DC REBIRTH Month 12, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #979 by Dan Jurgens and Patch Zircher. We begin seeing Mongul killing Superman, which turns out to be a dream he continues to live because of the Black Mercy flower. The Eradicator arrives to free him and take him to their leader. Blanque, Mogul and Eradicator then end up in the Himalayas searching for the Oblivion Stone, when they run into Dratania and K’lon. Meanwhile, Lois and Clark purchase an apartment in Metropolis when he hears the distress call from what was his Fortress. He finds Kelex dismantled and Dratania and K’lon are dead. Off on the moon, in what was Batman’s secret base, the trio of villains brings Hank Henshaw the stone, which leads to him stripping off his flesh and revealing himself as the Cyborg Superman. In the end, his plan is to bring Zod into the fold.

ACTION COMICS #980 by Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher. While Cyborg Superman is filling in the new Superman Revenge Squad, the Kents are adjusting to their new home in Metropolis. Superman heads to the Watchtower where he and Batman see Henshaw and The Eradicator trying to make their way through a black dome that surrounds Belle Reve. It is revealed that the dome is a manifestation of the Black Vault, which causes hallucinations once someone is inside. With all three players inside, it looks like the deaths in Superman’s past are here to aunt him.

ALL STAR BATMAN #10 by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque. In London in the past, police chase a masked crook. In the present, Batman and Alfred are chasing after Hush, capturing him and convincing him to give up vital information. This leads to Bruce posing as Tommy Elliot in an intended buy of the Genesis Engine. But the seller, Mr. Thatch, is aware of the subterfuge and orders his men to kill Bruce, who uses his wits to protect himself with an iron painting. Defeating the thugs, Bruce finds that Thatch has been murdered and had his chest ripped open, revealing his beating heart as he died. Alfred recognizes the symbol on Thatch’ chest and it takes him back to his youth in London...where he was the masked crook.

AQUAMAN #22 by Dan Abnett and Philippe Briones. Because of their fear, Arni and Mortimer both turn into Dead Water and begin to tear the base apart. The Aquamarines transform, while Aquaman and Mera arrive to drive the Dead Waters away momentarily. The signal jammer is broken and Mortimer has set a nuclear bomb to blow up the base. Aquaman grabs the bomb and blows up the portal to Strange Water’s world. The bomb explodes, Mera saves them both with air bubble, and Arni and Mortimer transform back to their old selves. In the end, a stranger in a hood is looking to release Rath from his prison.

AQUAMAN #23 by Dan Abnett and Scott Eaton. Arthur and Mera return to Atlantus and get attacked by Corum Rath and Deluge. It seems they have been released and that Elder Leot and the Council did it. Apparently, Atlantis is tired of the way Arthur is hanging with the surface dwellers, specifically the Justice League. They decide to make Corum Rath king and even his most loyal followers, such as Murk, agrees. Meanwhile, Vulko and Kreen are in the Penitentiary Vault, but Vulko has had enough and he slips out.

BANE CONQUEST #1 by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan. Bane, Bird, Trogg and Zombie attack a cargo ship and Bane kills everyone because they stole from him. It turns out the ship contains weapons meant for a terrorist cell in Gotham. That leads him back to Gotham and eventually someone named Chango, who gets tortured and eventually killed by Bane. It seems someone named Damocles is responsible and that leads to Qurac, where Bane gets ambushed and presumably captured by Damocles. 

BATGIRL #11 by Hope Larson and Chris Wildgoose. Blacksun is confronting his dad when Batgirl crashes the party to save Penguin. Blacksun’s newest app creates a “murmuration”, which is also what you call a flock of Starlings. This means that the crowd gets turned into mind-controlled zombies and they attack Batgirl and Penguin. She manages to get Blacksun out of wi-fi range and that shuts his powers down and then lures him to Prospect Pine Park. They mix it up and she kicks him in the chest, causing his suit to short circuit and that burns him badly. Flashing forward two weeks, where Barbara is hosting a welcome home party for Frankie. Meanwhile, Penguin arranges to bust his son out of the hospital so he can treat him for his burns.

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #10 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Roge Antonio. Batgirl, Huntress, Nightwing, Green Arrow and Gemini continue their hunt for Blackbird when they come across Owen, who reveals his power has been stripped away. This leads them back to the Clocktower, where Blackbird is masquerading as Dinah and the real Dinah has been mind-controlled. Blackbird tries to control Huntress, but she has had Spyral activate a Hypnos for her, which blocks her. But because she is controlling multiple people, Blackbird’s ability is weakened and the combined psychic ability of the Birds of Prey defeats her. In the end, Blackbird reveals that she can only remove abilities and can’t give them back. The Birds decide to let Oracle be part of their inner circle and that might work to his advantage, as a mysterious person has demanded his help in exchange for more pills.  

BATMAN #22 by Joshua Williamson, Tom King and Jason Fabok. THE BUTTON PART 3. Barry and Bruce have arrived in the Batcave of FLASHPOINT Batman-his father Thomas Wayne. Unfortunately the reunion is short lived as Atlantean and Amazonian forces have arrived. Father and son team up to fight the armies as Flash races about to fix the Cosmic Treadmill. As the armies fall and the Treadmill gets powered up, Batman begs his father to come with them. He refuses, tells Bruce to NOT be Batman and enjoy some happiness as the Flashpoint Universe dissolves. As Batman and Flash head back through the Speed Force to their own time, they are passed by Reverse Flash who is still alive. To be concluded in THE FLASH #22.

BATMAN #23 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. The issue begins with a grisly murder that Batman and Jim Gordon are investigating. That’s when Swamp Thing shows up explaining that the murder victim is his father. They discover that someone named Lloyd McGinn is responsible and, when they find him, Swamp Thing kills him.

BATMAN BEYOND #8 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. Bruce explains how his prototype Bat Suit has a built-in A.I. which made certain that Batman never fails, which resulted in the injuries that finished his career. and a history different than the animated series for when Bruce stopped being Batman.  Ra’s right-hand man, Koru, arrives and mixes it up with Curare, running her through with a sword and killing her. The A.I. sends Terry to Ra's fortress in the Himalayas and Bruce is in pursuit. With Terry batting the Demon's Head, who turns out to be Damian Wayne.

BATWOMAN #3 by Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV and Steve Epting. We begin in the past, where Tahani, the future assassin known as Knife has saved a young Safiyah from some man who was hurting her. In the present, Kate meets with Elder and Younger of the Kali Corporation and bugs the room while Julia is hacking into their system. The twins reveal that Safiyah’s heir sold the desert Rose to the Kali Corporation. Julia learns that the twins plan to wipe out Safiyah’s island with a series of bombs. Knife shows up and attacks Kate, before fleeing with the twins. Kate goes to the island and finds all the explosives, but gets attacked by Knife. Luckily, Kate has made a deal with the other crime bosses on the island and they arrive to back her up.

BLUE BEETLE #9 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Scott Kolins. Tina has learned that Sugar, Spike, the Reyes and Milagro have all been turned into monsters. Teri takes Jaime to meet up with OMAC and try and secure his help. Brother Eye gets involved and agrees to assist. Jaime, Teri, Ted and OMAC face off against Arion, but Doctor Fate's Helmet calls to Teri and convinces her to go the Tower of Fate, where she frees Kent Nelson.

CYBORG #12 by John Semper Jr. and William Conrad. Cyborg finally ends up back in Detroit, only to find that he has been moved six months into the future. He takes in a lecture on genetics, nanotechnology and robotics before he finds that Exxy has become a famous rapper while Cyborg was gone. Cyborg goes to one of his underground concerts, which allows Anomaly to find him and send his Haxaan robot along with a monster he created from Rizzo Rattama, to attack them. Sarah, who happens to be in the crowd, remotely gives Cyborg information on how to reprogram the OTAC cells, which causes Rizzo to dissolve.

DEATHSTROKE #18 by Christopher Priest and Joe Bennett. We begin with Jericho beating on Deathstroke after discovering Etienne murdered. From here, it flashes back and we learn that Etienne was working for Amanda Waller. Rose has been picked up at the airport by Red Lion who gives her the Ravager suit. Isherwood has been resurrected, but it looks like their were side effects. Slade visits Luis/Richard’s mom and says he will let her son live, which means he will have to kill him when he comes after Deathstroke again. Etienne berates Jericho for not telling her about his affair with Isherwood. After we see the bride dead, we cut to the wedding as Jericho arrives and attacks his father. In the end, father and daughter are unconscious and Jericho stands over them, covered in blood.

DEATHSTROKE #19 by Christopher Priest, Benjamin Percy, Dan Abnett, Larry Hama, Carlo Pagulayan, and Roberto Viacava. THE LAZARUS CONTRACT Part 3 starts with Deathstroke now possesses the Speed Force and he and Wally are heading off together. The Teen Titans, specifically Damian, is upset that their Wally gave Slade his Speed Force powers. Back in the past, to a time a year after Grant’s death, we see that Slade made a deal with Dick Grayson where he would take care of Rose. And this is the Lazarus Contract-as long as she stayed safe, they would not be hunted by him. Damian and Dick agree to work together, as do Wally and Jericho. In the end, Slade goes searching for Isherwood and finds…Grant? To be concluded in TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1.

DETECTIVE COMICS #956 by James tynion IV and Marcio Takara. Casandra continues her battle with Shiva while Colonel Kane and Ulysses send their swarms under Gotham to wipe out the League. When Kane discovers Batwoman is still alive, he stops Ulysses and the swarm. At the end of the Cassandra/Shiva battle, Ra’s Al Ghul arrives and shoots Shiva in the chest. In the end, Ra’s takes control of the League, diffuses the bomb and takes Shivas’corpse with him. And Batman decides he needs to use magic to defeat Ra’s in the future.

DETECTIVE COMICS #957 by James Tynion IV, Christopher Sebela and Carmen Carnero. Spoiler is all about proving that Gotham shouldn’t be totally relying on Batman. Wrath shows up and challenges Batman in a bungled television broadcast. Steph saves the day, but lets GCPD

THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #5 by Cary Bates, Greg Weisman and Will Conrad. General Eiling is working at trying to put a positive spin regarding the Max Thrane incident. Thrane, now calling himself Ultramax, is going about grilling and eliminating all those people who went to the FBI and sent him to death row. Eventually, he will get to the last person on his list: General Eiling. Meanwhile, Atom masquerades as his son’s JROTC representative and tries to bond with him, even though Genji does not know this is his father.

THE FLASH #22 by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. THE BUTTON PART 4. Flash and Batman are pursuing Reverse Flash when he trashes the Cosmic Treadmill, allowing him to slip away. Thawne reaches his destination, but finds himself eliminated by something with a blue flash. Flash hears a voice that says to say his name. When he says the name Jay, Jay Garrick, the original Flash, appears, moving through the Speed Force as they all land in Batman’s Batcave. He explains that Barry must remember him like he did Wally, but then gets pulled back by a blue mist, possibly into the Speed Force. Later, Bruce and Barry have a conversation by the grave of Bruce’s parents, where Barry says he is going to do an autopsy on Thawne. That night, the Bat Signal lights the sky and Bruce considers if he should answer it or not, based on his “father’s” words. In the end, a mysterious blue hand tells “Laurie” that everyone is a puppet, which reveals this mysterious figure as WATCHMAN’s Doctor Manhattan. The epilogue shifts perspective from the bottom to Superman’s crest. Doomsday Clock is coming in November.

THE FLASH #23 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico. We begin in the 25th Century in the Flash Museum where it is revealed that the Flash and Eobard Thawne.  In present time, Barry is in S.T.A.R. Labs examining Thawne who, unseen by Barry, shows a glimmer of Speed Force in the villain’s eye. Barry goes to a surprise birthday party, where he has a rotten time, as he keeps dwelling on Thomas Wayne's message to Bruce. Hal Jordan shows and then Multiplex attacks, telling Iris that she is the one for him. Wally races Iris home, where they find Daniel waiting for them.

GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #9 by Brendan Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl. Our story begins with Olive at the fiery remains of Harvey Dent’s family home. The school is now in lock-down and most of the students leave, including Kyle. That leaves the Detective Club short handed as they look for Amity’s bones. Modern versions of the Terrible Trio trap them and force them to use science to get free. Meanwhile, Dent finds Olive and meets her possessed self, convincing her to join him in a war against Oswald Cobblepot.

GREEN ARROW #22 by Benjamin Percy and Juan Ferreyra. While most of Seattle is in flames, Eddie, Cheshire and Brick gets introduced as part of the Four Horsemen and battle with Green Arrow. While the Mayor objects to the media treating him like a crook, Arrow learns that something called Ley Lines forms a star, with Queen Industries being in the center of it. In the end, Henry tries to recruit Roy into the mix but he may not see that happen, as Eddie has set the tree-house on fire with Henry in it.

GREEN ARROW #23 by Ben Percy and Juan Ferreyra. With Dinah at the library doing research, and getting a visit from Victoria Much, and Emiko finding a dead security guard at the water treatment plant, Ollie finds the treehouse burned to the ground and what may be Henry’s remains. As she investigates the treatment plant, Emiko has a run in with Cheshire. Luckily, Roy shows up to save the day. Over at Queen Industries, we see that Broderick has Henry and he is doing his best to get him over to his side by showing off some cool technology. In the end, Eddie shows up with troops to take on Ollie and someone blows up the Space Needle.

GREEN LANTERNS #22 by Sam Humphries and Ronan Cliquet. Jessica and Simon are sent to Mogo for Green Lantern training with Guy and Kyle. Meanwhile, the last of the Lanterns meet up and Rami is not really who he seems to be.

GREEN LANTERN #23 by Sam Humphries and Eduardo Pansica. Both Jessica and Baz are being put through their training by Guy and Kyle. Volthoom digs through Rami’s records and finds that the first seven rings were made from the Traveling Lantern. His plan: find the first seven rings and he can go home. Flashing back to 10 Billion years ago, we see The Third World of the New Gods called Galactica where Alitha becomes one of the first Lanterns. In the end, Jessica gets fed up and punches out Guy.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #20 by Robert Venditti and Rafa Sandoval. Hal isn’t doing well in his battle against the Prsim Beasts and it takes Mogo’s help to save him. Over in Space Sector 563, Sarko explains to his captives how he has come back in time to claim what is his. As Hal realizes that he may be responsible for all of this, the Lanterns are forced to surrender. Sarko knows that Hal hid Krona’s Gauntlet and he has created a construct that will battle Hal.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #20 by Robert Venditti and V. Ken Marion. On Mogo, the combined Corps are battling the prism monsters without their rings. Kyle and Soranik join in and Kyle gets the information ring that hangs around John’s neck. That ring reveals information about Sarko that greatly upsets Kyle who heads off to join Rip Hunter and Hal, who have gone to Space Sector 563 to retrieve Krona’s Gauntlet while battling Sarko. Hal tears the Gauntlet from the Guardian, which causes it to shut down. In the process, it sends out a beam that kills Sarko, who turns out to be Kyle’s son.

HARLEY QUINN #19 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and John Timms. Harley manages to free herself and she seeks out bloody revenge against the cannibals. In the end, she takes them all down, reveals that Madison Berkowitz is in cahoots with them and the chief of police sees Harley as his secret weapon.

HARLEY QUINN #20 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Paul Dini, John Timms, Joseph Michael Linsner, and Bret Blevins. While Harley Quinn tries to get her apartment cleaned up for her parents’ visit, Harley Sinn does a Facetime call to show her she has kidnapped Mason Macabre and his mother. That’s when a future visitor shows up, prepared to kill the person who kills Batman-Harley. When she was last seen, she was flying across the city via scatapult. In the back-up, well it’s more of this Paul Dini-written story that might have been in an issue of Batman Adventures back in the day. In this one, the Joker confesses his love for Harley, but she has passed out and never gets to hear it.

THE HELLBLAZER #10 by Simon Oliver and Davide Fabbri. Mercury and Constantine end up on an illegal club that is filled with werewolves. Just when things look darkest, Papa Midnite arrives and saves them. In the end, they end up in a public restroom where John tries to use his magic on the flying shoe to bring them to its’ owner.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #20 by Bryan Hitch. We begin with Flash battling a new villain as Jessica lies dead. In a Groundhog Day series of events where the moment keeps repeating, we learn that the villain is actually a scientist who has learned how to harness Zero-Point Energy. But a disastrous explosion kills his family and he blames the Justice League for it. And The Flash believes he may be right.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #21 by Bryan Hitch. We see Jason and his wife, who may have had an affair with his boss. That takes us back to the Justice League fighting the monster while Flash tries to explain the “Groundhog Day” thing to Batman. They head to the demonstration and, with Batman disguised as a security guard, they convince Jason to not do the demonstration as Tony has had his hand in sabotaging it, killing everyone at the event and selling the device to China and kill everyone at the expo when it explodes. The team stops the alien, but the alien takes the device, which turns out to be his heart. In the end, the alien insinuates that something bigger may be coming.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #6 by Steve Orlando and Andy MacDonald. With most of the League fighting against Aegeus' troops, Ray is forced to cut out Lobo’s heart to save him from the poison that was killing him. Aegeus is telling The Atom he needs to build him more guns or he will kill the League. Lobo and Ray show up and The Atom takes down Aegeus, causing the Chimeras that are attacking the rest of the team to dissolve, defeating Aegeus’ troops in the process. In the end, Xenos gets brought on board to update the Sanctuary and Killer Frost may have a lead on a possible cure.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7 by Steve Orlando and Jamal Campbell. Ryan Choi and Killer Frost are at the Museum for Unnatural History where they are checking out a mummified baby who may have had the same powers as Frost. Terrorsmith arrives on the scene and transforms the security guards into monsters. Frost uses her powers to defeat him and transform the guards back. In the end, Black Canary tries to tell Killer Frost that she should ask Ryan Choi out while Amanda Waller looks like she might have a use for Terrorsmith.