A whole big, steaming pile of first issues and one shots

Some first issues and some of my grabs from the year’s Free Comic Book Day. 

ALL NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION #1. Just in time for the sequel, Marvel drops the preview of the new series. And they get points for this as Gerry Duggan and Aaron Kuder give us an original piece that leads into the new series. Art by Kuder looks great and, for me, that’s a major attraction as I am not a huge fan of Duggan’s writing. The second half of the book is THE DEFENDERS by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez. This feels like a hype piece for the upcoming television series but I will admit that that it flows nicely and looks great. 

ALL NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY by Gerry Duggan and Aaron Kuder. The Guardians are back in the form of Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot. Inside, they do what they do and even have a run in with The Grandmaster, who they do a job for. In return, he promises them delivery of a great secret. The story is fine, especially because I didn’t read the previous series, and the art is great! Recommended for fans of this crew. 

THE ARCHIES ONE SHOT by Alex Segura, Matthew Rosenberg and Joe Eisma. Once upon a time, there was a television show that resulted in a bunch of albums and some hit singles. This book takes a modern approach on that, by showing us how the band comes together. Throwing in such iconic supporting characters like Bingo Wilkins, it’s a fun take that fits into the current look and feel of the Archie Universe. Be on the lookout for the multiple covers including the main one by Jaime Hernandez and the variant by David Mack. 

BABY TEETH by Donny Cates and Garry Brown. This is the story of Sadie Ritter who might possibly be the mother of the Anti-Christ. The concept is sort of cool but I wasn’t a fan of the dialogue, which just seemed so much like it came from a bad B-movie. And the art was just too sketchy for me to like and failed to draw me into the story. This is the first Aftershock comic I have picked up and might be the only one. I have been looking at their line-up and their creator list is impressive with names like Garth Ennis, Marguerite Bennett, Ray Fawkes and Mark Waid. But this book failed to deliver for me. 

BATMAN ELMER FUDD by Tom King, Lee Weeks, and Byron Vaughns. In one of the stranger but coolest of the DC/ WARNER Brother pairings, Elmer Fudd goes to Porkys to hunt “Bugs” The Bunny Woves, who was responsible for killing the love of Fudd’s life. Instead he is convinced to hunt down Bruce Wayne. Batman gets involved and a cast of supporting characters show up. There are wonderful Easter Eggs throughout, King’s story is pure noir and Weeks art is amazing. The back-up is more of a classic Warner Brothers cartoon and features Batman playing the Daffy Duck role. Highly recommended!!! 

BETTY AND VERONICA FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION #1 by Adam Hughes. This is an exact reprint of the B&V #1 that came out several months ago. It looked great and read the same and it still does. Plus there is the back-up photo piece that hypes the RIVERDALE series. If you can find one, snag it. 

BLACK BOLT #1 by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward. Blackagar Boltagon finally gets his own series and finds himself in a prison with, among other people, Crusher Creel. We also find he is responsible for putting himself in this prison and that his magical world shaking voice is not what it once was. While the book has a neat painted look to it, there is a serious lack of text, which means the book needs to be carried by the art and it’s just not strong enough to get the job done.

BONGO FREE FOR ALL 2017 FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION by Max Davison, Rex Lindsey, Dean Rankine, Ian Brill, Mike W. Barr, John Delaney, Tony Digerolamo and Jason Ho. A great collection of short stories highlighting a bunch of SIMPSONS characters. This stuff is always fun and don’t expect anything too serious! For me, the highlight was the FUTURAMA back cover by Matt Groening himself.

BRITANNIA: WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE by Peter Milligan and Juan Jose Ryp. In this sequel to Valiant’s first BRITANNIA mini-series, we once again meet Antonius Axia who is Ancient Rome’s only Detectioner. It’s a bloody, messy tale with legendary persons from Rome’s history and gladiators too. Milligan writes a fun story and Ryp’s artwork is amazing. Highly recommended.

BUG! THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER #1 by Lee Allred and Mike Allred. Well… this is the most unexpected treat of the year for me. Having been a huge Kirby Fourth World fan, seeing this character getting reinvented makes me smile big time! And letting the Family Allred do it makes it that much more impressive to me. Throw in Kirby’s Sandman and his cast of oddball characters into the co-starring role and a bunch of classic characters like Deadman and Black Racer into the mix and you have a quirky winner!

CABLE #1 by James Robinson and Carlos Pacheco. Nathan Summers is back in another Marvel series. From the Old West to Feudal Japan, our time travelling hero battles a whole bunch of people with futuristic weapons while he is trying to track down a mysterious individual. Robinson’s dialogue, as always, is fun but I find that his script is filled with too many plot gaps in an effort to make us keep reading. On the plus side, Pacheco’s art looks great!

DC SUPERHERO GIRLS FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION #1 by Shea Fontana and Yancey Labat. Presented here is a chapter from the SUMMER OLYMPUS graphic novel. If you don’t know, this is an all ages looks at some of our favorite super girls as they face summer vacation from school. It’s fun for all ages, which is the key to this. Fontana is making her jump to mainstream DC superhero books, so this might be a book to jump onto to get a feel for her style.

THE DEFENDERS by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez. Diamondback is back, Herows for Hire offices have been bombed, Jessica Jones has been shot and that is just in the first few pages. Obviously trotted out to take advantage of the upcoming Netflix series, Bendis does what he does best-write a fun story. Marquez art is nicely done and the whole book feels fun, although it should just be a HERO FOR HIRE title and go from there.

THE DIVIDED STATES OF HYSTERIA by Howard Chaykin. What can you expect from a Howard Chaykin book? Well, that usually means blood and guts, kinky stuff, and some pretty interesting characters. This one does not fail to deliver. We get terrorist plots, transsexuals and the usual hidden bits that fill every panel. Do NOT expect a PG title here! 

GENERATION X by Christina Strain and Amilcar Pinna. Welcome to a new generation of mutants as Kitty Pryde runs this team made up of Eye Boy, Hindsight, Morph, Nature Girl, Kid Omega, Bling and Jubilee with child. The writing is crisp and smarmy and it is a hoot to read. The art is very much in Mike Allfed’s style and I love that. Something to note: issue #2 was AWFUL and almost felt like it was written by someone else. But #3 bounced back to almost the first issue’s feel. So…I’m not sure whether to recommend this title or not, as it has been very uneven in the first three issues.

I HATE IMAGE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY by Skottie Young. Young does a fun and somewhat offensive title in I HATE FAIRYLAND. What happens when you take cute little Gert out of her environment and send her to the Land of Image? You get an ultra-violent trip crossing into THE WALKING DEAD, CHEW, EAST OF WEST, PAPER GIRLS, WICKED & DIVINE, SPAWN and, ultimately, The Creators. It’s a wild ri[ n the 25 year old company. 

JIMMY’S BASTARDS by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun. What happens when you let Garyh Ennis run all over his concept of what James Bond would be? You get this: a hard fighting, hard drinking, hard loving spy, doing it all for Queen and Country. You know Ennis is whacked and Braun was his artistic collaborator on THE BOYS and SIXPACK AND DOGWELDER. In other words: this is great stuff! 

JONAH HEX YOSEMITE SAM by Jimmy Palmiotti, Bill Matheny, Mark Texeira, and Dave Alvarez. Yosemite Sam says a very real rooster in the form of Foghorn Leghorn, only to discover Sam is being bunted for his gold. Enter hiring Hex to protect him. It’s a fun, slightly bloody tale expertly illustrated by Tex. The backup is a cartoony tale co-starring Bugs and a bear. This is worth getting just for Tex’ art!

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES BUGS BUNNY #1 by Sam Humphries and Tom Grummett. Brainiac 5 sends Computo 2.0 off and it recruits Bugs Bunny instead of Superboy. That forces him to become Super-Bugs to help the Legion fight Validus. Some fun jokes, some cool cover homages and Grummett’s dynamic art make this a winner, even at $5! Also, a back-up tale by Juan Manuel Ortiz that is a slightly different take on our main story. While it makes no sense in the world of the DCU, it is a fun book.

MAGNUS #1 by Kyle Higgins and Jorge Fornes. First off, you need to be aware this isn’t your Magnus, my Magnus or your daddy’s Magnus. This Dynamite version of Magnus has robots in it, but SHE is not a robot fighter. SHE is a robot THERAPIST who helps robots deal with their issues. It’s a trippy little experience as she works with the police to solve a murder. In the TUROK back-up, which continues from THE SOVEREIGNS #00, the legendary warrior, who is also not the Turok any of us grew up with, continues his trek to find a missing child. Chuck Wendig wrote it, Alvaro Sarrasecca drew it and it will eventually lead into TUROK #1, coming in August. Overall, the whole thing works on a level…if you don’t bring any pre-conceived memories with you.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER/MARVIN THE MARTIAN by Steve Orlando, Frank J. Barbiere and Aaron Lopresti. Long time Daffy Duck villain Marvin  the Martina has come to the Dc Uiverse intent on blowing Earth up. So, it takes the OTHER last Martian out there, J’onn J’onzz to stand up for Earth and take him on. It’s ridiculous silly fun with great looking art by Lopresti. Jim Fanning and John Loter are responsible for the for their own take on the pair meeting up, done in a very stylish Warner Brothers take.

NICK FURY #1 by James Robinson and Aco. Nick Fury Jr. battles Agents of Hydra in the trippiest tale since the days of Jim Steranko. It is not classic Fury, because that only comes around once in a lifetime. But Robinson has he right feel and Aco does his best Steranko imitation, with the layout, the op art feel and certainly Rachelle Rosenberg’s Dayglo colors. I’ll be the first one to admit I have a problem with Marvel, whose Ultimate version of Nick became a walking talking version in IRON MAN THE MOVIE, leading to the whole “Man on the Wall” story and OUR Nick becoming the NEW Watcher, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. in the hands of his bastard son. But this book….it might make me forgive them.

RAI: THE HISTORY OF THE VALIANT UIVERSE by Rafer Roberts and Francis Portella. Here is a crash course in the history of THIS Valiant Universe, as opposed to the original Valiant Universe. You get a brief timeline featuring Archer, Armstrong, Ivar, the Harbinger Renegades, Bloodshot, and the rest. A nicely done basic primer that is he perfect jumping on point for anyone curious about this line of books.

SECRET EMPIRE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION by Nick Spencer and Andrea Sorrentino. As the official lead-in/tie-in to the SECRET EMPIRE mini-series event, we see Steve Rogers leading Hydra, which is his life now considering the living entity that is the Cosmic Cube has rewritten his history. The big shocking moment here is that Captain Amefrica is portrayed as being worthy enough to pick up Thor’s Hammer: something even the Odinson hasn’t been able to do since a certain someone whispered in his ear. The back-up is our first look at Chip Zdarsky and Paulo Siqueira’s PETER PARKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. What begins with a lunch between the former Mr. and Mrs. Parker ends with a battle between Spider-Man and The Vulture, along with the appearance of the NEW Trapster. Zdarsky tries to write like Stan Lee but can’t. Trying to make our middle aged hero seem like he is a teen again just feels…awkward.

SECRET EMPIRE BRAVE NEW WORLD by Paul Allor, Jeremy Whitley, Nick Kocher, Brian Level, Diego Olortegui, and Tana Ford. In light of the SECRET EMPIRE mini-series event, we get this anthology series featuring various stories from the Hydra run world. Namor reveals his true intentions when he meets with the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond. Raz Maholtra is the new Giant Man and we meet his friends Grizzly and Machinesmith while fighting Hydra. And what of Peter Pena, who is trying to be the best news reporter he can be in a Hydra run world. Does any of this work? Well…only if you’re going to jump into this whole saga with both feet and feel compelled to buy EVERY crossover title. The only thing worthwhile here is seeing Namor in all his evil glory.

SECRET EMPIRE UNITED by Jim Zub and Ario Anindito. In the latest spin-off title in the SECRET EMPIRE event, we get to see life from the Hydra side of the world…mostly. In the Sovereign Republic of New Tian, the new Mutant Homeland, an juprising is being attempted by Sunfire, Random, Frenzy and others. Luckily the Superior Octopus is there to shut them down. Later, Steve Rogers finds out who the least loyal among his inner circle is and he meets with Emma Frost. Of the crossover titles thus far, this is the one which lends the most light to flesh out the main story.

SECRET EMPIRE UPRISING by Derek Landy and Joshua Cassara. Following the events in SECRET EMPIRE #3, we have this crossover entry. The Champions are involved as they infiltrate Hydra, ending up with an appearance by Viper. That was the highlight.

SECRET WEAPONS #1 by Eric Heisserer, Raul Allen, and Patricia Martin. The name is the same as the classic Valiant team, but the team is definitely different. There’s a whole new bunch of kids who had been held by Harada and his people. But they got away and now Livewire from Unity is trying to help them out. This mini-series is supposed to tie into upcoming events in the Valiant Universe. To that end, this book is essential if you’re a follower of Valiant.

THE SOVEREIGNS #00 by Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, Chuck Wendig, Aubrey Sitterson, Johnny Desjardins, Jorge Fornes, Alvaro Sarrasecca, and Dylan Burnett. What happens when you take the legendary Gold Key heroes (who became legendary Vaiant heroes) of Magnus, Turok, Solar and Doctor Spektor and throw them together as a team? You get this book. The main story begins in 2020 in the Kingdom of the Lost Valley and it goes from there, setting up the world spanning adventure to come in future issues. This Magnus is NOT the same Magnus that appears in the MAGNUS title. This Magnus is a male robot fighter, much like the classic hero, so that makes things a bit weird. Spektor is a trippy mage and Solar is a woman The rest of the book is made up of introductory stories for Magnus, Turok and Spektor. If you want the real background on these characters, seek out Dynamite’s collections and the GOLD KEY ALLIANCE miniseries.

2000 AD FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION by Matt Smith, Pat Mills, Guy Adams, Dan Abnett, Kek-W, K33F, Phil Winslade, Kei Zama, Jimmy Broxton, Dani, Dave Kendall, and Henry Flint. This is a sampler featuring Judge Dredd, Blackblood, Hope, Judge Anderson and Creams of Deadworld in short stories designed to entice the potential reader. Honestly, I loved the Dredd tale and didn’t care for the rest.

UNDERDOG FREE COMIC BOOK DAY EDITION by James Kuhoric, Steve Skeates, Adrian Roop, and Bill Galvan. American Mythology Productions has the license now on Underdog, Commander McBragg, along with The Three Stooges, Rocky and Bullwinkle and the Harvey characters like Casper, Wendy and Hot Stuff. We get a sort Underdog story, a one page McBragg piece, a reprint from an issue of the old Gold Key series and cover previews for Casper and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Wow…Mike Wolfer is involved with these projects? For me, this just brings me back to my childhood.

DC REBIRTH Month 13, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #8 by Steve Orlamdo and Felipe Watanabe. A terrified painted warrior is being chased through the jungles of Monster Valley by S.K.U.L.L Soon he is back in the real world and we learn he is Brenton Hamilton- heir to the Hamilton fortune. The team gets split on whether Hamilton is telling the truth and all, so Batman, Black Canary and Lobo investigate what they can find while Atom goes to Hamilton’s apartment. There he discovers that Brenton plans on taking revenge on his family for what they had done to him.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9 by Steve Orlamdo and Felipe Watanabe. Brenton wants to take revenge on the family that not only dumped him on the island but killed the huge monster bird he calls mother. He transforms into a monster and luckily Ray, Vixen and Frost show up to stop him. In the end, the police arrest Charity and Robert Hamilton and Brenton gets to go back to the island, bury his “mother” and live happily ever after.

NEW SUPER-MAN #12 by Gene Luen Yang and Billy Tan. Superman Zero continues to battle with Fahai the giant turtle, who cuts Wonder Woman in two with his giant tail, revealing that she has turned into a giant snake. The trio end up in the China Sea where Superman Zero takes them down with a solar flare, which transform Deilan into a giant worm. He flees, but Dr. Omen sends Kenan and Avery after him. Kenan finds him, but learns he is terrified to go back, so Kenan lets him escape. Back at Crab Shell, Baixi reveals to Kenan that he saw his father held here and Kenan confronts Dr. Omen about it. Just then, an armored Superman Zero, who has been turned by I-Chin, arrives and busts into Crab Shell, causing Dr. Omen, who reveals herself to be Kenan’s mother, falls to her possible death.

NIGHTWING #22 by Tim Seeley and Miguel Mendonca. Roland Desmond gets out of Blackgate and gets a job working at the Marcus Casino for Tiger Shark. Shark has a deal in place with the Second Hand, who have brought alien weapons into Bludhaven and he wants Desmond to bring back Nightwing’s skin. Nightwing heads out on the prowl, only to run into Desmond, who has turned into Blockbuster. But Desmond explains he is the brother of the ORIGINAL Blockbuster and is here to offer Nightwing a job.

NIGHTWING #23 by Tim Seeley and Minkyu Jung. Roland explains that his brother Mark, before he got incarcerated, tweaked his Blockbuster formula so the individuals gets to keep their brain. He wants to help do good now, so he is looking for Nightwing to help him takedown the Second Hand.  Algorithim shows up at the local mall and Nightwing takes it out with the help of a forklift. Dick meets with Shawn, who is disgusted that he has missed another job interview. Later, he follows a couple of police officers he believes are helping the Hand, but that leads him into conflict with Skyhook. Skyhook isn’t alone as Count Vertigo, Magog, The Burned, Tiger Shark and Roland Desmond are all here. Can you say setup?

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #11 by Scott Lobdell and Dexter Soy. We begin with General Heinle and his troops facing off against Akila and the Amazons. Aremis and Red Hood show up and she discovers that she has been lied to by Akila, who uses the Bow of Ra and kills the General. Bizarro appears and Artemis claims the Bow of Ra for herself. She uses the Bow and Akila dies in the process. In the end, Artemis tells the Amazons they need to live in peace with the citizens of Qurac…but it also appears that Bizarro is dead.

SUICIDE SQUAD #19 by Rob Williams and Neil Edwards. Creatures have escaped from the Phantom, Zod is trying to kill Cosmonut, and Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator are here to recruit Zod from the Superman Revenge Squad. All Zod cares about is freeing the rest of the Kryptonians from out of the Black Sphere, which leads to him to lay waste to Cyborg Superman. Waller figures she can shut down the out that they can shut down the Phantom Zone with the Kryptonite bomb from Zod’s head. Flag decides to do it and knocks Waller out so she doesn’t do it, leaing in and shutting it down-sacrificing himself in the process. Zod decides to join with Cyborg Superman and the Eradicator and flees, leaving Waller to wonder who will lead the team now.

SUICIDE SQUAD #20 by Rob Williams and Stjepan Sejic. With Flag missing and presumed dead, Waller tries to get opinions on a new leader…except for Killer Croc and the Enchantress, who are out on a date. In the end, Waller picks Harley Quinn. And the team goes off to meet The People.

SUPERGIRL #10 by Steve Orlando and Brian Ching. Kara, Babs and Ben are stuck in the Phantom Zone where they meet Captain Jiln-Ka who takes them to Xa-Du, capturing them. Reralizing Psi is the key for Xa-Du to get out of the Phantom Zone.  Batgirl gets them out, Psi turns into a dragon and Kara appears to sacrifice herself.

SUPERMAN #24 by Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, and Patrick Gleason. The new Elite are aliens who we have seen in the past fighting the Kroog. Superman has Lois at the hospital, having lost her leg. Superman heads back home to find Jon, who is freaking out because Manchester Black made him watch. Manchester believes Superboy will be the greatest Elite of all time and that’s why the aliens have been around. Superman is getting beat, Krypto tries to help and Black tries to turn Jon against his father. Cobb and Kathy, really aliens, arrive to help as does Batman, Robin, Frankenstein and The Bride. But they may be too late as Superboy’s eyes turn black.

SUPERMAN #25 by Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, and Patrick Gleason. Superboy tees off on his father, then starts to tee off on Batman before he goes back onto his father. Meanwhile, Frankenstein and The Bride attack Manchester, who cuts off Frankenstein’s Hand. Lois shows up and we see that she never lost her legs and it was all a ruse by Black. Superboy breaks free of Black’s influence and, with the help of Kathy eventually joins the fight, defeating Black and turning him into a vegetable. In the end, the Super Elite decide to stay and rebuild Hamilton County. Kathy takes over the Cobb farm and he find that Black’s consciousness is now in a cow.

SUPER SONS #5 by Peter J. Tomasi and Alisson Borges. Even though Damian and Jon are grounded are after the Kid Amazo incident.  But Jon, who is not happy about the family moving to Metropolis, runs away from home and heads to the Batcave. The boys fight, then Alfred brings them lunch and then they fight again. Batman and Robin shows up and the boys are allowed to adventure together as long as friends and the two eventually arriving to say the same.  The end result?  The boys are allowed to go on adventures as long as Lois approves.

SUPERWOMAN #11 by K. Perkins and José Luís. In a flashback, John’s nephew Zeke wakes up because of a monster in his room. John and Lana assure him there are no monsters but, when they leave, one peeks out of the closet. Meanwhile, Clay arrives with a sack of money he got from dealing with Skyhook and John refuses it. That night, Zeke disappears and Clay is arrested for arms trafficking and blames Skyhook for kidnapping Zeke. In the present, Lana visits with Maggie Sawyer, who tells her she is too close to the kidnapping. Atomic Skull arrives and explains that he has good intel about the case from Remnant. Lana heads off to battle Skyhook and he beats her badly. Instead of killing her, he runs off, leaving her dejected.

TEEN TITANS #9 by Benjamin Percy, Phil Hester, and Khoi Pham.  Kid Flash has been fired, Damian is training Jackson, and his mother os trying to find him, after seeing him on the news fighting King Shark. Wally meets with Raven, looking for advice about joining Deathstroke's Defiance team and hitting on her at the same time.  Jackson meets with his mom and she shows him how she has water powers too. He gets called away and mom ends up in a confrontation with Black Manta…who may be Jackson’s dad.

TITANS #12 by Dan Abnett and Kenneth Rocafort. Lilith is inside of Rikers Island where she is picking Psimon’s brain to find out where he has hidden Bumblebee's memory while he picks away at her mind. He eventually tells her that he can see the future and one of the team will someday betray the rest. Back at the Tower, Roy decides to have a long chat with Donna, only to find her kissing Wally, much to his dismay. In the end, Lilith has learned that Bumblebee’s memories have been sent to Alton Laboratories, and that is where our team is headed.

TRINITY #10 by Francis Manapul. Continuing from where we left off last issue, Batman and Flash are trying to save Cyborg from an Aquaman who has been possessed by an alien parasite. But he holds back long enough from trying to kill The Flash that the rest of the team figures he is still Arthur Curry inside. Superman and Wonder Woman talk to the main alien, who has given them the choice between saving the League or the Earth. By the end, Batman is fighting the monsters, the Green Lanterns have been possessed by them and so is Wonder Woman. Things certainly seem pretty hopeless for the Justice League AND the Earth.

WONDER WOMAN #24 by Greg Rucka and Bilquis Evely. In the epilogue to GODWATCH, Steve Trevor is waiting by the mysterious tree when Cale comes through the portal, followed by Diana. Diana explains everything to Steve and when they leave, Cheetah tries to make her way into the portal, but is denied. Back in Washington, Diana and Steve pay a visit to Etta, who notices her lasso is missing. Committed to making sure Barbara is helped, Diana goes off looking for Doctor Cale. Cale is talking with Dr. Cyber and tells the A.I. that she is a nobody. Cheetah arrives and so does Wonder Woman who fends off Cheetah’s attacks, even as she continues to shred Cale’s flesh. In the end, Diana subdues Cheetah and takes her away to try and get her some help.

WONDER WOMAN #25 by Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, and Bilquis Evely. The Justice League are battling the Shaggy Man, when Wonder Woman arrives to lend a hand. Batman notices that she doesn’t have her lasso with her. Etta meets with a scarred Sasha, who remembers nothing about any of what went on, including being kidnapped by Cale.  Diana goes to visit Cale, seeking help in returning Cheetah back to normal, but she refuses. Batman and Superman call for her, leading Diana to meet with them. She explains what has happened to her Golden Perfect and then she heads off to petition the Patrons for an answer to it all. They explain that the truth of her could never be changed and the gods arrange for her to get the Perfect back. She meets with Steve and we end with them in bed, naked in each other’s arms.

DC REBIRTH Month 13, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #981 by Dan Jurgens and Jack Herbert. Superman is being tormented by visions of dead family and friends until the Black Vault implodes (see SUICIDE SQUAD to see how that happens), knocking him out. Meanwhile, Zod joins up with Cyborg Superman and Hank Henshaw so he can get his hands on the Phantom Zone projector. Superman comes to and heads off after them, but his Super Hearing is all messed up and he is quickly defeated by Zod. Whatever happened in the Black Vault has left him blind.

ACTION COMICS #982 by Dan Jurgens, Jack Herbert, and Jose Luis. As the Superman Revenge Squad argue with each other about what they are going to do next, the family is at the Forstress of Solitude dealing with Superman’s blindness. The Revenge Squad arrives, leading to Superman battling them while Jon gets Lois to safety. Luckily, back-u arrives in the form of Steel, Superwoman, Supergirl, New Superman and Lex Luthor.

ALL STAR BATMAN #11 by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerqe. Bruce, masquerading as Hush, finally escapes from inside Thatch's room, but ends up amid a group of alligators. He gets saved by Penguin, Black Mask and Great White Shark, who think they have saved Batman who is pretending to be Hush who was pretending to be Bruce Wayne. They provide him with a lead for the Genesis Machine and it seems the Black and White Gang want Batman to destroy it for them. Batman ends up at the casino run by Tiger Shark and gets a bomb in his left by the person responsible for Thatch death. Oh yeah: Alfred’s past catches up with him as the man named Briar, who once hired Alfred, appears to be involved on the wrong side of the law.

AQUAMAN #24 by Dan Abnett, Scot Eaton, and Philippe Briones. The Elder Council is deciding who should rule Atlantis while he and Mera discuss leaving. The Elders make their decision and Corum Rath becomes the new King of Atlantis. Aquaman begins to fight with the royal guards and then flees, realizing he is outnumbered. Corum Rath has the magistrates perform the ritual of the Crown of Thorns, which covers Atlantis in thorns. Just as Arthur is free of the thorns, which would allow him to join Mera and Tula, Murk runs him through and tosses his lifeless body back to Atlantis.

AQUAMAN #25 by Dan Abnett and Stjepan Sejic. Aquaman is not dead and is actually living in the underwater slums known as the Lower Trides, even though Murk has told Corum Rath that he buried the body. Aquaman is now fighting crime in Lower Trides, leading to the people believing that he is actually the ghost of Aquaman. Meanwhile, Tula is caring for a catatonic Mera, who is devastated by Arthur’s death. Vulko manages to use illegal magic to contact her and inform her that Arthur is still alive potential uprising by hassling a white-haired mutant girl and her friends, leading to Aquaman saving them. She follows Arthur while the rest flee.

BANE CONQUEST #2 by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan. Bane is battling Damocles, but finds himself taken down. When he awakes, he finds himself in prison with Bruce Wayne, who was following Damocles and got captured. They plot and plan and eventually break free and make their way to the central command of the prison. Bane sees his and Bruce’ costume and agrees they will work together, with Bane promising to kill Bruce last.

BATGIRL #12 by Hope Larson and Elonora Carlini. The Burnside Y is haunted and Batgirl and ghost hunter Kayla P are on the case. It turns out that the ghost is actually the missing assistant to Professor Radden, who he teleported to another dimension so he could get credit for her work. In the end, she comes back home and the professor end up in jail.

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #11 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson, and Roge Antonio.

Black Canary and Huntress are trying to get some straight answers by dangling Gus out of the Watchtower window. He explains everything, including the fact he is Bi-Polar and was being blackmailed by the Calculator. Even though he was doing bad things, he was trying to help his mom and the folks at an eco-friendly company. In the end, we discover that Calculator needs the help of the team, as his family has been kidnapped. And somehow, Catwoman is involved with it all.

BATMAN #24 by Tom King and David Finch. Gotham Girl has been cured of the Psycho Pirate’s control and asks Batman what she should do now, especially since using her powers will eventually kill her. He tells her that he wants to be happy but, because he is Batman, he can’t be. In the end, he meets with Catwoman, drops to one knee, produces a diamond ring and asks her to marry him.

BATMAN #25 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. We begin with a stand-up comedian trying out for a job and getting killed in the process, as he fails the audition. The shift then goes to about a year after Zero Year where Edward Nigma has been asked to help GCPD. But that leads to him stabbing the police officer who is interrogating him 26 times. Cut to the GCPD raiding the Joke Factory and that means the Joker is on the loose again, after he kills several people. Riddler uses the threat of harming the families of police officers to simply watch out of prison. Nigma meets with The Joker and tells him that their common problem is Batman. Joker shoots Nigma, who tells an arriving Batman that The Joker has a bomb. In the end, Bruce begins to explain to Selina what he had to do during the War of Jokes and Riddles.

BATMAN BEYOND #9 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. Tterry and Damian are fighting it out and Terry is losing badly. Bruce is off to try and save the day when he runs into Ubu's son, Koru which leads to them fighting until Bruce takes him down. We learn that Damian has been lost since he took the prototype suit and went off to fight the League. Bruce arrives just in time to see Damian, as he prepares to kill Terry.

BATWOMAN #4 by Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV, and Steve Epting. As the twins flee Coryana, we get a flashback of Tahani’s life followed by her impressions of Kate when Kate took Safiyah from her. In the present, Batwoman and Knife battle, even as the warlords Kate has aligned herself with try to help her. They have learned that they have enough time to get the bombs off the island or evacuate the people, leaving Kate to fight the battle by herself. The warlords fire off an E.M.P. blast that leaves the island in darkness, but also allows Knife to escape. In the end, Tae-ree is left to run the islands and care for the Desert Rose, which Kate now owns. The twins meet with an unseen person who might be Safiyah herself.

BLUE BEETLE #10 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Scott Kolins. Jaime learns that the voice leading him away from the battle is the scarab which has bonded itself with Arion. And Mordecai is there too. Ted is fighting against the insect horde while OMAC goes blind. Teri arrives with Doctor Fate and Jaime decides that the only way to save the world is to let the scarab bond with him. This allows Jaime to defeat Arion and Mordecai. But it’s bad news for Jaime has the scarab has taken him over.

CYBORG #13 by John Semper Jr. and Allan Jefferson. Cyborg and Sarah are in virtual reality, where she tells him she will be the inside woman in his battle against Anomaly. Cyborg is attacked by a Fyrewyre, who killed Black Narcissus' husband. Narcissus shows up and helps save the day.  Sarah, Exxy and Cyborg head over to find Anomaly, who uses Cyborg to create the Singularity and suck out heroes into a black hole that leads them to…?

DARK DAYS: THE FORGE by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Jim Lee, Andy Kubert and John Romita Jr. Beginning with a new origin for Hawkman in Ancient Egypt, with Carter Hall gaining his reincarnation ability from the Nth metal in a damaged Thanagarian ship. Meanwhile, Batman is enlisting members of the Justice League to help him figure what is wrong with Earth and what it has to do with a certain metal at the Earth's core. Michael Holt, Mr. Terrific, shows up revealing he has been jumping between universes and getting readings for Batman. He has also been keeping an unstable Plastic Man cooped up in a special device and now wants Terrific to release him. Batman heads to the Fortress of Solitude, where he meets up with Mister Miracle and Superman. Having Miracle open a locked room that Batman had made Superman promise never to look inside, we see what appears to be the secret to all the dark energy in existence. Meanwhile, Hal Jordan has been assigned by Ganthet to investigate something terrible in the Batcave. He meets Duke and they discover a second Batcave, along with vials of Electrum and Dionesium. They learn that he put The Outsiders together to help him learn more about these metals. They also discover The Joker, who is being held here and claims to be just another one of Batman’s puzzle pieces, just like they are.

DEATHSTROKE #20 by Christopher Priest, Larry Hama, and Carlo Pagulayan. Beginning with seeing how Isherwood was part of Deathstroke’s team at one point, before becoming the person he currently is. Slade visits Power Girl and brings her a new puppy to replace the one he killed. Jericho is at a church, explaining he is an addict and filling in the gathered about what has happened to him. Slade shows up there after the meeting to see his son. Tanya gets birth control, Rose has numerous stitches in her head and now wears a white wig and Isherwood calls Slade to talk to Jericho and say how he forgives him. While Isherwood plots and plans, Deathstroke puts a team together made up of his ex-wife, Wintergreen, Rose, Jericho, and Tanya.

DETECTIVE COMICS #958 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez. Luke, Jean-Paul and Kate are taking in a basketball game when a bloodied werewolf named Nomoz arrives, telling Jean-Paul that no one is safe. They take him back to the Belfry, where we learn Jean-Paul’s origin (he was a clone of his father, the previous Azrael) and that Ascalon has killed all the members of the Dumas order. Ascalon is also landed in Gotham, where he makes his way into a poker game that Bruce Wayne is at. Who comes to try and save the day? Can you say Zatanna!

DETECTIVE COMICS #959 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez. Beginning years ago, we see how Zatanna's father, Zatara, is training Bruce in sleight of hand and he’s failing badly. Back to the present, Ascalon is here and Batwoman, Batman, Clayface, and Azrael all fail at trying to stop him from killing Brother Kodo-the last of the St. Dumas order. Later, Dr. Victoria October treats the injured Nomoz, Kate and Luke spend some down time together and Batman tells Zatanna how much he has lost up until now. Meanwhile, Jean-Paul's meditation is interrupted by a creature telling him it is time for him to remember what he truly is.

THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #6 by Cary Bates, Greg Weisman and Will Conrad. General Eiling had contracted Max Thrane in 2008 to kill a terrorist who was planning on an attack in the future. When the job was finished, Eiling turned Thrane over to the FBI. In the present, Atom realizes that he needs to protect Eiling from Ultramax, whose has found Nathaniel's son and is making Atom bring the General to him. They battle and Atom wins the day, putting Ultramax in a coma. Afterwards, Dr. Megala discovers that Genji seems to have powers too and it is revealed that HE was the person sending out those annoying messages to Atom all along.

THE FLASH #24 by Joshua Williamson, Carmine Di Giandomenico, and Pop Mhan. After a brief visit to the Flash Museum and the 25^th Century, we cut back to now where Hal and Barry are fighting Multiplex. At the same time, Wally is not having much luck in trying to save his Aunt Iris from Reverse Flash, who appeared very dead when last we saw him. After defeating Multiplex, Barry goes to check on Wally and Iris, only to find that Wally has been beaten badly and Eobard has taken Iris to the 25^th Century so she can relive his killing her.

THE FLASH #25 by Joshua Williamson, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Neil Googe, and Ryan Sook. In a flashback to the future, we see how Barry met the fanboy Eobard Thorne and soon discovered he was evil. Now, in the current 25^th Century, Barry quickly finds this isn’t the future he thought it would be, as people run from him and police hunt him. Barry finds Reverse Flash with Iris and Thawne reveals how he thought the special moment they once shared, a certain phrase, Barry used at Wally’s graduation and that set Thawne off. In the end, Thawne beats up The Flash and reveals to Iris West that Barry Allen is indeed The Flash.

GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #10 by Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, and Adam Archer. Encouraged by Two Face, Olive, currently possessed by Amity Arkham, torments The Penguin. Kyle arrives, tells Olive that he loves her, which breaks Amity’s spell on her. They escape while Two Face and Penguin trade shots. Back at the Academy, Maps sees that Kyle has been badly burned and Olive admits it is all her fault.

GREEN ARROW #24 by Benjamin Percy and Juan Ferreyra. The Space Needle has been destroyed and Emiko, Dinah and Roy are trying to rescue survivors. Ollie heads beneath Queen Industries, where he finds Broderick and the Burned, who reveals that most of the Queens have been involved with the Ninth Circle for centuries. The Mayor reveals that Queen Industries is going to bail out what was Seattle, now called Star City. Ollie defeats Broderick, who gets burned by a flaming hot cauldron, while Emiko, Dinah and Roy get confronted by Cheshire and Brick and quickly dispatch them. Ollie arrives and makes an impassioned speech, which results in his arrest for everything he has been allegedly been responsible for.

GREEN ARROW #25 by Benjamin Percy and Otto Schmidt. Ollie is being interrogated by the police, who blame him for everything bad that has happened in what was once Seattle. Emiko shows up to break him out, but he refuses, saying he needs to clear his name. Meanwhile, we find that Diggle and Merlyn are safe in their hideout in the Olympic Mountains while Henry is hard at work at Queen Industries and overhears the evil plans of Broderick and the Mayor. Out on bail, Ollie visits Henry's grandmother and finds out Henry is still alive. Later Green Arrow meets with Dinah in the Underground and realizes that the Ninth Circle has branched out across the country. So Ollie is off on a cross country road trip while Broderick reports to…Queen Moira?

GREEN LANTERNS #24 by Sam Humphries and Carlo Barberi. Simon and Jessica continue their training with Guy and Kyle respectively. Meanwhile, Volthoom, in Rami’s body, is still searching for the first Green Lantern rings so he can remake the Travel Lantern. The fifth ring cannot be found, the sixth ring's location has been “redacted” and the seventh ring…it’s Jessica’s. The Lanterns complete their training and are tasked to go to the Vault of Shadows to help Rami with a special mission.

GREEN LANTERN #25 by Sam Humphries and Robson Rocha. The trio of Simon, Jessica and Rami make their way into the Vault of Shadows, when they are attacked by Lantern Tyran'r, who has been assigned to keep guard. Rami freezes him and then heads off on his own, where he finds his First Lantern Ring, which we puts on and uses it to recreate his original body and armor and with that, the fight is on.  Now all Volthoom needs is Jessica's ring, since we found out in the last issue is one of the original seven rings that was made from Volthoom's Travel Lantern and with that ring, which allows Volthoom to recreate his body and his armor. The tree of them battle, Simon has his ring get overloaded and shatters and that leaves Jessica to find the bad guy one on one. She asks her ring to transport her and Simon away while Volthoom tries to transport to Earth-15. He doesn’t get transported but, it’s safe to assume, Jess and Simon are on a trip to Earth-15.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #22 by Robert Vendetti and Ethan Van Sciver. While the Lanterns are learning to work as one and are training on Mogo, Bolphunga and his space pirates attack Planet Vault, which means our heroes are en-route to stop them. Everyone is doing fine except for Tomar-Tu, who is having his issues. In the end, they defeat the pirates and capture Bolphunga, who reveals he has knowledge that one of the Green Lanterns has murdered a member of the Sinestro Corps.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #23 by Robert Vendetti and Ethan Van Sciver. While John Stewart is convinced that Bolphunga may be telling the truth, Hal doubts it and sends Guy Gardner and Arkillo to Bolphunga’s hideout to see what they can find. They come back with a creature with a data port. We discover that Tomar-Tu killed the Sinestro Lantern. Meanwhile, Soranik does an autopsy on Sarko and learns that he was the future son of herself and Kyle.

HARLEY QUINN #21 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Paul Dini, Joseph Michael Linsner, John Timms, and Bret Blevins. While Harley Sinn has Mason and Madame Macabre captive, Harley gets to duke it out with Future Batgirl, leading to both of them getting knocked out and taken captive by an unknown person. When they wake, they find that Future Batgirl’s distant relative is going to be killed by poison gas so she won’t be born and the future won’t happen. Harley passes out before she can see the person is the winner of the first Batfan tournament-RED TOOL! He may be a descendant of Bruce Wayne and he is stuck here because the arm with the chip that would send him home is the one Harley cut off. Devani agrees to stop trying to kill Harley until her year is over and she ends up back in the future. Tool even sets her up in a luxury brownstone building with an unlimited expense account. Harley wakes in her apartment, just in time for her parents to arrive. In the back-up, Harley looks to revive Jake’s Joke Shop as a present for her man.

HARLEY QUINN #22 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Paul Dini, Joseph Michael Linsner, John Timms, and Bret Blevins. Harley’s parents are here and luckily Red Tool cleaned the place before they arrived. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s new lawyer is trying to get Madison Berkowitz released from prison. Later, Harley Sinn arrives with the tied-up Mason and Madame Macabre. But she is not here to fight…she needs help taking out the Mayor. In the back-up, Harley gets a bunch of low rent super villainesses to help fix up the Joker’s new hideout.

THE HELLBLAZER #11 by Simon Oliver and Davide Fabbri. The magic shoe makes all sorts of news as video of it goes viral. Meanwhile, Dante and Sam try to get away from the Djinn and that leads to them hiding out at his friend’s house. Finding out that his sneaker had gone viral, he decides to meet with Constantine. Meanwhile, Leon and the Djinn conspire to go after something that means more to Dante than the book…

JUSTICE LEAGUE #22 by Shea Fontana and Philippe Briones. Lois and Jon are on the Watchtower so Lois can interview the League. Unfortunately, Simon and Jessica destroyed an asteroid and now the ship is in quarantine as there are microscopic aliens on board from that destruction and they are attracted to Jessica, who they think might be there queen. In the end, all the aliens are corralled and put into a giant green construct of an ant farm.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #23 by Tom DeFalco and Tom Derenick. We begin with Batman, Wonder Woman and Jessica Cruz fighting Black Shield. Jessica has a meltdown as she almost accidentally kills a Nomalian mother and her young daughter.  After some comforting words from Wonder Woman to Jessica, the team is off to Bialya to take on Black Shield once again. This time, Jessica is the hero who saves the day.