DC's NEW 52, Month 25, Part 2

HARLEY QUINN #0: Harley wonders what life would be like if she was in a comic book and she dreams that Jimmy Palmiotti, who writes about cowboys, and Amanda Conner, who draws “big boobs”, wrote her tale. From here, a bevy of artists take her on a wild ride. Becky Cloonan makes her a rock star. The audience hates it and she shoots her own band to death. Tony Daniel makes her into a giant robot and she eats Citi Field. Stephane Roux has her fighting crime on the back of a dolphin, where she saves a group of muscle-men from Spanish pirates. Dan Panosian does a MAD MEN take with Harley as a hot secretary. She learns that the office boss is the Joker, which gets her too excited for T RATED book. Walt Simonson steps in to make her a crazy ninja. Jim Lee is next, but it is a modified reprint of an earlier Lee work. She gets treated to a dose of Bruce Timm and, naked in a church, gives her classic line: "Aw, c'mon puddin', don'tcha wanna rev up your Harley?!" Charlie Adlard lets her get mocked by her soccer team, so she pulls out a gun and murders them. Adam Hughes gives her blue pencil roughs and one killer image, but she rejects him because he can’t keep a monthly schedule. Next is Art Baltazar and she smashes all of his Tiny Titans with an over-sized hammer. Tradd Moore gives her and Poison Ivy the THELMA AND LOUISE treatment and Dave Johnson lightens the drama up by having the car crash through the Hollywood sign. A newcomer, Jeremy Roberts, places her in a series of suicidal situations, which makes her move on to Sam Kieth. He puts her in a swamp, where the Joker is a monster who tries to eat her. Darwyn Cooke arrives to have her and Catwoman rob Amanda and Jimmy at their own wedding. Harley wakes and gets blown up by a bomb in a box of old comics. She sees an open book and decides that is the artist for her: Chad Hardin. A car pulls up and informs her that the will of an anonymous benefactor has given her a four-story property on Coney Island.

This is a weird introduction to a book that could be a shining star in the NEW 52 Universe. Will it be funny or serious? Find out next month!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #25: Thirty years ago, Thomas Wayne Jr. murdered his parents and Alfred killed his younger brother Bruce. Moving forward to today, we see Eel O’Brien and fellow Gotham gangsters gathered and taking a beating from Owlman, with O’Brien getting shot and ending up becoming altered by chemicals he gets doused in. When all is said and done, only Frank Bertinelli remains and he is told that Owlman now runs organized crime. We learn of the Flying Grayson disaster on Earth 3: where John Grayson murdered Anthony Zucco and forced the circus acts into following him. Until the night Dick Grayson’s parents and sister were murdered by Thomas Wayne Jr. Back on this world, Owlman tells his tale to Dick Grayson and explains that the Society has blown up his apartment in Chicago and begun hunting his friends. He convinces Grayson to join him to fight the Crime Syndicate. Unfortunately, Superwoman has heard the whole thing.

Geoff Johns is a mastermind! He gives us the life story of Owlman, complete with how the corrupt Grayson family, including a sister we never knew about in our world, was murdered by him. And then he tries to and apparently succeeds in convincing Nightwing to be his new boy. And, if that were not truly enough, we get the first appearance of Eel O’Brien and apparent origin of the Once and Future Plastic Man. Throw in some awesome art by the always dependable Doug Mahnke and this is a winner. Forget the much heralded launch of this title with Jim Lee. This book is light years away from where his issues were, both in style and content!

JUSTICE LEAGE DARK #25: John Constantine gets a visit from the Nightmare Nurse, who brought him her own version of Swamp Thing, which gives birth to a very pissed off original Swamp Thing. Despite that, Alec Holland knows he is needed to help fight the Crime Syndicate. The trio begins the spells they need to find Zatanna and the rest of the Justice Leagues. John decides they need to use the Nurse’s potions to kill evil, which is magnifying exponentially in everyone. The trio enters the human psyche, and encounters being called a blight, that is the disease that is making mankind adore the darkness within them. It reduces Alec Holland back to the man he is beneath the green. It fills Nightmare Nurse with the disease she swore to fight. John is unaffected as he embraces the darkness. He grabs the others and runs. They return to the House of Mystery, where John enters one of the mansion's doors only to emerge twelve hours later, naked and bloodied. The blight can only be defeated by the Trinity of Sin. Meanwhile Cassandra Craft is kidnapped by a gang of Demons that spring up from beneath the floor of her shop.

J. M. DeMatteis chips in and provides another chapter in the epic FOREVER EVIL crossover and this one is a weird one. So, I am to believe that all mankind is evil and this thing called the blight is responsible, only it has been amped up by recent events. Yeah…not quite totally buying that. However, it was a fun read and Mikel Janin’s artwork blew me away, with Nightmare Nurse looking extremely hot. Yeah, I know: she’s a comic character. But she is totally brought to seductive life by Janin and by inkers Guillermo Ortego and Cifuentes. So, it comes down to an issue that looked better than it actually read. But that’s okay, as this book has been pretty consistent through it’s run thus far.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9: Martian Manhunter has learned that their prison is their own weaknesses. Green Lantern fears the world hates him because he is a Muslim. He finds Madame Xanadu and she has been using dark magic to try and get free with no avail. Aquaman is faced with visions of polluted oceans and threatens anything on two legs. Stargirl decides she must follow after him. She finds Wonder Woman who recognizes her and protects her from the demons threatening her, giving her time to move on, stopping briefly to watch Shazam take joy in destroying everything. J'onn J’onzz final prison is his own and it’s a world full of fire where he has a double who taunts him. Stargirl arrives at J'onn's prison and manages to free him with the use of her staff. She makes her way out of this illusionary prison but does so alone as J'onn is in her head only. Unfortunately, Deathstroke and the Secret Society are here to greet her.

Wow, that Deathstroke sure gets around a lot no that he has no title to work with. That having been said, it sure looks like the youngest member of the group turned out to be the smartest! However she is finding herself in a bit of a bind and is about to be captured by the one eyed bad guy and company.  Matt Kindt and Tom Derenick do a nice job with this tale as we all wonder how the most powerful heroes in the world are going to get their minds free and their bodies with it. This is another cool chapter in the ongoing FOREVER EVIL saga and one I am really enjoying.

THE MOVEMENT #6: Kartharsis finds Tremor allowing the Movement's prisoners to escape and is convinced she is a traitor. A fight breaks out that only Virtue manages to stop by threatening to kick both members out of the group. Burden is still suffering from his demon and the Cornea Killer is still on the loose. Virtue orders Katharsis and Tremor talk out their problems over ice cream at Calvin's. As they prepare for Burden’s exorcism, Virtue tells Vengeance Moth that the whole thing is a fake exorcism and prepares to use vitamin water and manages to absorb his energy, exorcising him of his fear. Meanwhile, Officers Whitt and Peña continue their race to freedom. Mouse has encountered the Cornea Killer, who is really the son of James Cannon. He has brought a gang of super-villains-for-hire with him called the Graveyard Faction. Meanwhile, Katharsis and Tremor come to a truce over ice cream. As they leave Calvin's, they discover that Mouse's beaten body has been hanging from a nearby lamppost.

I still don’t know how this book survives each month. The story by Gail Simone is non a true superhero tale and the art by Freddie Williams II is nothing to jump up and down about. But somehow, the title drags me in each month and makes me come back next month just to see what Simone has planned.  Six issues in and still playing with plot threads dating back to issue #1.

NIGHTWING #25: It’s ZERO YEAR and Gotham is blacked out. Two hours earlier, Dick Grayson had been showing off on the trapeze to impress Raya Vestri. After a difficult maneuver, Dick's father scolded him and forbid him from going to the movies alone in an evil place like Gotham City. But he went and when the power went out, Dick got trampled. When he woke, three people were over him and agreed to help Dick find his way back to the circus. Dick’s family found themselves concerned about him being missing, but felt it wouldn’t be safe to search for him in the dark. As the trio headed through Gotham, a patient who had escaped from Gotham General Hospital attacked them.  Eventually the foursome became a trio, carrying one of the youth’s who had been injured by the hospital patient. Eventually, the patient caught up with them, but fell from a rooftop while chasing Dick. Dick and his new friends found their way back to the circus, where one boy, CJ, who had left the injured Josh behind to die, was picked up by his father-Sal Maroni. Dick got ground by his mother for his trouble and he decided that Raya, Raymond and he should wear matching costumes so they could be a team.

This was not one of Kyle Higgins’ best stories. Sure, it taught Dick a lesson and proved to be interesting as to the Raya, Raymond and Dick team and what would later become of them. But the whole ESCAPE FROM GOTHAM CITY story was long and not interesting, basically because I didn’t care for the three kids. And finding out one of them was Sal Maroni’s son was even less of a thriller. We do get nice art from Will Conrad and know that starting with the net issue, the repercussions of FOREVER EVIL should be felt.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #25: It’s ZERO YEAR and super-storm Rene is bearing down on a blacked out Gotham City and Jason Todd is out in the streets fighting for food for himself and his drug addicted mother. His friend Chris arrives saying he found the dead bodies of two members of the Red Hood Gang and then suggest the two take the masks and infiltrate a revival of the gang, while a disfigured person watches from the shadows. Despite his uncertainty, Jason puts on a mask and tries to defend a woman in the midst of a fight. Introducing himself as Red Hood #4, she takes him to watch as she practiced a strike that she had been taught by Ducra of the All-Caste. Outside the meeting, Jason, who had been knocked out by the woman to protect him,  was awakened by a man whose face was covered in bloodied bandages. Jason got away even as the man warned he would get them all. Jason entered and saw the woman in danger and allowed her to decapitate her enemy. They escape as the disfigured man set the building on fire, burning his old gang alive. Outside, Jason gave the mask back to Chris saying he didn’t want to be a Red Hood. Later, Talia al Ghul reunited with her father.

Thank you James Tynion IV for going back to a scene from DEATH OF THE FAMILY where the Joker told Jason Todd that he was responsible for his origin. So, I guess this is the proof. No kids: all of you who thought that the bandaged man was Hush-you are wrong. It was the Joker and he DID kill off his entire gang. I love Tynion’s writing style and would love to read his TALON, except I really don’t like the character. Jeremy Haun provides some nice art for this tale and it’s also notable to see Talia reunited with her father. It is a nice foreshadow of things to come.

RED LANTERNS #25: Guy Gardner tells Rankorr about the various Space Sectors that the Guardians set up and how they are in charge of Earth’s Sector 2814. Meanwhile out in Sector 1107, Dex-Starr and Atrocitus are hunting the Red Rings Atrocitus sent out to find new recruits. One of them chose Itro, who begins the issue by destroying Goswam on the planet Shoum. The Lanterns go to the planet Kormoraz to take out the dictator there named Gensui. Rankorr creates an illusion to look like Barg: a pirate who is friends with Gensui. The idea is to make him surrender. Unfortunately, Barg has been on the planet the entire time.

So, just when I thought this would be a bold new era for RED LANTERNS, this issue comes along and limps on through. Why would the Red Lanterns go to the planet Kormoraz to impress the people of Earth Sector 2814. No one on Earth cares about Kormoraz. Charles Soule writes an extremely confusing tale that has no bite, but bites! Alessandro Vitti’s art is as nice as always, but can’t seem to save this boring tale.

SUICIDE SQUAD #25: The Thinker has been promised to have his body restored to it’s proper age once he delivers OMAC to the Crime Syndicate and has used a hologram of Amanda Waller to recruit Power Girl, Steel, and Warrant his Suicide Squad and have them destroy the “real” Squad. The two teams meet and battle and realize they have been duped. As both teams debate this, Harley Quinn, who has been recruited by the Syndicate, escapes with OMAC. Meanwhile, back at what is left of Belle Reve, the real Amanda Waller, who now has an explosive device attached to her neck, decides she must go to Level 7 of the prison. If The Thinker dies, she dies. If she leaves the prison, she also dies. She opens the final door, just as King Shark finds them. He has been told by The Thinker to find her and eat her. James Gordon Jr. tells Shark that The Thinker's promises about King Shark's father were lies and the only person who knows the truth is Waller. Waller approaches the door to Project Y and decides that, of all the evil things she has done, this one will be the one that kills her.

Matt Kindt does the best he can with having to step away from his regular plot and delve into FOREVER EVIL. It’s an okay story, but not great. Sure, we get to see OMAC again, a character I really miss and had wished that his series had continued. And we get to see the lower level of Belle Reve and get ready to learn about Project Y. But that doesn’t satisfy my appetite for action and this issue lacks it. Patrick Zircher gives us some great looking art, as always and the cover by Gary Frank and Brad Anderson is spectacular. I just wish the rest of the book was as spectacular. Here is what I have found about FOREVER EVIL: either the interconnecting stories are really good or really lame. unfortunately, this is one of the lame ones.

SUPERMAN #25: In the conclusion of KRYPTON RETURNS, Supergirl, Superboy and Superman exist in three different eras of Krypton. At Argo City, a few days before Krypton's destruction, Superboy has protected Kara Zor-El from H'El, who he defeats in combat. He erases Kara’s memories of him so, when they meet in modern time, she won’t remember him. At the same time, in the city of Kryptonopolis, months before Krypton's destruction, Superman meets Jor-El, who has come from an alternate future where Krypton never died. He sent  Kal-El to Earth and was imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor because his warnings were false. Superman and Jor-El go to the research center to try and reach the planet's core and stop H'El once and for all, by destroying Krypton. Meanwhile, in Valley of Wartros, Supergirl and the clones have also defeated H'El, who commits suicide and disappears. At Krypton's core, Superman and Jor-El battle H'El, who has his essence dispersed across space and time. Superboy uses his powers to throw the entire city of Argo into space. Superboy dies a hero as Krypton explodes. In the present, Superman and Supergirl reunite as the Oracle informs them of Superboy's death.

So, does this mean Superboy’s comic gets cancelled? I mean, we killed off Superboy AGAIN(think of how many times and how many different Superboy’s in the OLD DCU got offed) and I don’t care because I’m not reading the book. After all, he can be cloned anew. Scott Lobdell concludes a story I didn’t follow because I didn’t care. And I still don’t particularly like Kenneth Rocafort’s art. Well, now that this silly crossover is done, can we get back to business. After all, how many Superman titles DO we really need? I just want one good one that doesn’t suck!

SWAMP THING #25: Swamp Thing is preparing to battle the Seeder. Wolf, a former avatar of The Green explains the rules of the contest. Neither may bring anything into the arena to use as a weapon and neither can leave the arena. Woodrue and Alec battle, with Woodrue making use of his special seeds and eventually causes Alec to concede defeat. Woodrue opens a doorway out of the arena and his walking stick sprouts legs, dragging Alec out of the doorway. He ends up on a dead planet and will probably die there. As he proudly announces that he has beaten the Parliament of Trees' champion, Woodrue demands the power due an Avatar. Suddenly, the vegetation around him takes the form of the Swamp Thing. The Green demands he kills the challenger because he knows too many secrets of the Green. He refuses, pulling off his own leg to keep himself from crushing Woodrue with it. Suddenly he feels the Green pulling away and they tell him his service as Avatar has ended. As he dries up and rots, Woodrue is named the new Avatar of the Green.

Is this where the title of the book becomes THE ADVENTURES OF THE FLORONIC MAN? Jason Woodrue is now the Avatar of the Green, thanks to Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz. And Alec Holland has dried up and is going to the place where all Avatars end up to live out his existence. This is a great story with some interesting twists. of course, I want to know WHERE this sits in regards to everything else happening in the NEW DC Universe. Does this occur before or AFTER the whole FOREVER EVIL thing? Honestly, DC Editorial: we need a timeline or something.

TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #5: Pandora is at the downed Justice League Satellite and corners The Outsider,demanding to know how to reopen the gate. He tells her all a out her and says that she didn’t open the box, it opened on its’ own. The bigger question should have been who made the boxes and why did one end up here? Before she gets a true answer, the Grid becomes aware of presence and she flees. Meanwhile, Marcus Severin tries to hack the device to make it work again. Pandora soon finds herself transported to the Rock of Eternity, where she finds John Constantine, Swamp Thing, and the Nightmare Nurse. She is chained to the Rock along with Phantom Stranger and The Question. Constantine explains that he has brought them together to kill evil.

So, this tale gets a bit confusing because it ties together with JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and THE PHANTOM STRANGER. So, if you’re not reading those titles, you will be lost. In a nutshell, Ray Fawkes and Francis Portela will have to have the Trinity of Sin help destroy the Crime Syndicate by trying to eliminate evil. Will it work? Bet it don’t otherwise there would be no need for superheroes to fight evil ever again. Stay tuned…

TRINITY OF SIN: PHANTOM STRANGER #13: Last issue, Sineater and Natas burned down his house. This issue, Zauriel shows up and reminds The Phantom Stranger that he has Doctor Light’s power within him and he is supposed to return it to Doctor Light’s wife. He delivers the power, which takes the form of Arthur Light and kisses his wife. This task down, he visits The Question who wants to know what sin he committed to be one of the Trinity of Sin. Eventually, he is captured by John Constantine and transported to The Rock of Eternity, where Pandora and The Question await. Constantine is seeking a favor.

Let’s begin by saying that this issue features a stunning cover from Guillem March. J.M. DeMatteis writes a super boring story this issue as the bits and pieces from the last storyline intersect with the whole FOREVER EVIL story and we end up with a bit of a major mess. The Stranger mourns the loss of his family, which isn’t really HIS to mourn. Then we have a very long dialogue between The Question and The Stranger that just drags. Finally, the full Trinity of Sin end up together chained to the Rock of Eternity so Constatine can drag them into battle with the Crime Syndicate. The highlight of this mess is Fernando Blanco’s art which keeps this thing from being a total disaster.

WONDER WOMAN #25: We begin with Strife paying Hephaestus to create a weapon so she can kill Wonder Woman. Meanwhile, Cassandra has captured the seer Milan in order so she can find Zeke and the First Born. In London, Wonder Woman and her crew are amused at how poorly Hermes is trying to discretely watch Zeke. Orion arrives and attacks Hermes, which is halted when Strife shows up in funeral attire, as she is grieving for War. She offers gifts to the group. She gives Hera back her cloak. She gives Diana War's helmet and that the murderer should get the spoils. Milan’s half-sister Siraca travels there and asks for Wonder Woman’s help. Orion heads off and Diana asks Hermes to get her to Chernobyl, which leaves Strife watching Zeke and company. Meanwhile, up on Mount Olympus, Apollo and Dionysus torture the First Born by eating his internal organs while he still lives.

Brian Azzarello does it again by making this the most dysfunctional family in all of comics. This is like MARRIED WITH CHILDREN on Olympus! These are some of the wildest characterizations, complete with Apollo and Dio feasting on a still living First Born. Gordan Sudzuka does his best Cliff Chiang imitation and, to be honest, it’s pretty darned good! This is a fun book-will someone listen to me? BUY THIS SUCKER!!!

WORLD’S FINEST #17: While her powers are down, Karen tries to get a tattoo, but her skin is still impervious to the needle of the tattoo artist. So she drops 10 million and charters a shuttle into space to do some outer space sunbathing. But it overcharges her body and she drops through Earth’s atmosphere and sends a message to Helena top save her. Helena is still seeking the arsonist that had been causing havoc as of late, but fails again to stop her. But the NYPD do and she uses her shadow-arms to attack them, almost killing them until Helena saves them with an arrow shot.  Suddenly Karen crashes into the bridge and ends up in the water below. Helena dives in to save her as the arsonist turns her attention back to the police. For Karen, her powers are totally out of control.

Can we get this whole out of control powers thing over with? The story is going on too long and, between that and Helena chasing Shadow Thief, this is getting to have as much estrogen fueled drama as BIRDS OF PREY. Kudos to Paul Levitz for coming up with the Karen Starr goes sunbathing in space plot, which was mildly amusing! And, as always, we get nice work from artist R. B. Silva. Once again, this title is hit or miss, depending on the issue. This one is a bit of a miss.