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.