long though for Waylon to realize that the promised $100 per show would become $40. Three years ago, he met Batman and Robin for the first time and was insulted when Robin said he was too dumb to pull off a job on his own. Today, Detectives Boone, Greer, and Sanchez are in the sewers searching for Killer Croc, who kills Sanchez in the process. They encounter street-people loyal to Croc and they break Greer's leg, forcing Boone to leave him behind. But the first door he finds contains the body of Officer Hoolihan, who Boone and the others had killed weeks before. The day before all this happened, the trio had received a note threatening that evidence against was in the form of a key and they would need to go to the sewer and bring money. Boone finds the key on Hoolihan's body only to find his surviving partner has been torn to pieces by Croc. Boone flees, falling from a ledge and being impaled on some junk-metal. It is obvious that Croc sent the note crushes Boone’s skull. With his friend avenged, Waylon prepares to take rule of HIS Empire under the city.


Before this book, Tim Seeley was known for writing GI JOE titles…and this little success story/soon to be a major motion picture called HACK/SLASH. This could be one of his FINEST pieces as he truly humanizes the villainous Killer Croc, who we already known does have a good side as we know of his trying to be a substance abuse mentor for Roy Harper. But this tale of torment and eventually revenge is just totally moving. Francis Portela art is perfectly suited for it and this could possibly be the best single book of Week Four. It sets Killer Croc up as his own King and, while the other villains fight to carve up Gotham City, he can just sit here and let his followers do his bidding. Awesome plan, dude!

BATMAN SUPERMAN #3.1 DOOMSDAY: Beginning many years ago on Krypton, Lara El encountered a monster we now know as Doomsday. Colonel Zod saved her life , though thousands died in the process. Eventually, Zod was sent to the Phantom Zone for his crimes. But the legend goes on from there in the House of El. The story is told of the last knight of the House of El who went to a new world but found himself feared and hunted him. One day, the monster arrived, he fought the creature, saved the people and died in the process. But many finally understood the Word of El and followers took his place. The legend we learn is being told by Zor-El to a young Kara, who we also learn had been in communication with Zod. He explained that is was he who had set Doomsday loose on Krypton to teach them how to be strong. She also told herself that it was all only just a dream and that the monster was not real.

Greg Pak, known for his great storytelling abilities, along with the ultra fine illustrations of Brett Booth, put a unique twist on the DEATH OF SUPERMAN storyline. What makes this take completely interesting is that it is told ON Krypton by Kara’s father. The legend is about something that happens long after Krypton is destroyed. Also very cool is Booth’s versions of the followers of “The Word of El”: the replacements who arrived during the REIGN OF SUPERMEN storyline. So, for all who complain that DC doesn’t respect it’s past, it truly does. And while I don’t always agree with the direction it goes in, I find myself satisfied with this one. And the cover by Tony Daniel, especially in the Lenticular version, is pretty awesome!

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #23.4 JOKERS DAUGHTER: Duela Dent lives in Gotham City’s Nethers with her decidedly ugly cat. People live there and she survives by trading goods that she finds. One day, she finds the Joker’s face floating in the water and decides to wear it. She comes across a couple eating and decides that it is no longer permisable for the men of the underground society to always eat first. She makes a weapon with some metal she finds in the water and, before branding a crescent shaped grin on his mouth with the weapon, gets him to tell her of the leader of the tribe: a man called Charon. Apparently, he gives safe passage to anyone who comes from Arkham, which is where he believes this female Joker is from. The man takes her to the very handsome Charon and they battle. Defeated, she tells her depressing life story. Her parents were perfectionists who complained about her imperfections. She battled anorexia and dysmorphia and cut her face. Her parents had her institutionalized. Surgery was performed to correct her wounded face, but she fought it and the doctors’ knives caused more damage to her face. Hearing her parents plan to send her away permanently, she ran away. Charon asks her to join his tribe and she brands him as he realizes that all the men in the tribe have been branded and now allow the women to lead the tribe. She orders that his coat, which represents his position as leader, be removed, and he is sent away. Now Duela wears the coat and plans to show how the ugly rule.

This was the hottest book weeks before its’ release for a whole host of reasons including the great looking cover, the introduction of Duela Dent into the NEW 52 Universe and the whole concept of the Joker’s Daughter had fans intrigued. It turns out to be a bit of a Feminist statement by Ann Nocenti and Georges Jeanty. Women are downtrodden in the underground society so the demented Dent, whose family history may or may not be real, decides to become a one woman crusader for the rights of those women. Yeah-this might have been super relevant when Denny O’Neal was writing GREEN LANTERN, but women’s rights have progressed in the last few decades. While the art looks good, the story falls flat. Somehow, I don’t see her as a major player in the future, although she will spend some time in CATWOMAN.

DETECTIVE COMICS #23.4 MAN BAT: Dr. Kirk Langstrom has been waiting at Gotham Square Park for his wife Francine, currently addicted to her version of the Man-Bat Serum, to arrive so she can feed. He too is addicted to the serum and now the two Man-Bats battle. Transforming back to her human self, she realizes that he must have combined both formulas to become this strong and mocks him, forcing a frustrated Kirk to leave as the police arrive. Francine is charged with the murders she committed. Kirk worries that the combined formula may have affected him so he downs another vial, convinced that he will not become addicted. He declares himself the new protector of Gotham and spends the next 10 days doling out his own brand of justice. He also has become very addicted to the serum and every day his attitude becomes more based on total hatred. By the book’s end, about a month after his journey began, Kirk is scouring Gotham Square Park for possible victims.

Well, that was quite the depressing read. Ladies and gentlemen: allow Frank Tieri and Scott Eaton to bring you the story of Kirk Langstrom and his fall from grace as he ends up addicted to the Man-Bat Serum and follows in his wife’s footsteps. As he moves from vigilante protector of Gotham City to hungry Man-Bat, I felt just a little disappointment. I thought for sure, with Francine as the “evil” Man Bat, the folks at DC might let him be more of the hero this time. I guess I was wrong. 

GREEN LANTERN #23.4 SINESTRO: Lyssa Dark reveals the slightly slanted history of Sinestro. He is an archeologist who witnesses a spaceship crash. he finds a Green Lantern dying, defeats his attacker, a Weaponer of Qward, with the power ring he has taken from the dying man and then puts the Lantern out of his misery rather than save his life. Abin Sur recruits him and he becomes the greatest Green Lantern ever. He even meets his future wife Arin Sur. On Korugar, Sinestro helps develop the society and eventually becomes leader to the people. His wife argues that they are spending too little time with their child and it is during this period he mentors Hal Jordan, who would replace him in the Green Lanterns. Hal and Sinestro battle after Hal sees what Sinestro has done to his planet and the people revolt. Sinestro’s wife dies at the hands of a child’s suicide bomb. The Guardians banished Sinestro to the Anti Matter Universe, where he forged a Yellow Lantern team: a team he eventually destroyed when they revolted. He once again became a Green Lantern and saved Korugar from his Yellow Lantern Team. he also saved the Universe from the threat of the First Lantern and destroyed the Guardians for their treachery. Finally we learn that, even though the planet has been destroyed, not all of the Korugarians are dead. And Lyssa must find Sinestro to let him know that his people still need him.

Matt Kindt presents the slightly twisted tale of Sinestro’s origin. Slightly twisted is a bit of an understatement as it is filled so a bunch of lies. But lies are only a perception in the comic world. We know that Sinestro was a Lantern and betrayed the Corps. Lyssa’s view has him being the hero of the piece, when we all know that Sinestro nearly destroyed the world, both in this Universe and the last one, on multiple occasions. But the story is great and Dale Eaglesham’s art is phenomenal, complete with extremely intricate borders around each page. All in all, a real nice effort.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.4 SECRET SOCIETY: We begin with a flashback, via Alfred Pennyworth of Earth 3, to the Wayne family being mugged by this version of Harvey Bullock and Rene Montoya. Young Thomas Wayne Jr. grew up to become Owlman and be a founding member of the Crime Syndicate. Pennyworth also was responsible for murdering Thomas’ parents and created the partnership that they share. On this world, Dick Grayson was Talon and it seems that the Joker, on the night Wayne told Grayson the truth about the death of his parents, killed Talon, as he had Talon’s parents. Grayson had gone seeking revenge and paid the ultimate price while Owlman was busy having an affair with Superwoman to be around to protect his protégé. On this night, the Joker and Owlman would battle with Joker warning Owlman that he would cause Gotham to die one day. Owlman responded by killing Joker by throwing him into the blades of a police helicopter. Even as the police turned against Owlman, a threat to Earth 3 came and he could not save it. Alfred and Atomica escaped to the NEW 52 Earth, where Atomica looked to find a way to bring their friends here. In the meantime, Alfred built the team known as the Secret Society of Super-Villains. The Crime Syndicate are here and so is a captured Dick Grayson, who Owlman wants to be HIS new Talon. Alfred regrets that he didn't kill this Grayson.


Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates and Szymon Kudranski cram this issue with so many juicy bits that I want this whole event, once concluded, to lead to an EARTH 3 or CRIME SYNDICATE title that would flesh out the world of Earth PRIOR to it’s destruction. And how much do you want to bet that the threat to that world was good old Darkseid and his demons? This was so much fun to read! The art was a little lacking in style for my taste, but the story more than made up for it. I had WAY too much fun with this issue! Nice job Mr. Johns!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7.4 BLACK ADAM: Over 4,000 years ago, Khandaq was viciously ruled by Ibac the First. That was until he was defeated in battle by Black Adam and turned to stone. To some, this is only legend. But to the revolutionary group the Sons of Adam, it is law and they plan on taking back their government, and the current Ibac, by any means possible. They enlist a young man by the name of Amon, whose translation skills will come into play for them. Amon’s sister, Adrianna, tries to talk him out of it, as she believes in change through peaceful protests and Twitter videos.  That night, the Sons have Amon read a sacred scroll which will return Black Adam from the dust he became when he lost his fight with Shazam. In the process, Ibac soldiers arrive, most of the Sons are slain and Amon is critically wounded, dying in his sister’s arms before he can read the last word: SHAZAM. Instantly Black Adam returns from the dead, eliminating the army and leading the revolution to the palace. Once there, he crushes Ibac with his stone throne and declares that Khandaq no longer has a ruler, only a protector. Suddenly he receives the message from the Crime Syndicate that “the world is ours” and Black Adam declares that “the world belongs to no one”.

Geoff Johns and Sterling Gates write a wonderful return to power for Black Adam, who appears poised to be part of the Anti-Crime Syndicate League of Super Villains. This is such a great story as it follows the revolution and the revolutionaries, including Adrianna who, by tales end has gone from pacifist revolutionary to full on commando taking up weapons. And Edgar Salazar’s art is so close to what Gary Frank had cone on the SHAZAM stories in JUSTICE LEAGUE, that it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. Overall, this may be the best book of all 52.

SUPERMAN #23.4 PARASITE: Three weeks ago, a bike messenger with an attitude named Joshua Michael Allen gets into a tangle with a “giant booger monster”.  He ends up out of work and his girlfriend dumps him, calling him a Parasite. But S.T.A.R. Labs wants to speak to him concerning his health after the incident with the monster. They run some tests and turn him into The Parasite: an alien looking creature that hungers and feeds by draining life and growing as he does. He attempts to commit suicide by jumping off a building in Suicide Slums, getting larger and larger. But Superman arrives to investigate and the Parasite sucks up some of Superman’s power, which doesn’t last long. He finds himself in Belle Reve where he is always hungry and they feed him 9 volt batteries. But then the breakout occurs and we see him hitching a ride to Metrpolois while menacing a mother and child.

Aaron Kuder, primarily known for his art, which is really nice looking and all, handles all duties on this one. And what we get is an arrogant character I really couldn’t care about getting turned into a power hungry alien that I also didn’t care about. I found myself not having any sympathy for him and just didn’t like who he is. This isn’t a guy in a costume: he’s a freaking alien! And menacing a little kid at the end of the book: truly in BAD TASTE! Not my favorite title of the VILLAINS MONTH but not the one I disliked the most either.

WONDER WOMAN #23.2 FIRST BORN: Apollo is creating graffiti at in L.A. when three oracles in a limo arrive with a seriously wounded First Born. Apollo asks the question of who the First Born truly is/was. They explain that the first born son of Zeus and Hera was destined, because of something foretold by a witch on the day of his birth, to rule Mount Olympus. Not wanting to give up his throne, Zeus ordered the witch put the baby to death. Unable to do it, she left the baby to die in the desert, where he was raised by a protective female hyena. He grew up as one of the pack, protecting them and learning to hate the natural predators the hyenas feared. Over the centuries, he fathered hundreds of half-god half-hyena children and the First Born traveled the world and conquered the world. Olympus paid him no mind, so he declared war on them. Neptune and Zeus destroyed his army and the war ended as quickly as it began. Zeus would not kill him but stole the First Born’s pride by wiping his very existence from history. But Zeus did say that if he ever left the throne, it would be the First Born's to try to claim. Hades sent him into the pit and 7,000 years later, he managed to climb out. Apollo refuses to relinquish the throne and the oracles warn that a terrible war will reveal the real fate of the throne. They explain there will be three people involved: Apollo, the First Born and a naked woman who arrives too late. With his fortune told, Apollo burns the oracles to death, puts his brother into the car and promises that the torture has just begun.

Leave it to Brian Azzarello to give us more insight into the Wacky Olympian Family! What I love about this title, and the WONDER WOMAN title in general, is that is isn’t JUST ABOUT WONDER WOMAN. It’s about the entire Olympian family and I believe that is what frustrates comic readers but fascinates me. This is like watching an episode of THE SOPRANOS on Mythology. It is TRULY about THE FAMILY Aco provides the art and it is very reminiscent of Paul Pope’s early work, so I’m okay with that. Another great issue here that furthers along the legend of the Olympians.

VILLAINS MONTH Week 3

ACTION COMICS #23.3 LEX LUTHOR: Lex Luthor gets released from prison and is a bit upset that Superman didn't show up for his release. In fact Superman seems to have vanished. Lextells his assistant Casey to start Project Ghost Town. Back at Lexcorp, he undergoes surgery tofix his scarred face while trying to convince Noel Spheeris not buy out an unprofitable company Lex owns. He then instructs Casey to look for a file on Spheeris, and to carry out the instructions. Meanwhile Ghost Town launches. When it reaches its destination, it turns off its engines. the crew broadcasts an SOS, specifically asking for Superman. The crew realizes that isn't coming and try to restart the engines, which they cannot and the ship explodes when it hits the atmosphere. Casey is shocked and tries to call the police, but cell reception has been disabled by her boss. This was a test and she just failed it. Lex calls down to his receptionist and tells her there has been a terrible accident and he needs a new P.A. Soon he is on a helicopter ride with his new P.A. 

This one is a little confusing, as there are a couple of mistakes in it. The whole story with Spheeris is lame, as we never really understand what convinces him to NOT buy the company. We can ASSUME it was the Ghost Town explosion, but we’re not 100% certain. Then the book ends with Lex gloating how, with Superman gone, it will be a good day. Again, an assumption on Luthor’s part as this leads directly into FOREVER EVIL #1, which came out three weeks prior to this book. Again, a gripe with DC is books coming out before or after stories in other titles. Get your chronology straight, guys. Other than that, it’s a wicked evil Lex Luthor story courtesy of Charles Soule and Raymund Bermudez

BATMAN #23.3 PENGUIN: The Penguin has learned that he is losing a ton of money at his casino at the hands of a failed magic act called the Illusionists. He has them escorted out, demands his money back and bans them from the establishment. They refuse, so he has Lark escort them outside and he kills them personally with his umbrella, ordering any of their family killed also. Their bodies end up on the front steps of GCPD Headquarters and Governor Carter Winston promises to put a stop on crime, starting with the Penguin’s Iceberg Casino. The Winston family and the Cobblepots while Oswald and Carter, though, have a personal history as well, with Carter being Oswald’s bodyguard at boarding school. Oswald invites Carter for dinner. Carter refuses to back down on his promise and he soon finds that Penguin has drugged his drink. When he awakens, he discovers himself in a hotel room with the murdered corpse of his Assistant Miss Collins. The poison in his veins had Venom in it and there are text records of a sexual relationship between the two. Several days later Carter Winston calls a news conference, states that “sometimes the bullies get it right” and shoots himself in the head on live television. Oswald orders that a massive flower arrangement, saying that Carter is like everyone he has ever dealt with: they underestimated the Penguin.

Frank Tieri and Christian Duce Fernandez craft a classic tale of revenge with The penguin once again amping up his degree of evilness. There was a time that Oswald Cobbleppot actually attended to be a REAL businessman, running a “legitimate” casino. Those days are gone, especially after the whole Emperor Penguin debacle which still leaves a bad taste in his mouth. This is a great story about a classic villain.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.3 RAS AL GHUL: In 1285, there were rumors of a powerful demon that lived in a dark tower. A band of Crusaders, led by Prince Gerhardt, rode to the tower. They were met by the demon’s servant Dusan, who led them down a series of passages. Soon every knight but Prince Gerhardt was slain and he had found himself at a Lazarus Pit with Ra’s al Ghul facing him. In present times, an emissary of the Secret Society tries to convince him to join them. Unimpressed, he demands they fight in a duel before he will consider the offer. As the two battle, the emissary relates tales of Ra’s al Ghul from various times in history. he even goes as far as to tell the tale of how he had hoped to marry his daughter off to his hand chosen successor: Batman. But Talia's death represented the final loss. Defeating the emissary, he explains that if Ra's will join the Secret Society, they will help him achieve his goals. He rejects the invitation, calling the Society's masters cowards. The emissary attempts to kill Ra's, but fails as Ra’s has him pinned at the wrists with spears to a wall. Calling the Society cowards, he boasts that a power will rise in the east in a dark tower. 

James Tynion IV and Jeremy Haun take a different twist on the origin of Ra’s al Ghul, who we know has been alive and reborn for centuries. But to have an emissary of the Secret Society waltz in, relate his history to him and then call Talia’s death his greatest defeat-well, that’s just plain ballsy! And obviously, the emissary knew a lot about Ra’s but not enough to know that he is a maniac who ALWAYS gets his way. Case in point: Ra’s is back and will create his own empire while the Crime Syndicate attempts to create theirs. 

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #23.3 CLAYFACE: Basil Karlo, otherwise known as Clayface, learns that the Justice League is dead and that gives him free reign to do whatever he wants.He ends up at Bar 8, hanging out with many Gotham criminals and hears that the Secret Society is recruiting villains. He learns that there is a gang of ex-military types who are attempting to form a resistance and he decides that HE will take them out personally. When he arrives at the base, he kills everyone he sees and contacts the Secret Society. They inform him that the soldiers were under their command. In his rage, he starts the self-destruct sequence for the hangar and is caught in the blast. Weeks later, he has nursed his wounds and come up with his own plan to get back in the game.

John Layman writes a great tale but, unfortunately, makes legendary actor Basil Karlo into an absolute idiot…even the Secret Society tell him he is one. That just ruins a really good tale as we follow Clayface through the whole affair only to find out he blew it and ends up a chump. Great story, nonetheless with dynamic art from the always dependable Cliff Richards.

DETECTIVE COMICS #23.3 SCARECROW: With the Crime Syndicate seemingly eliminating the Justice League, Gotham City now has a new mayor in the form of Oswald Cobblepot and the town has been divided intro districts run by some of Arkham’s most insane criminals. The Scarecrow finds himself moving from district to district informing all that the free prisoners from Blackgate Prison are looking to take over the city for themselves. Of course, he is playing both sides, as he was told by the Crime Syndicate to personally recruit many of Gotham's villains. Through guile, he convinces the Arkham rulers to join him in the upcoming war and, after tossing his partner Hudson to his death, declares that Gotham will soon be his..

Can I wake up now? I LOVE Peter J. Tomasi’s work but this is one long excuse to fill a book with all of the key Batman players. And each one has their own chunk of the city and each one agrees that they should come together as one. REALLY!? Not the Arkham crew I know. But, I digress! It’s a long read filled with characters who have already had their own book. And when did the Penguin become Mayor? I thought sure he would end up as Governor after taking him out of the game. Lastly, Szymon Kudranski art is okay…nothing great…just okay. Remember that when I review his next book, as he did do another one in VILLAINS MONTH.

FLASH #23.3 ROGUES: The Rogues have decided to raid the abandoned gem mines beneath Keystone City. They also planned to dig up underneath a bank, have Mirror Master grab 10 million dollars, and take it back to Mirror World to divide it up. But the building starts to collapse and they must flee, but not before repairing the damage because The Rogues do not kill. The next night Lisa, who is trapped in a hospital bed for the rest of her life, astral projects herself and tries to pull her boyfriend Sam from inside the mirror he is stuck in. She pulls him through but it causes her real body to crash and doctors rush in to try to reverse her heart-failure. When brother Len gets the news, he becomes quite angry and declares that the Rogues are finished. He reflects on how he founded the Rogues and decides to try and rob the back from earlier anyway. The other Rogues drag him into the Mirror World to stop him and remind him that they need a leader and since Lisa Snart can’t be the leader, Len Snart must. He decides they must go to Iron Heights and free the Trickster. They get to the fence and encounter a “pseudo-flash”, who invites them to a meeting at the ruined Justice League Watchtower. They learn of the death of the Justice League and plot on how the Gem Cities can be theirs. They arrive to find the two cities in a state of turmoil and decide that they will make certain those responsible pay for their crimes.

Brian Buccellato certainly likes writing about The Rogues and it shows all over this issue. He has taken this band of classic criminals and turned them into semi-lovable, bumbling somewhat good hearted bad guys. This actually hearkens back a little to the last FLASH series prior to FLASHPOINT. Where they were once some of the baddest in the Rogue’s gallery, hence the name, they have all developed consciousnesses and hearts. I mean: think about it-THE ROGUES DON’T KILL. I never thought we would ever see that. Patrick Zircher delivers the goods nicely on the art side of the fence and, all in all, this issue is quite enjoyable. PLUS it sends up the mini-series within the FOREVER EVIL event as The Rogues become part of the resistance against the Crime Syndicate.

GREEN LANTERN 23.3: BLACK HAND: We begin with a couple of laborers cremating bodies from an asylum when a Black Lantern ring drops from the sky and falls into the ashes. The ashes of the dead attack one of the laborers and turn him into Black Hand. But he finds himself captured by a security guard and thrown into jail. While in the cell, he uses his power over undeath to call up a zombie policeman to get him out. The zombie cop kills all the other criminal in the cells and Black Hand escapes with a brand new zombie army. And with all the chaos outside, Black Hand finds plenty of new recruits for his army and takes to the streets where chaos reigns. He heads to Shady Vale Cemetery and speaks with the corpse of Martin Jordan, who is Hal Jordan’s father. This can’t bode well for the Green Lantern.

What a strange issue…but I like it. I mean, it took me until the very end of the issue to appreciate it, but dragging Martin Jordan out of the grave is sheer genius. I have to give major points to Charles Soule for throwing in that one, although the whole zombie army got quite silly after awhile. Artwork is by Alberto Ponticelli…’Nuff said!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.3 DIAL E: Four children named Case, Ben, Gwen, and Al have stolen a dial from some thugs connected to Vernon Boyne. Gwen uses it to steal money and groceries, but find them cornered by the thugs they stole the dial from in the first place. The police arrive but not before tons of super-powers are dialed up and Gwen is taken hostage by Tibbs and his gang. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Centipede arrives to try and capture this dial. While Ben dials a bunch of beings who are ineffective and eventually disappears, the Centipede explains that it is a Q dials, which stands for Qued. Apparently this is an old word for "Bad." Gwen can’t use the dial because she isn’t bad enough. Before he can use the dial though, he is knocked out by Rescue Jill, who arrives from a portal and announces that Case is safe.

So, if you like DIAL H, you’ll love this book. If you didn’t, prepare to be utterly disappointed and confused. This is China Mieville swan song and it’s a beauty, filled with kids, bad guys and the return of The Centipede. And, if that wasn’t enough, because of the various heroes and villains coming and going, it features more pencillers than I can count. Those artists include Mateua Santolouco, Carla Berrocal, Riccardo Burchielli, Liam Sharp, Jock, Tula Lotay, Marley Zarcone, Brendan McCarthy, Emma Rios, Emi Lenox, Jeff Lemire, Frazier Irving, David Lapham, Carmen Carnero, Sloane Leong, Kelsey Wroten, Michelle Farran, Annie Wu, Zak Smith, and Alberto Ponticelli. This is one long strange trip without even a lick of The Grateful Dead in it.



JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #23.2 ECLIPSO: We learn the story of Gordon Jacobs, who was a prominent scientist, failed to harness solar energy and made a mess of what became known as Solar City. Living as a recluse, he receives a package containing a certain Black Diamond in it. He contacts his old colleague Jonah Bennett, who will have noting to do with him. From within the diamond, he hears the voice of Eclipso asking to be freed. He claims to be a servant waiting to be set free. He tells Gordon he has lived many lives trying to help people, but always ended up trapped in the diamond for his trouble. He believes Gordon is the right person to free him. He convinces Gordon to cut himself with the diamond and free him, which he does. Jonah Bennett's arrives at the house as the transformation occurs. When Jonah opens the door, Eclipso grabs him and drains his life force into the diamond. Shocked, he demands Eclipso leave his body and he does return to the diamond. But beware: if the diamond and Eclipso are destroyed, Gordon will also die because of their blood bond. He must be around to console Jonah’s soon to be heartbroken daughter. 

Leave it to good old Dan Didio to come up with a real stinker. Didn’t we have this great story about the Black Diamond that ran through a whole bunch of NEW 52 titles, letting the evil Eclipso loose and wreak havoc everywhere he seemed to go? Yeah, that is what I thought. Here, we get a genie out of the bottle syndrome and this supposedly brilliant scientist becomes a gullible and bumbling moron. The dialogue is lame, the plot is even worse and even the art of Phillip Tan can’t save it. Stick to animation, Dan and stay out of my comic books!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7.3 SHADOW THIEF: Aviva Sands is meeting with her former Mossad team who throw her out of a window. As she falls, we receive her origin in a flashback. A proud, ruthless member of the Mossad, she had to flee to America for killing her commander and initiating a missile strike on an area full of civilians. A mysterious Mister Q, who we learn is a Deamonite, sent her for a case containing a bio hazard and a suit. Her mother and brother were biochemists who decided to test the bio hazard, which blew up on them, causing them to melt down inside the sealed chamber they were testing it in. Aviva grabbed the suit, thinking it would protect her against the virus. It turned out to be the Shadow Suit which allows her to become the Shadow Thief. She can enter the Shadow Realm through any shadow on Earth and can also create Shadow Weapons. Inside of the Shadow Realm are hostile creatures which created the Skin and attack her on sight. Back in present times, Aviva changes into her Shadow Skin and manages to slip into the Shadow Realm to escape certain death. When she exits, she finds herself back in the room she had just been thrown out and kills all but one. She sends him back to the Mossad with a message to not deal with aliens.


Tom DeFalco is back after a long overdue absence and unfortunately crams so many words into this book that I find myself dizzy and tired! The Shadow Thief has always been a fun character but the NEW 52 version is pretty much lost to me as I didn’t read SAVAGE HAWKMAN expect for issue #0 and #1(was there even an issue #0). Such a shame that too may words manage to clutter a great read but that’s the issue here. Chad Hardin’s artwork rocks the joint though and makes up for the shortcomings from the story.

SUPERMAN #23.3 HEL: H’el is Patient H whose story is told while he is in a coma. He is on Krypton and being examined by Jor-el and Orla. Of course, they also have noticed a piece of the planet, otherwise known as Kryptonite, lodged within him, which was caused during his battle on Earth. Jor-el explains to the Science Council that a piece of Kryptonite could only have come from the core of the planet. Zev-ekar accuses Jor-el of treason. H’el watches all of this and boasts how he could stop all of this but that changing the past would alter the future. Leaving the meeting, Jor-el gives Zod a tour of his laboratory. One of his experiments is to send a ship through the galaxy and through different kinds of radiation to test how it affects Kryptonian cells. H’el awakens from his coma upon learning that everything he knew was a lie. He burns Zod and then breaks Jor-el’s neck as he escapes in the time capsule. 

Okay…here it is: the ABSOLUTE DUMBEST BOOK THIS MONTH!!! Thank you Scott Lobdell for proving once again you forgot what you wrote. Let me see: H’el doesn’t want to alter the past to change the future? Gee, didn’t he want to make sure that Krypton didn’t explode? Last time I checked, that means CHANGING THE PAST TO CHANGE THE FUTURE. The writing is sub-par, the dialogue is horrendous and this is a character I really didn’t care for and one of the reasons I stopped reading SUPERGIRL and SUPERBOY was because of this idiotic crossover with H’el. The ONLY saving grace on this stinker is that Dan Jurgens drew it, but it looks like he drew it with one eye open as a lot of the perspectives are off. SUPERMAN used to be a great title. Now it is not only a shadow of itself, it’s a shame.

SWAMP THING #23.1 ARCANE: Anton Arcane is stuck in a place where nothing ever rots which, for him, is worse than death. One day he is visited by the avatar of The Rot: his daughter Abby. She tells him she wants a favor and, in return, will let him touch the Rot again. She states that she wants only to hear about her mother. When her father died, she and her mother were taken in to her Uncle Anton's castle. But her mother sent her away to live with her aunt in France and told her to never come back. Anton came for her, killing the family and taking her back to his castle. Using his rot-flowers, he erased all the memories except for living in the castle. Since becoming an Avatar those memories have returned. Arcane insists that he did not kill Abby's mother but will tell her the story he knows. When he was 12, he ate the rotting corpse of a rabbit, causing the Parliament of Decay to come to him and make him their avatar. His job was to destroy as many avatars of The Green and the Red as possible. He found a quicker way though by infecting Ilse, the woman Abby knew as her mother, with the flesh-eating bacteria. That was when she sent Abby away. And he kept infecting her over and over and grafting on new skin, making her a patchwork of sorts. He then reveals that Ilse was NOT Abby's mother. She was a whore he had found to raise Abby when her mother had died. Arcane explains how Abby unknowingly had killed her own mother because of her connection to The Rot. Leaving, she warns that he will never touch the Rot again and never ever leave this place. He mocks her and throws his eyeball through the doorway. Somewhere, a young boy is about to bite into an apple but his stopped by his mother who notices an usual patch of rot on the fruit…one that looks like an eyeball.

Yeah…that is probably the sickest book I’ll read this month! In the tradition of the classic Anton Arcane, this guy takes the cake by repeatedly infecting a woman to watch what The Rot does to her. And then, best of all, we discover it is NOT Abby’s mother at all and that Abby is no different than her uncle be cause SHE infected the poor woman with The Rot. This is a minor masterpiece from Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz that also serves to relaunch Anton Arcane into the NEW 52 from his place of exile. What an awesome issue!

TEEN TITANS #23.2 DEATHSTROKE: Deathstroke is on a mission when he crosses paths with Deathblow. Deathstroke is here to execute a hit on a world leader. This leads to a flashback to their first meeting, when Deathblow sets off a bomb at a children’s hospital in a war torn land. Collateral damage or not, Slade Wilson quit the service. Moving forward in time, we see the birth of his son Grant and how he and Slade eventually became partners; until one time in North Korea when they were ambushed. Grant died and Slade lost his eye, all at the hands of a woman named Wilson. Back in modern times, Deathstroke completes the hit and kills off Michael Cray, his former partner, in the process. He eventually returns home where he greets his young daughter Rose.

Well, here is another fine mess on our hands! What starts out with great potential, with the Deathblow appearing in the NEW 52, ends up being a convoluted mess. And exactly what time frame is this set in? I thought the assignation was taking place during the preset day, but since it looks like he returns from the mission to an prepubescent Rose Wilson, I guess that’s a no. The story by Coory May and Dooma Wendschuh is confusing with a lot of little Image touches. And if you were a fan of Image, you know what I mean. By the way: Dooma Wendschuh? Are you sure this isn’t Rob Liefeld under a pseudonym because it reads like something he would write. Art is by Moritat, Angel Unzueta and Robson Rocha and, if you have to have THREE people draw it, you know that’s a mess of epic proportions. And lastly: how does he get a book anyway? And what does it have to do with FOREVER EVIL? Sigh…

WONDER WOMAN #23.1 CHEETAH: Once upon a time, Barbara Minerva and Wonder Woman were friends who had a falling out and, in the process, Barabara became the Cheetah. Well, now the Cheetah has busted out of Belle Reve and gets a call from the Secret Society, demanding she obey them. She promises to be there soon, but not until she completes a mission of her own liking first. With the Justice League gone and Amanda Waller missing, Captain LeRoi Holmes is called out of retirement and selects Mark Shaw to investigate. Shaw ends up at "Amazonia": a group home where Barbara grew up and that emulates the Amazonian lifestyle. Mark asks whether Lyta, who runs the group home, where Barbara's mother Thena and her brother Alexander might be. When last she heard was when Barbara had killed her own brother, winning a hunting tournament along with the right to leave Amazonia and retrieve the God-Slayer Knife. Lita decides that Mark needs to be hunted and gives him a five minute head-start to run for his life. She catches him and his preparing to finish him with her knife when she is knocked aside by Barbara. She explains that she is not here to protect him, but to kill her, which will end Barbara Minerva’s connection to this world. She then proceeds to tear Lyta’s heart out, dedicates it to her goddess and then quits. Warp arrives demanding she goes to the Society. Mark claims the knife for himself, saying he will now be hunting her.

Leave it to John Ostrander to come from out of nowhere and deliver a really powerful tale that defines Barbara Minerva. Seriously, I didn’t see this gem coming. While it is a bit wordy, most of John’s work has been in the past, he does tell one hell of a tale and, as always, LOVES using military characters within his plot. Cue Mark Shaw, the NEW 52 Universe version of Manhunter,  who now will become a key player down the road, possibly in the new JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA title. Art by Victor Ibanez is solid and, all in all, this was a fun issue to close out Week Three.

DC NEW 52 VILLAINS MONTH, Week 2

ACTION COMICS #23.2 ZOD: Dru-Zod loved monsters which, unfortunately, his scientist father raised to dissect and study. But one day his parents’ mobile lab was torn apart by creatures much more dangerous than what they were studying, killing his parents in the process. One year later, Jor and Zor-El picked up a distress signal from the wreck of the lab and were saved by young Dru-Zod, who had survived on his own. Fifteen years later and Zod had become a colonel in the Kryptonian military and developed a dislike for the Els. Zod tried to convince Jor-El to join him, along with Faora and Angar to battle the Char, but Jor-El refused. Two more years pass and Zod, along with Non, and Faora defeated the Char and win the loyalty of the Kryptonians, who lead drone strikes, wiping out the Char's home planet. One day, Jor-El had a meeting with Zod, only to have him arrested as a traitor to the Kryptonian people. At trial, Jor-El explained the creatures they were attacked by were not Char but created by Zod using material he stole from Zor-El’s laboratory. In actuality, Zod created the war against the Char for his own gains. In actuality, when the creatures attacked Zod’s family, only his mother was killed. Knowing it would allow him to escape, he had shoved a wooden stake into his father's brain and left him for the monsters. The Kryptonian Science Council sentenced Zod, Non and Faora to the Phantom Zone. Zod’s parting words were that he would always be their monster.

At least this wasn’t a Scott Lobdell tale! This was an interesting, if not long and involved tale of Zod’s rise from curious child to murderous child to Phantom Zone resident. Zod: the mighty General whose greatest atrocities are creating a war for gain. Not that we’ve never seen that before in the REAL WORLD. Nice art from classic artist Ken Lashley just adds to the piece. All in all, a nice tale that makes Zod more of a player in the NEW 52…once he gets free from the Phantom Zone, which I would expect to happen during FOREVER EVIL.

AQUAMAN #23.1 BLACK MANTA: In Belle Reve prison, Amanda Waller is trying to recruit Black Manta for a mission with Task Force X, but all he wants to do is kill Aquaman. She proceeds to run down the history of Black manta and how he developed his hatred for Aquaman when the lights go out and the rioting begins. The super-villains receive a message inviting them to Happy Harbor, Rhode Island where the super powers from Earth 3 have gathered. At the meeting, Black Manta claims Aquaman's trident and then leaves to visit his father's grave. Suddenly, the ground shakes and we see that Ultraman has moved the Moon, which affects the tides. Water covers the graveyard and washes away Black Manta’s father's body. With Aquaman dead, he now has a new enemy on his list.

Oh yeah: I think we all know what side of the fence this villain will be on when it comes time for the villains of Earth 2 to battle those of Earth 3. This was a great story that fleshed out a lot of Black Manta’s inner feelings. Nice work by Geoff Johns and Tony with art by Claude St. Aubin. Can I see manta as part of a revamped Suicide Squad down the road? Sure…provided he gets to keep the trident!

BATMAN #23.2 RIDDLER: Having escaped from Arkham, The Riddler prepares to break into Wayne Tower. He arranges a flash-mob protest which allows him to use his ID card to walk into the building with ease, along with a device he gets through the metal detectors. The security team realizes they are under attack by The Riddler. But, at that exact moment, the Crime Syndicate’s message appears on every monitor. Stopped by a security guard, The Riddler drops a riddle on him who costs the guard his life, leaving the villain to eat a cup of yogurt. He approaches a conference room door, puts plastic explosive into his now empty yogurt cup and blows the door down. He demands that Caroline Slater, the Junior VP of Finance, identify herself. He drags her by the hand to the executive elevator and uses her hand print to open it. He goes to his old office, but he is interrupted by a former Arkham Guard. The guard lunges at him, but has his right arm blown off by an explosive device the Riddler shot at him. The Riddler heads to the roof, as he has heard that the Batman is dead. He begins a game of solitaire and waits for a worthy opponent.

Ray Fawkes and Scott Snyder, with art by Jeremy Haun deliver an average tale that, at its worst, shows us that Ed Nygma likes yogurt and knows how to disarm someone-literally. At its best, it shows him as a deranged man who has only one goal: Batman. The real highlight of this issue is the killer Guillem March cover, which rocks in either the standard or Lenticular version.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.2 COURT OF OWLS: Despite Gotham being destroyed and the Justice League, including Batman being declared dead, The Court of Owls believes their way of life will survive if they go digging into the past. In 1974, R.H. Orchard had a meeting with the mayor of Gotham City, where he was told his meeting with five national union heads was unacceptable to the Court. Angered by the demands, the Court surrounded him and the next day, he threw the union leaders out of Gotham. Of course, that night he was dropped into their labyrinth and murdered by a Talon. Going further back in time, back to 1871, a young photographer had discovered the hideout of the Court of Owls. While he thought nothing of them, his wife believed they were dangerous. The next day, as he prepared to take his picture to the Philadelphia Press, he attempted to kiss his wife goodbye. A noose was slipped around his neck, hanging him until he was dead. Then a man placed a drugged cloth over the mouth of his wife. They became headlines themselves in the following edition of the Gotham Gazette. Today, a prominent member of the Court leads his daughter to where the Court began and tells her of the Gotham Butcher, Felix Harmon: a Talon who had a penchant for murder. The Court was forced to go underground for most of a decade because of Harmon. The father explains they have come down below to save the city. A woman jumps out, warning that they can’t bring back the first. But the man’s daughter climbs on her back cuts her open with her knives. As proud as any father could be, he leads his daughter through the wooden doors to the chamber of the First Talon.

James Tynion IV and Jorge Lucas gives us a great back story to the mysterious Court of the Owls and, at the same time, sets things in motion for future issues of TALON. This story was so entertaining, it is ALMOST enough to make me go read TALON: a book and a character that did NOTHING for me. The history of the organization, the little ways that they have controlled Gotham and then-the kid proves she can cut and run with the best of them. Absolutely one of my favorite reads from this batch. And the Lenticular cover worked REALLY well on this one.

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #23.2 MR FREEZE: We begin with the retelling of Victor Fries and how he murdered his mother after he felt she abandoned him during her accident. Victor discovered, via a clipping someone gave him at Arkham, that the father who had abandoned his family so long ago, had started a new family and was making headlines for his fund raising regarding cancer research. He discussed wanting to meet this family with his doctor and the doctor promised to take a letter to the family. Victor promised to kill him if he was lying. Victor escapes from Arkham with the events of the Crime Syndicate and killed his doctor with the frozen letters that were never sent. On route to visit his father, he asked the help of a nurse he rescued during his trip on a barge. Unfortunately, he learns that his father has died before he has gotten a chance to see him. Victor arrives at his father’s house and explains to the family how he ended up the way he is. He helps himself to a glass of wine and even says grace. He has frozen the widow and her children solid. After all, he did arrange to have his father murdered.

This was such an AWESOME story and I know why. They dynamic duo of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, those fine folks responsible for ALL STAR WESTERN each month, turn their creative juices loose and allows Victor Fries to get a small amount of revenge on the part of the family that made his childhood miserable. Now, does this make him bad because he craved revenge? I am not one to judge. But I think we might all go a little mad if we had the opportunity to eliminate a part of your past that caused you much pain. By the way, the art by Jason Masters is pretty cool too.

DETECTIVE COMICS #23.2 HARLEY QUINN No longer connected to the Suicide Squad and bored with the new Secret Society, Harley Quinn heads to Gotham City to reflect on her life. With a family that didn’t support her pursuit of her masters and then doctorate in criminal psychology, she choose to work at the best hospital in Gotham. But that proved unchallenging to her and she transferred to a position at Arkham Asylum. Convinced she could help them, she actually wore a disguise to break down the doctor/patient wall. That was when she approached the Joker, who went and kissed on her lips. Soon, they escaped together and h dropped her into a chemical bath. Lately Harleen is trying to take over the mind she shares with Harley. But Harleen’s intelligence has helped produce a software that, when loaded into handheld gaming system, will explode when updated. And sure enough, the update causes Gotham to light up with explosions. Deadshot arrives and explains that the Suicide Squad  needs her back. He makes the analogy that they are all like bullets and need targets. Harley: "So... shoot me."

Leave it to Matt Kindt, who I know some comic fans can’t stand (yeah-you know EXACTLY who you are!) to take the classic origin of Harley Quinn that we have all read and seen in MAD LOVE and twist it just enough to make it interesting to those getting into the NEW 52 for the first time. And isn’t she just a little Dickens to load all those non Game Boy Game Boys with an explosive new update. That will certainly cure your addiction to gaming for a while! Nice art by Neil Googe but nothing can beat the cover by Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn. Because noting says BUY ME to drooling fanboys than a Lenticular cover with a lots of bouncing boobs on it!

EARTH 2 #15.2 SOLOMON GRUNDY: It’s the origin of Solomon Grundy, In 1889, he lived in Slaughter Swamp with his wife and newborn son. They worked long hours at the Henry Slaughterhouse while Henry’s employees starved. One day, Solomon’s wife was sexually assaulted by Mr. Henry. Ashamed of it all, she later returned with a knife and shoved it into her throat. Mr. Henry ordered Solomon to retrieve his wife's body before the alligators ate it. So outraged was he, he took his knife and killed everyone in the slaughterhouse. Then he killed himself, falling into the swamp.  Many years later, Solomon Grundy has returned to Earth with the ability to drain all life force with the power of The Grey. He makes his way through the desert, causing destruction on his way to meet The Green Man. The military uses a missile to blow him up, but it isn’t long before he puts himself back together. Just like the rhyme, Solomon Grundy is always born on a Monday.

Hey-it’s that Matt Kindt guy again that SOME PEOPLE don’t like! This time he creates a great history to the legendary Solomon Grundy that is about as weird and perverse as we get. We get a rape, a suicide, a mass murder and than another suicide. But what about the boy, to use a line from TOMMY: what about the boy? He’s left an orphan but that never gets resolved. The back section basically is a partial retelling of the tale from EARTH 2 #5 where Grundy battles Green Lantern. The ever amazing Aaron Lopresti provides the interior art and he legendary Ken Lashley gives us the cool looking cover. Not the best EARTH 2 tale that I have ever read, but certainly not the worst.

FLASH #23.2 REVERSE FLASH: Daniel West visits his father and realizes that he needs to go back in time and kill him to erase what future harm he caused. He can do that because, three months ago, he got out of jail and landed in a city run by gorillas, where he was captured. He got saved by the Rogues but ended up stealing a car and ended up crashing into the Speed Force Battery and Dr. Elias’ monorail. He ended up in the desert of the Badlands with the ability to turn back time, but with his body bound to the remains of the monorail and the battery. He could also sense those who had been touched by the Speed Force and knew that if he could take their power, he might have enough to go back in time and change his life. In the recent past, The Flash sent him to prison. In the distant past, Daniel was responsible for crippling his abusive father; an act which caused him to run away from home and his sister Iris. Four years prior, Daniel learned that his mother was very sick before she gave birth to him and therefore he wasn’t responsible for her death. As he entered the house, he saw the Reverse-Flash, preparing to murder their father, as he drained the Speed Force energy from the Flash.

Now, die-hard FLASH fans know that the Reverse Flash was Professor Zoom, who killed Barry Allen’s mother and was responsible for FLASHPOINT which was the ignition point for the NEW 52. Well, in THIS world, he’s Iris West’s brother and Iris West has nothing to do with Barry Allen. So the die-hards may find this a bit hard to swallow. That having been said, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato write a great story that leads into the next issue of THE FLASH. Scott Hepburn provides the interiors and they fit the style of the book, which is normally featuring Manapul and Buccellato. All in all, an interesting take on a classic character.

GREEN LANTERN #23.2 MONGUL: Commander Pyri from the Oblivoron Federation finds himself teleported onto Warworld where two races are battling to the death and Mongul is in charge. Mongul gives a tour of the facilities, including Black Mercies which induce nightmares of dread. Warworld sends Oblivoron’s moon crashing to the planet below, killing many but leaving enough alive to serve Mongul as guards and gladiators. As a finishing touch, Mongul tears off Commander Pyri’s head as a final show of his power.

Okay, I kind of expected this kind of story from Jim Starlin. That’s why I can’t read STORMWATCH anymore because his scripts are so obtuse. This is another one. It rambles on for the length of the story until Mongul tears off Pyri’s head. The highlight of the book is the art from legendary artist Howard Porter. Yeah, don’t have a heck of a lot more to say about this issue than that. It definitely was a disappointment.

  

JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.2 LOBO: Lobo attacks acclaimed tenor Ulrin Duc Xon, explains to the audience that he is really Xi'nrin the Url. He apparently has a thousand credit bounty on his head for murder and extortion and Lobo cuts him into pieces to collect that bounty at the Mad Wolf trading outpost.He is offered a job smuggling a certain cargo in exchange for some information her has long been searching for. Travelling through "Grave Space", his ship is hit and crashes on an unfamiliar planet. He battles the Vrenyin Scavengers who shot him down, cutting them into tiny pieces. He discovers his cargo are passengers who were kidnapped from their home world, where they were to be boiled down for their bones which are elemental and rare. While they think they are being saved, Lobo loads them back into the cargo hold as he truly needs this information. He sells them at the Southern Cross and receives a device that will allow him to find the one man who escaped from Czarnia whne he murdered everyone there. The one is the man WE KNOW as Lobo and now the REAL Lobo is coming to Earth for him.

Marguerite Bennett gives us a NEW Lobo who is more Metrosexual than Main Man. And fans have been pretty much up in arms about this too! His attitude is pretty much the same: anything for money. But his look is so different that I can’t wrap my head around it. I guess that is my way of saying that even with Ben Oliver’s dynamite pencils, this book answers no questions and leaves more than we started with.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7.2 KILLER FROST: Three years ago, Dr. Caitlin Snow arrives in the Arctic to run a S.T.A.R. Labs project. She is a replacement for the last lead-researcher, who wandered out into the snow one night and froze to death. After some time working at a job she loves, she is knocked out only to awaken inside the Self-Sustaining Thermodynamic Ultraconductor Engine. Her colleagues had put her there as they had been hired away by H.I.V.E. and were responsible for their previous colleague’s death. They activate the engine and Dr. Snow’s presence in the circuit caused a feedback that stopped an explosion of the unit. To save herself, she ripped out the wires of the coolant system, causing her to be encased in ice. When she broke out, she grabbed her colleagues and fed on their warmth. No longer human, she made her way back to Pittsburgh where she was forced to kill to feed. She was also forced to fight Firestorm whose blasts would temporarily turn her back to her old self. She realized he had a connection to him and his Firestorm Matrix was the key. But now, having learned that The Crime Syndicate has killed the Justice League including Firestorm, she feels enraged. If Firestorm has died, that her chances of being normal may have died with him.

This is a very sympathetic tale by Sterling Gates and Derlis Santacruz. I was never a big fan of Firestorm, either in this version or previously ones. Actually, I liked the original concept WAY BACK WHEN, but found his character too watered down over the years to care. When his NEW 52 book came out, it was one and done (two counting the ZERO issue) for me, so I am unaware of the back story, in the universe, between him and Killer Frost. I can see where she will likely end up siding with the “heroic villains” in the FOREVER EVIL conflict. Great use of characterization here making her one of the more sympathetic villains I’ve encountered this month.  

SUPERMAN #23.2 BRAINIAC: The Collector of Worlds, that would be Brainiac, and his Terminauts are on a mission to save examples of cultures which are about to be destroyed by Vyndktvx. We get the back story as related to Victoria Viceroy by the robot she built. Vril Dox is convinced that his home planet of Colu is going to be destroyed by the Fifth Dimensional Multitude and is convinced of a way to save his people But he begins by experimenting on his own son, much to his wife’ dismay, and it gets him a one way ticket into space exile. While in exile, he uses C.O.M.P.U.T.O. to free himself and upgrade his body. He returns home on the day the Multitude arrives, so he bottles a portion of the planet and its’ people, and sets off on a quest to other worlds to help him destroy the Multitude. When they can’t help, he bottle up new trophies for his collection and destroys the world himself. Viceroy’s planet is doomed for destruction too but Brainiac feels she is worthy to assist him. Preferring to die with her world, she sends a warning that reaches Dr Veritas.

Tony Bedard and Pascal Alixe give us a nice revised origin for Brainiac that touches nicely on bits and pieces from classic LEGION OF SUPERHEROES stories. This is truly a tale that propels the evil genius forward in NEW 52 lore, but also pays homage to the good old tales. And a great cover, 3D or otherwise, by the extremely talented Gene Ha is the icing on this cake.

TEEN TITANS #23.1 TRIGON: We get Trigon’s origin story. He is a demon who is meant to die but survives and grows up to rule every universe and realm he can encounter. He also needs heirs, so his process is simple: enslave the men and mate with all the women. Many die during the process while some die during childbirth and others take their lives before delivering a demon seed. By the end of the tale, we learn that the narrator is Arella, Raven’s mother who is warning an audience, presumably the Crime Syndicate that Trigon is coming back to Earth and they need to stop him.

Marv Wolfman comes home to the team he created with George Perez back in the Eighties. Unfortunately, it mostly retreads what we already knew: he’s a bad ass demon who gets busy with any woman on every realm. The fact that most of them don’t survive is a bit graphic to be run through this book but it is NEW 52 after all. Carlos Urbano’s art is okay but, no offense; he certainly is no George Perez. The question that remains is who is Arella talking to: Crime Syndicate, a villains team or someone else?