DC UNIVERSE Month 24, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #35 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Francis Manapul. The 1941 Starman tells the League that their Starman is dead. All across the Universe and the Multiverse, Perpetua’s symbols lights the sky. On Earth-19, Perpetua arrives, even as Batman calls for the members of Justice Incarnate. She wipes out that Earth, leaving 51 worlds. Kendra and Shane try to reach the League, but her ship is damaged and crashes,

JUSTICE LEAGUE #36 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Francis Manapul and Howard Porter. While the Trinity tries to formulate a plan, Lex and the Legion celebrate their victory. But Perpetua turns the tables on them, turning Brainiac One Million into her throne and subdues Sinestro, Grodd and Cheetah, using them to power her chair. Kendra and Shane run afoul of the Anti-Monitor, who has betrayed his brothers and sided with his mother. Back on Earth, Luthor and his army shows up in their flying Hall of Doom. The League has an answer: a flying Hall of Justice.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #17 by James Tynion IV and Javi Fernandez. In the distant past, Circe made a deal with Hecate which gave her the power she has used for centuries. In the present, Wonder Woman is fascinated by the Black Diamond of Eclipso, causing Bobo to realize that Diana isn’t really Diana. Circe reveals herself, casts a spell that silences Zatanna and regresses Bobo. Circe’s minions in the form of Grundy, the Floronic Man and Midnite arrive as Zatanna grabs a knife and slits open the mouth that Circe sealed, allowing her to cast a spell taking the Black Diamond from Circe and lock themselves into the vault. In the Collective Unconscious, Diana confers with Witchfire and, even though things could be worse, an old enemy is primed to make sure it does get worse.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #15 by Dan Abnett and Will Conrad. The giant block has transformed into Eskaton with the goal of killing Orion. As Jessica and Hax try to flee, Orion, Blackfire and Dex-Starr come together to fight the Eskaton. Dex-Starr cuts a deal that, if the creature stops its’ attack, they will take it to Darkseid, who is still making plans with Cyborg. The creature reverts back to the giant box and apparently the ship is in trouble, leading to Gamma Knife, who may very well be the Green Lantern recently introduce in FAR SECTOR, to head towards it.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ryan Sook. In the Sewers of Bludhaven,  Ultra Boy is pursuing a demon gangster named Mordru, who has stolen an ancient artifact. Karate Kid, Wildfire and Starman arrive, forcing Mordru to retreat. The artifact turns out to be Aquaman’s trident. Meanwhile, Saturn Girl transports Superboy to the city of New Metropolis where he meets the Legion of Super-Heroes including Rose. In the end, just as the other Legionnaires arrive with the trident, the Horraz arrive to take it back. At the same time, Madamhonor President is made aware that Superboy was pulled out of the Time Stream, breaking the number one rule of the United Planets. And she is also told of the stolen artifact.

LOIS LANE #5 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. Renee breaks up a meeting that revolves around the business man that was recently killed. She kidnaps one of the men and tortures him to find out who is worth so much money to be killed. Elsewhere, Lois meets with a Washington aide and finds out there is a memo she needs to find.

METAL MEN #2 by Dan Didio and Shane Davis. In the bowels of Challengers Mountain, the Metal Men band together to contain the Nth Metal Man, injuring Lead and Mercury and killing Gold, But Magnus uses the Absorbascon to control the Nth Metal Man. Later, a giant flying creature comes out of the pit and flies off, spreading radiation as it goes. And, somewhere in an undisclosed location, Chemo awakes.

NIGHTWING #66 by Dan Jurgens and Ronan Cliquet. While the Nightwings save people, William Cobb has captured Ric and Beatrice, where he is implanting false memories of Dick Grayson inside him. In these memories, Cobb takes in Dick after his parent’s death and begins training him to be an assassin, eventually leading to him killing Bruce Wayne. In the end, Dick Grayson, in full Talon wear, confronts the Nightwings.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #40 by Scott Lobdell and David Messina. Jason and his team of trainees continue to investigate what Shay Veritas is up to. In the end, Jason and Clara come across Artemis and Bizarro, who knocks Jason out.

SHAZAM #8 by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins. Eugene and Pedro are in the Wozenderlands with the wizard and the rabbit, where they lean that each of them…plus an as yet seventh family member are destined to sit on each of the seven thrones. Meanwhile, Billy’s dad has come to the foster home looking for his son, but leaves empty handed. Sivana, influenced by Mr. Mind, conspires with Black Adam and brings about a The Seven Sins to work with him. Billy finds himself in the Darklands, where the Ghost of Champions is asking for a favor to bring him back to life. The dead direct him to the house where Tawny, Darla and Freddy are and they escape back to the real world. Billy goes after his father and fights Black Adam. The Seven Sins grab his father and drop him from the sky, resulting in Mr. Batson changing into…a member of the Shazam family.

SUPERGIRL #36 by Marc Andreyko and Eduardo Pansica. Brainiac-1’s robots are attacking Supergirl, but that battle is only in her mind. But Brainiac-1 is exploring the Fortress as Krypto desperately tries to wake her. She wakes and flies off to find Batman battling Hawkman. She rescues Batman and they go off to find Superman, who is fighting Infected versions of Donna Troy and Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle throws a Batarang at Superman, which she catches, turning her into one of The Infected. She wakes to find King Shazam standing over her. Realizing her powers have increased to maximum power, she goes after Brainiac-1, killing him. She realizes she needs no one andm with Krypto crying and whining, she flies off.

SUPERGIRL ANNUAL #2 by Robert Venditti and Laura Braga. Kara is a young girl on Krypton, where she is playing a version of hockey. After winning the match, she meets with a boy named Rix and the planet is rocked by an earthquake and she begins having horrific visions. Over the course of the next few days, she continues to have visions while the planet continues to have earthquakes. While caring for her cousin Kal, Rix comes over and they share a kiss. After having another episodic vision, Kara wakes in her parent’s lab, where they tell her she needs to leave to escape Krypton’s destruction. She changes into her Infected form and Krypton explodes.  She awakes to find The Batman Who Laughs and gives her orders to follow him. This takes her to the Fortress of Solitude, where she is fully infected and attacks her cousin Kal.

SUPERMAN #17 by Brian Michael Bendis and Kevin Maguire. All the recent issues have been solved: Rogol Zaar is gone, Jor-El is dead and Jon has gone to be with the Legion of Super-Heroes. Superman meets with Lois, who shows him the lead lined box Luthor gave her and explains that what’s in the box is something she needs to publish in The Daily Planet. After discovering a secret S.T.A.R. Labs base, he meets with Zod and the Kara, who he explains that he needs to tell the truth and it will affect her. Next time, Superman reveals his identity to the world.

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #5 by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber. Timmy Olsen continues to prank Batman, Clark discovers that the body in Jimmy’s grave is an artificial decoy corpse, Lex continues to see the connection between the Luthor’s and the Olsens, and Batman pranks Jimmy back.

TALES FROM THE DARK MULTIVERSE: BLACKEST NIGHT #1 by Tim Seeley and Kyle Hotz. In the Dark Multiverse, Apokalips has been taken over by  the Black Lanterns. All of Earth’s heroes are dead from Nekron’s attack, except for Dove and Lobo who, along with a limbo tethered Sinestro, who has both White and Black Lantern rings, head there. It is revealed much of what has happened is because Sinestro refused to share the power of the rings, resulting in everyone’s death. They meet up with the only surviving New God, Mister Miracle, who uses his skills to get the team away from the zombies, including his wife Big Barda and Darkseid, who has become the God of Death. Scott plans to use Dove to transfer the Source energy combined with Sinestro’s white Lantern ring to resurrect the dead. But before they can accomplish it, Darkseid kills Lobo, creating multiple versions of himself. Darkseid tries to convince Sinestro to join him but, after Scott kills Dove, realizing his plan would not work without killing Barda, Sinestro uses his powers to create new life. But they are all patterned after Lobo, meaning they are bloodthirsty killers. He tries to escape by tearing a hole in space and time, but Tempus Fuginaut seals the hole.

TALES FROM THE DARK MULTIVERSE: INFINITE CRISIS #1 by James Tynion IV and Aaron Lopresti. Tempus Fuginaut examines what happened in the Dark Multiverse version of  Infinite Crisis. Blue Beetle kills Maxwell Lord and, with the help of Brother Eye, takes over Checkmate. Booster Gold visits him and Beetle tries to convince him to join him, but fails. Later, they Checkmate discovers a dead Luthor an Black Adam, finding another Lex, Alexander Luthor and Superboy Prime. Alexander wants to wipe out the world and start over and begins his purge by killing Lois and Clark of Earth-2. That sends Superboy Prime into a rage and he kills Alexander. Prime and Beetle team up, but that brings the Teen Titans and the JLA together to stop them. When they arrive, they find the One Beetle Army Corps and the heroes are forced to battle an army of O.M.A.C.S. Booster tries to stop Beetle and Ted kills his best friend. In the end, the O.M.A.C.s kill all the heroes and Beetle is now the ruler of the world…as an O.M.A.C.

TEEN TITANS #36 by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. Roundhouse is still locked up in Damian's dungeon with his former teammates guarding him. The team continues to try to get Djinn out of her ring. Elsewhere, a mind-controlled Crush is destroying the city. The team goes after her, but quickly get defeated and captured by Crush and Lobo, who brings the fallen heroes to…The Other.

THE TERRIFICS #22 by Gene Luen Yang and Stephen Segovia. Mr. Terrible, Bizarro and son travel to the planet Bgtzl, where they steal the Phantom Zone crystal and use the time machine. This brings us to Metamorpho who has found himself as a child version of Metamorpho. In fact, the entire team have become children and they realize that Bizarro has turned the entire worls upside down. Rex gets his powers back, but Bizarro and Mr. Terrible create a Time Vortex and Paula is sucked into it. So pleased with what they have done, Bizarro and Mr. Terrible create a Time Loop to relive this day forever.

WONDER TWINS #9 by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne. After helping the League, the Twins meet with Polly, who they have gotten out of prison. She reveals that her dad created Colonel 86 back in the day and they reveal that they believe he is in the Phantom Zone and can get him back. It is also revealed that the Twins grandfather used the disruptor to sentence people to the Zone and they were forced to leave for Earth because of the shame their family had brought. Elsewhere, The Scrambler gets some computer time and someone who just bought an old computer gets access to Colonel 86.

WONDER WOMAN #82 by Steve Orlando and Kieran McKeown. Cheetah is running wild on Themyscira now that the Dark Fates have freed her. Diana is relaxing with Etta when she learns that Cheetah is loose, so she heads to China to get a secret weapon. Cheetah continues her rampage and wants to kill off all of Diana’s gods, starting with Hera. But she crosses paths with Maggie. Just when things seem desperate, Diana arrives and says it’s time to finish this.

YOUNG JUSTICE #10 by Brian Michael Bendia and John Timms. Two months ago, Jinny broke about a robbery. Following that, her mother gives her a chest containing her inheritance-a chest from Jonah Hex filled with all sorts of artifacts. In the present, on Earth-3, the heroes of this world and Young Justice team up to save the day. After a tearful goodbye between Tim and the Earth-3 Stephanie Brown, the team comes back home. But home is in Oregon and they meet…Naomi.

DC UNIVERSE Month 24, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1017 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. The Trinity finds themselves at the mercy of the Legion of Doom, standing among the fallen bodies of the other superheroes. The day before, Superman chases after Leviathan and finds himself transported to Gorilla City, where he has to fight his way home. Back in Metropolis, an explosion destroys the Ace Club, leading Superman to believe that Leviathan and the Invisible Mafia are at war. What could cause this? An offer from Luthor.

AQUAMAN #54 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha and Jesús Merino. While laying waste to Amnesty Bay, he reminisces about his father, who taught him lessons, berated him often and died at the hands of Aquaman. Manta instructs the mech suit, which has his father as the A.I. inside, to shoot Jackson, Manta’s son. But before he can totally destroy Amnesty Bay, the giant monster, who was once the lighthouse keeper, rises up to attack.

BATGIRL #41 by Cecil Castellucci and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Batgirl nearly drowns but is rescued by Leslie. Oracle, believing Batgirl to be dead, decides she is not going to let Burnside down like Batgirl dead. Jason goes searching for Barbara but find Frankie instead. He convinces Oracle that he is with her and he also wants Batgirl’s memory erased. Barbara wakes and heads out, just before Oracle arrives looking for her.

BATMAN #82 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. Batman and Catwoman finally face off with Bane and beat him down. Just when Batman is about to break Bane’s back, Thomas Wayne and The Ventriloquist arrive and Wayne, who has destroyed the Bat Cave, shoots Bruce. He then says it is time to get the Psycho Pirate.

BATMAN #83 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. Batman wakes at the dinner table and hears Alfred’s voice via a recorded message. He sees Alfred’s dead body across from him and breaks down before seeing the phrase “You are not Batman” painted on to the wall. He tries to leave the room but finds the only exit walled up with bricks. As the message continues to play, Batman removes his cowl and mourns. As the message ends, an explosion removes the brick wall. Catwoman is in the doorway and, telling him that it is finally time, leads him past the Bat Family to a room with Thomas Wayne, Ventriloquist, and Psycho Pirate. Thomas asks if he finally gives up and Batman tells him that he will never give up.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #7 by Bryan Hill and Cian Tormey. Ishmael has Duke as his captive and is trying to get him to side with Ra's al Ghul before heading out to confront Katana and Black Lightning. They, along with Kaliber, are flying Sofia, who now calls herself Babylon, back to Gotham. Babylon attempts to kill a sleeping Katana, but Jefferson intervenes, only to be stopped by Kaliber, who has been aligned with Ra’s all along. He throws a bomb into the cockpit and tells them not to worry because Ra’s can resurrect them when they die. Meanwhile, Cassandra goes off to rescue Duke, leading to a battle with Ishmael. She rescues Duke, but he declares that he has been changed. On the plane with

BATMAN BEYOND #38 by Dan Jurgens and Sean Chen. Batwoman continues her war on the bad guys of Neo Gotham, but Bruce continues trying to figure out who she is. Throughout the issue, he realizes she is not Barbara or Melanie. Terry and Constance are still on the run from the law, stealing as they get the chance. Blight has returned to Neo Gotham and Batwoman confronts him, leading Bruce to realize that Derek Powers is alive.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #4 by Joshua Williamson and David Marquez. Blue Beetle in now one of the Infected and is trashing the Fortress of Solitude. He gets joined by the rest of the Secret Six: Hawkman, King Shazam, Jim Gordon and Donna Troy. Supergirl arrives to lend a hand, but she catches an infected batarang, which affects too and makes her the last of the Secret Six. With the team complete, The Batman Who Laughs is ready to bring the Dark Multiverse to Earth.

CATWOMAN #17 by Joelle Jones. Selina gets a gift from Lex, which turns out to be a road map which takes her to the cave where Raina is. Raina kills Yilmaz and Finick, dumping their bodies in the Lazarus Pit and resurrecting them. Selina is caught by Adam, killed and thrown in the Pit, leading to her resurrection. In the end, Selina goes to Gotham and meets Zatanna.

DEATHSTROKE #49 by Christopher Priest and Fernando Pasarin. Joe finds Rose and an injured Terence in a dumpster after fleeing from Deathstroke’s attack.  In atuslity, it’s a decoy and Slade finds himself bound in protoplasm. He falls to Earth and no is confronted…by Deathstroke. Elsewhere, Slade is preparing to kill his e-wife when Wintergreen arrives, leading to a loving reunion. That’s when Joe arrives and takes Slade away. In space, Joe destroys the Diode, leading to him rapidly aging as he appears to succumb.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1015 by Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke and Jose Luis. Mr. Freeze has brought Nora back and cured her, thanks to Lex. They proceed to go on a crime spree, but Victor is having second thoughts, as he wants to settle down with his wife. But she is attracted to the power, turns on her husband and freezes him. In the Batcave, Batman finds a cure and successfully revives the victims. That’s when the Bat-signal is lit and Mr. Freeze is the man who lit it.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1016 by Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke and Jose Luis. Nora Fries continues to use her newfound powers to wreak havoc, creating a mausoleum with her husband’s name on it in the graveyard where her parents are buried. This leads to Victor teaming up with Batman. Victor has deduced that the serum that Lex gave him included fluid from the B-zero experiment that created Bizarro. This leads them to a statue of a ballerina in the Gotham museum, where Nora has killed one guard and is about to kill another when Batman and Freeze save him. Victor tries to talk sense to her and that goes bad. Freeze turns on Batman and tries to kiss his wife, but she sticks a syringe in his ear, which removes his ability to be outside of absolute zero, allowing Nora to get away. In the end, everyone at the theater have been revived and Victor is back in an absolute zero tube to keep him alive.

DIAL H FOR HERO #9 by Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones. Miguel and Summer are hiding out in plain sight in Metropolis. But Miguel wants to use the dial again and become Supermiguel. Summer explains that he can’t, but, despite warnings from The Operator, he does, becoming Early Adopter. Summer again becomes Lo-Lo Kick You, alerting Captain Thunderbolt. They flee in the rebuilt mayonnaise truck and plug in the C-Dial. They suddenly find themselves traveling to the Multiverse.

EVENT LEVIATHAN #6 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Sam Lane is dead, Talia and the Silencer confront the heroes and Superman reveals that Leviathan is former Manhunter Mark Shaw. He gets away from Superman and that gathering of heroes, but his plan is not finished. He will reveal all secrets to the world. In the end, Lois reveals all that has transpired in an article in the Daily Planet. And Leviathan still ants to proceed forward, with Guardian Jim Harper by his side.

THE FLASH #82 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval. Central City is in control of the Rogues, Iron Heights is now Ice Heights and the Flash is allegedly dead. Luthor gave Captain Cold with hard light technology which lets him use the power of Mirror Master’s Mirror Dimension. But there are insurgents led by Commander Cold, Kid Flash and Avery fighting against the Rogues, resulting in Commander Cold being frozen in ice. Kid Flash and Avery meet up with Iris, where they reveal they were able to get a piece of the mirror. In the end, Captain Cold visits with a captured Flash and he throws the frozen head of Commander Cold into the cell.

THE FLASH #83 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval. Flash is still captured and so is Trickster, who declares there is no escape. But Golden Glider shows up, breaks the chains and breaks Flash out, although he is not able to use his powers because of a power dampener. As they battle Cold’s giant robots, Glider explains that everything that has happened while Flash was captive is because of Lex Luthor. She says that she is helping him because she needs to stop her brother. After finding out that Flash is free, he goes to the mirror wall and makes ice wolves to hunt for Glider and The Flash. They meet up with Kid Flash and Avery and Glider explains they must collect the different shards of Mirror Master’s mirror from each of the rogues. The wolves arrive and Glider takes off Flash’ inhibitor, leading to a huge explosion. Kid Flash reattaches the inhibitor and says Flash can never use the Speed Force again.

GREEN LANTERN: BLACKSTARS #1 by Grant Morrison and Xermanico. Controller Mu is in charge of the Blackstars, with Belzereth, Hal Jordan, now known as Parallax, and all the former Green Lanterns. They go after Mongul, draining him of his of his energy and making a mess of Warworld. Mu arrives, declares that Belzereth and Parallax are to be wed and he sets his sights on Earth.

HARLEY QUINN #67 by Sam Humphries, Sami Basri, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapamund, Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan and Tom Derenick. Harley visits her dad and tries to get her family to come together for a Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen and she realizes that those things only happen in comics. She hijacks a bus and heads West.

HARLEY QUINN & POISON IVY #3 by Jody Houser and Adriana Melo. The Mad Hatter has Harley and Ivy in his lair and uses his ability to control Ivy. He uses Ivy’s powers to create a bunch of creatures and they attack Harley. Eventually, Ivy breaks free and she and Harley take out Tetch, with Ivy hypnotizing him and telling him to destroy this place.

HAWKMAN #18 by Robert Venditti and Pat Olliffe. Starting on Earth-3, we see one of Carter Hall’s previous lives as the Sky Tyrant. On our Earth, Sky Tyrant has returned and Carter can’t control it…only watch. As Sky Tyrant wreaks havoc, Carter struggles with him. Hawkwman arrives when things look realty bad and plans to take him down.

THE INFECTED: KING SHAZAM #1 by Sina Grace and Joe Bennett. Billy Batson is Infected and he gets into an argument with his foster parents before doing the same with Mary. He transforms into King Shazam and goes after legendary gods including Atlas, Thor, Rao and Ares. Mary Marvel catches up with him as he is fighting Ares. After a battle, he fakes being returned to his old self and punches her stomach, leaving her bleeding and badly injured.

THE INFECTED: SCARAB #1 by Dennis Hopeless Hallum and Freddie E. Williams II. Jaime is infected and goes off to battle Ghostfire. During the battle, the Scarab takes full control and eats Ghostfire.

INFERIOR 5 #3 by Keith Giffen and Jeff Lemire. While the five go on their journeys, the Tasmanian Devil looks for his son Derek but is told he is dead. Later, he battles something looking like Starro the Conqueror. Elsewhere, one of the Dominators continues to put pressure on Brother Power to continue working for him. The man in the radiation suit finds the logo of the Peacemaker and realizes there could be a problem. In the back-up, Peacemaker battles and defeats the KGBeast. But the Rocket Reds are right behind and it looks like another battle is brewing.

More first issues and a special one or two

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE AVENGERS #1 by Leah Williams, Zac Thompson and Alberto Alburqurque.  As part of Marvel’s newest event, there are a bunch of mini-series that tie in. The team tries to stop Carnage from going after them and getting back the little pieces of the symbiote that has ended up inside them over the years. In the end, they take down beacons which call to Carnage and all of this leads to VENOM #19. Only for die-hard completists.

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE MILES MORALES #1 by Saladin Ahmed and Federico Vincentini. In the continuing tie-ins, Miles gets taken over by part of the Carnage/Norman Osborn symbiote. Our displaced hero tries his best to fight but, in the end, is taken over. This is the first of three issues which, I’m sure, will result in no changes in the Marvel Universe.

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE SCREAM #1 by Cullen Bunn and Gerardo Sandoval. Scream is reborn and now contains parts of those who previously were Scream. It’s three issues that will lead to a new series…because Marvel needs more symbiote titles.

AMAZING MARY-JANE #1 by Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez. Mary-Jane has an opportunity to get back into acting and gets a gig on a Spider-Man film. But she finds out that Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio, is actually the director. What to do? Well, the new Secret Six is coming to town and that could be even bigger troubles. This is a syrupy mess and strikes me as just a cash grab. The art is nice but the story hasn’t decided if it’s an adventure tale or a love story. Thanks…but no thanks.

ANNIHILATION SCOURGE ALPHA #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Juanan Ramirez. Trouble is brewing in the Negative Zone and that brings Blastaar and Annihilus together to try and stop it. The Revengers show up and now things get desperate. Annihilus comes to the Positive Zone where he meets up with a very dunk Richard Ryder and Cosmo the Space Dog, asking for help. Meanwhile, Blastaar is left to battle the leader of the Revengers-The Sentry? Wow! I’m not sure where this is going, but it runs through four one shots and an OMEGA issue before this space saga is resolved. A little confusing, but nice to see some classic characters back. And what’s with a drunk Nova playing straight man to a space dog?

ARCHIE 55 #1 by Brian Augustyn, Mark Waid and Tom Grummett. In the continuing mini-series set in different times and timelines, Archie Comics brings us this tale of Archie and the allure of rock and roll fame in the Fifties. It touches on all the buttons including race relations of the time. Augustyn and Waid do a fine job with the story and Grummett knocks it out of the park with his art style. Personally, I love what Archie has done. Can’t wait until the get to the Sixties!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN EXODUS #1 by Esad Ribic. Here’s an unusual book for unusual tastes. Ribic has created a book which relies almost totally, except for some dialogue in an unknown and untranslatable language, on the visual. Ribic’s work is beautiful, but don’t expect an easy read with this as, again, it is a visual tale.

CONTAGION #1 by Ed Brisson and Roge Antonio. Another Marvel mini-series here. This five week romp is all about a mysterious disease which is taking over and possessing some of Marvel’s greatest heroes. So the team-up begins. Featuring The Thing, Iron Fist and more, this is a nice throwback to the classic age of Marvel where a bunch of heroes get together and fight a seemingly unstoppable enemy. With a bit of the horror element tossed in, I enjoyed the heck out of issue #1 and plan on being here to see how this whole somewhat silly thing turns out.

CRAZY #1 by a whole host of Marvel creators. Resurrecting a classic title of the Seventies, Marvel dips its’ toes into the MAD MAGAZINE realm of humor, but mixed into the Marvel vein. Most are one page bits, some are four panels only. If you were a fan of the old CRAZY or even going back as far as NOT BRAND ECCH, you’ll enjoy this. While not a cool as those classic runs, it is nice to see and a nice attempt at bringing bck that magic.

DCEASED: A GOOD DAY TO DIE #1 by Tom Taylor, Lara Braga and Darrick Robertson. Tying in to the current DCEASED mini-series, Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Mr. Terrific and more team up to try to control the devastating zombie outbreak. Constantine gets involved and well…you can only imagine what happens. It’s blood, guts, zombies and magic. DCEASED is one of the surprise hits of the last few months and this one-shot ties in perfectly. Fans of an alternate universe DC horror tale will love this!

DEADPOOL #1 by Kelly Thompson and Chris Bachalo. Monsters have taken over Staten Island and Deadpool is hired to kill the King of Monsters. When he does, HE becomes the King of Monsters and that’s when the hilarity begins. It’s edgy, violent, and typically Deadpool funny. The art is great, if you’re  fan of Bachalo’s style and the jokes are just dirty enough to work. Throw in Kraven the Hunter and Eliza Bloodstone and you have a riot filled title. You either love Deadpool or hate him but this one hits the right notes.

DOCTOR DOOM #1 by Christopher Cantwell and Salvador Larroca. Victor Von Doom has gone through a lot in the last few years, from being the ruler of Battleworld to becoming Iron Man and more. Well, Doc is back in Latveria and on the run from every government agency and superhero on the planet.  The story is engaging and the art is great. I expected this to be just a cheap cash grab but was totally surprised about how much fun it was. Looking forward to a continued read with this.

THE DOLLHOUSE FAMILY #1 by Mike Carey, Peter Gross and Vince Locke. Joe Hill’s line of horror comics come to light with this first title. It’s a true throwback to the good old days of horror books with some creepy stuff going on and a murder in the end. It's dark and twisted with some nice notes throughout. Also included is the first chapter of SEA DOGS by Hill and Dan McDaid. It’s a dark tale that is a nice first entry to the line. I’m curious to see where this line goes next.,

EXCALIBUR #1 by Tini Howard and Marcus To. Krakoa is the place to be now if you’re a mutant and Betty Bradock is the star here, having been given the reigns as the new Captain Britain. But a war is breaking out in the Otherworld and her brother Brian is missing. With a host of familiar mutants in tow, including Gambit, Rogue and Jubilee, she sets about making things right. It’s an interesting title which has a bit of the old Excalibur feel to it but not enough to really get me excited. Hopefully, further issues will set that right.

FALLEN ANGELS #1 by Bryan Hill and Szymon Kudranski. The X titles continue to roll out and this one features Psylocke, Cable and X-23. With Psylocke trying to find her place in the hearts and minds of her fellow mutants, it’s an uphill climb for certain. Hill’s story is fine, setting up future details but Kudranski’s art is the highlight. What makes this new series of series confusing is that they not only tie to each other, but they also hve a specific reading order. For those keeping track, this is the sixth title and, believe it or not, they do all tie together an have a specific timeline in relation to each other.

FANTASTIC 4 2099 #1 by Karla Pacheco and Steven Cummings. In 2099, the world is change and a woman named Venture has met up with H.E.R.B.I.E. the Robot, who sends her on a mission to find his family. This leads to a full-length adventure where four people with Cosmic Ray powers are brought together. But H.E.R.B.I.E. isn’t happy in the end and the twist ending was a huge bummer. This spins out of 2099 ALPHA #1 which introduced Venture and others. How this all fits together is a mystery at the moment but, based on the twist ending, I found this a tough book to enjoy.

GHOST SPIDER #1 by Seanan McGuire and Takeshhi Miyazawa. Ghost Spider, previously known as Spider Girl, is Gwen Stacy from Earth-65. Among her super powers, she can move from Earth-65 to Earth-616, which means she gets to spend time on the true Marvel world. That also means she gets to interact with Marvel heroes, like Spider-Man. And when she enrolls in school on Earth-616, that just means crossing paths with Miles Warren. And. If that wasn’t enough, there is the Miles Warren from Earth-65. I haven’t spent much time with the previous SPIDER-GIRL title, but found this engaging although Miyazawa’s Manga styled art is a little jarring at first

GHOST RIDER #1 by Ed Brisson and Aaron Kuder. Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider(excluding the old Western hero) is currently the King of Hell. But that doesn’t men there aren’t denizens looking to dethrone him. So Johnny takes a temporary powder and comes back to Earth, where he meets u with Ghost Rider #2 Danny Ketch. And since Blaze has gone power mad, that means Ketch is probably going to have to climb back into the fight. When it comes to this supernatural hero, these are my two favorite versions. So…one good and two better?

GWENPOOL STRIKES BACK #1 by Leah Williams and David Baldeon. Gwen Poole came to the Marvel Universe from the “real” world and decided to not be an extra in someone’s else’s book. So she donned a costume and went on to star in a series of adventures in her own twenty-five issue series, plus a bunch of one-shots. But now she’s back and, with a ton of fourth-wall breaks, she’s about to cause a ton of mischief. And a lot of fourth-wall breaks. This is just a dumb, fun book that only highlights the attraction to this girl, resulting in tons of cosplays at Cons.

HARLEEN #1 by Stjepan Sejic. Harleen Quinzel has a new origin story in this oversized mini-series in the DC Black Label line. Harleen is a therapist and runs across the Joker during one of his escapades. Despite the chaos, he lets her live and, of course, they cross paths later when he is in Arkham. It’s all a bit of a twist on an old story, but the artwork is great. It’s nice, but a tad pricey.

HE-MAN AND THE MASTER OF THE MULTIVERSE #1 by Tim Seeley and Dan Fraga. What in the world is this? Selley takes the comfortable world of Eternia and turns it not only upside but sideways. Wait: Skeletor gets killed by a dark He-Man and the

Multiverse of He-Men show up to band together. Weird…too weird for me.

KING THOR #1 by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic. With the current THOR title on hiatus, Aaron writes his final Thor tale and teams up with Ribic to bring the story to life. It’s in the far future where King Thor and his grand-daughters, previously introduced in the last Aaron run on THOR. And as expected, it plays off of that run and yes-Loki is still the rotten guy he has always been. It’s Aaron’s alleged definitive take on the future Thor and Ribic’s art is spectacular.

MARAUDERS #1 by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli. Mutants have made Krakoa their ne home. Arrival and departure is easy by way of a series of gates throughout the island. But Kitty, now known as Kate, Pryde is having problems using a gate to get there. So she commandeers a boat and goes on a mission with a team looking to bring mutant refugees to Krakoa. Along the way, she gathers a sword and this becomes a swashbuckling tale. With a host of familiar mutants in tow, including Storm, Iceman, Nightcrawler and Pyro, she sets about making things right. This may not be the best of the new X titles, but it is a bunch of silly fun. C’mon: Kitty as a pirate?

MARVEL COMICS #1000 by over 100 legendary creators. In celebration of Marvel’s 80^th anniversary, this huge, $10 title comes out, highlighting the heroes of the Marvel Universe. These one page tales begin in 1939 with the creation of the original Human Torch and stops at every year until 2020 where the promise of who the Masked Rider is will be revealed. The creator list is too huge to list here, but creators include some of the biggest and best over the decades. This is a nice tribute to the empire we know as Marvel. And the bread crumbs for future events is a nice touch too.

MARVEL COMICS #1001 by a lot of creators. Just because…we get a second dose. Where the previous issue was filled with stops throughout 80 years, this is just a collection of one page hero moments. Not as moving as the previous, but still a nice collection of moments by some of the greats for half the size and half the price.

MARVEL MONSTERS #1 by Cullen and a host of artists. Kid Kaiju gets his hands on the Mobster Book and that leads to a book filled with informative pin-ups. Dynamite looking art and a great book if you’re a completist who loves handbook style books.

MORBIUS THE LIVING VAMPIRE #1 by Vita Ayala and Marcelo Ferreira. Michael Morbius, long-suffering vampire of the Marvel Universe is back in his own series and, for me, it’s long overdue. Right off the bat, we get The Melter and then the action goes off from there. Filled with all the angst you would expect, as our hero tries to cure himself, we get action, soul searching and a surprise visitor looking to kill him. While I wanted a bit more story, what we got lays down some nice bread crumbs for the future. Not perfect by any sense, it is a decent start and I want this book to just get better. We can only hope.

NEW MUTANTS #1 by Ed Brisson, Jonathan Hickman and Rod Reis. Here’s the good news: despite everything they have been through, the old team is back together. We’re talking Karma, Wolfsbane, Mondo, Cypher, Mirage, Sunspot, Chamber and Magik. And they’re back in their classic uniforms too! Right off the bat, they end up in space and cross paths with the senior Summers and his Starjammers. That can’t be good. This title is a bit on the light side, relying on a lot of quippy dialogue and a smattering of action. It has potential but, at the moment, I find it the weakest of the six new titles.

NEW MUTANTS WAR CHILDREN #1 by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz. Two of the timeless creators from the NEW MUTANTS run of old come back for the wonderful one-shot. It is the classic team and it looks fantastic. The plot is pure Claremont and Sienkiewicz proves he still has his stuff. This is a great throwback to the Eighties in look and feel. If you were a fan of that amazing run, you’ll love this.

PUNISHER KILL KREW #1 by Gerry Duggan and Juan Ferreyra. During the recent War of the Realms, Frank Castle couldn’t save one man’s family. So he is on a mission to find the killer and avenge them. This leads to an all-out bloodbath as Frank puts a team together to get the job done. Just a fun, bloody book. The story is pretty straight up and Ferreyra brings it in the art category.

SANDMAN UNIVERSE: HELLBLAZER #1 by Simon Spurrier and Marcio Takara. Eberyone’s favorite conniving magician, John Constantine, is coming back to the dark corner of the DC Universe. But this time he finds himself in the Black Label, formerly Vertigo, side of the fence, which means he can be as dark and foul-mouthed as we want him to be. Of course, to get to that next place, he needs to deal with some personal demons that haunt him. And he has a mission: kill Tim Hunter. That’s what will tie him into the Sandman Universe. While I really want an adult themed Hellblazeer book, I’m not a fan of the rebooted Sandman themed titles. So, for me, it’s one and done.

SPAWN #300 by Todd McFarlane, Scott Snyder, Jason Shawn Aexander, Greg Capullo, J. Scott Campbell, and Jerome Opena. I haven’t read an issue of SPAWN since issue #100, but being that this book TIES Dave Sim’s record for most published creator owned titles, it’s sort of a big deal. Being that I haven’t read an issue since #100, I have no clue what’s going on! That being said, it reads well, each chapter looks nice and it leads to new beginnings and ties-up old storylines.

SPIDER-MAN #1 by J.J. Abrams, Henry Abrams and Sara Pichelli. In the old days, we would call this an “imaginary story”. Mary Jane dies in a battle that costs Spidey his arm and that leads to his retirement. But his son Benjy eventually discovers he has powers and one thing leads to another. Abrams and company do a nice job of bringing back te feel of a young hero seeing thigs with awe and wonder.

SPIDER-VERSE #1 by Hed MacKay, Juan Figeri, Stacey Lee, Arthur Adams, James Harren, Dike Ruan and Sheldon Vella. Miles Morales ends up back in the Spider-Verse and that means a trip through a multitude of Earths along the way. In a number of chapters by a host of artists, he crosses paths with the Spidr Gang, Spider Monster, Lord Spider, Spider Punk, Spider Zero and Annie May. It’s a wild, weird ride if you want to take it!

STRIKEFORCE #1 by Tini Howard and German Peralta. A supernatural team made up of Blade, Angela, Spectrum, Winter Soldier, Spider Woman, Wiccan and the Son of Satan. What could be better? How about the writing. The dialogue is clunky and the plot just limps along. Peralta’s art is okay, but these heroes need more dynamic style. I was so looking forward to this title, but it turns but to be a big bummer.

2099 ALPHA #1 by Nick Spencer and Viktor Vogdanovic. Marvel’s next big crossover seeks to reboot the 2099 Universe. It’s been brewing in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and now spills over here. Over the two months, we’ll get one-shots featuring the Fantastic Four, Conan, The Punisher, Ghost Rider, Venom, Doom and Spider-Man. The story is a bit hard to follow, but it’s all about the future, who rules and who is here to be the heroes of the future. Spencer spins a nice story and, with all the plot threads woven here, it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. I assume the payoff will come in the OMEGA issue at the end of December, but the one-shots in between could be fun.

VENGEANCE OF VAMPIRELLA #1 by Thomas Sniegoski and Michael Sta. Maria. Twenty-five years ago, the sensation that was VENGEANCE OF VAMPIRELLA came to an end, leading to a whole host of spin-offs, some good and some awful.  Twenty-five years later and the man behind the original series picks it up where he left off. Mistress Nyx and the Lords of Chaos have taken over the Earth and humanity has been trying to just survive. That’s where we are at. If you were a fan of that original series, you need to add this to your pull list.

X-FORCE #1 by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara. Every mutant team needs a team like this. X-Force has always been the gritty team in the X-Universe, doing the jobs that other teams won’t do. So who do you get? How about Wolverine, Beast, Black Tom, Colossus, Jean Gray and Domino. But what starts as a typical mission ends in disaster with the heart of the mutant universe falling in the end, leading to repercussions that will ripple through all of the X titles. This could, by far, be the best book in the X line! The story is full of twists and turns and the art works. It’s dark, gritty and filled with a ton of plot threads that ill play out in the months to come.

X-MEN #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu. Coming out of HOUSE OF X and POWERS OF X, Hickman has set about recreating the X Universe, with this being the first of six titles debuting in October and November. It’s a new world and a new team made up of Cyclops, Storm, Polaris, Magneto, Dr. Reyes, Jean, Havok, Vulcan, Wolverine, Cable, Prestige and Corsair. And of course, Professor X. This is a new team with a new agenda. As with all of Hickman’s work, it’s some deep, heady stuff.

DC UNIVERSE Month 23, part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #33 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Bruno Redondo and Daniel Sempere. The Monitor, Anti-Monitor and World Forger face off with Lex and Perpetua, forcing them to join together and becoming the Ultra Monitor. In 1941, our heroes head to Atlantis along with Aquaman, where they come across a captured Poseidon, the Legion of Doom and Vandal Savage with his Legionnaires Club. In the future, Kamandi goes for help while the Justice League is getting beat down by Brainiac One Million. Luckily, Kamandi fins some allies in the form of Batman Beyond and his friends.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #34 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Bruno Redondo and Howard Porter. While Cheetah orders Poseidon to destroy Atlantis, John Stewart tells Vandal Savage everything about the future, leading Savage to agree to help the team. In the future, Brainiac One Million is about to destroy everything when Kamandi and his new allies arrive. Starman of the past reaches out to the Starman of the present and the future and manages to bring everyone together against Luthor and Perpetua. Despite that, Perpetua rises and promises the give the Anti-Monitor back his Anti-Life, getting him to her side. With the upper hand, she kills the Starman of the present.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #16 by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez Bueno and Fernando Blanco. Circe is holding Diana in another dimension while she tells her she needs Eclipso’s Black Diamond to gain ultimate power. Back in our world, Eclipso begs to be freed and Chimp and Khalid are forced to deal with a mutated Man-Bat. Constantine shows up to find that Swamp Thing has gone to find Abby. When all seems dark, Zatanna brings Diana back. But it’s really Circe in disguise. The world is changing and that’s because of Perpetua’s symbol appearing.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #14 by Dan Abnett, Cliff Richards and Crisscross. Jessica and her team head off to Sepulkore looking for the Eskaton. Her biggest gripe is who Okkult is. After much arguing, Blackfire blasts Okkult and reveals he is Orion of the New Gods. In the end, the Eskaton has found them.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: MILLENIUM #2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ryan Sook, Nicola Scott, Jim Cheung, and Jeff Dekal. Rose continues to travel through time. She runs into Michael Jon Carter, who decides to become a superhero. Then, further along, she crosses paths with OMAC.  She continues further through time, finally ending up at the Legion of Superheroes, where she tells them that she has a lot to tell them about.

LOIS LANE #4 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. Renee Montoya and Vic Sage try to figure out their relationship, especially since Vic is supposed to be dead. Over in England, police visit a suicidal girl and find evidence of Leviathan’s influence. Jon reveals to Lois that he’s going to the future. Later, Renee and Vic meet with Lois, who reveals that she knew Vic was alive and never

METAL MEN #1 by Dan Didio and Shane Davis. Will Magnus has created the Metal Men many times, as they die and get reborn. What Gold has found is the remains of all those Metal Men, forcing Magnus to reveal that they are all parts of his psyche. In the end, a discovery is revealed.

NIGHTWING #65 by Dan Jurgens and Ronan Cliquet. Ric faces off against William Cobb, who explains he is Ric’s great grandfather. Perpetua’s symbol appears and a distracted Ric is compromised by Cobb, becoming a Talon in the process.

NIGHTWING ANNUAL #2 by Dan Jurgens and Travis Moore. Richard Grayson’s time after being shot is recalled. He was taken to a hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma. Upon awakening, he did not know his Bat family. Throughout, we see Richard meeting with Dr. Haas: the specialist that Bruce Wayne flew in from Switzerland. His clearest memory is his visiting old relatives in Bludhaven during Thanksgiving. In the end, it is revealed his relatives were members of the Court of Owls and so is Dr. Haas.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #39 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort. Red Hood’s new team battles Monster Arm and his team while Hood watches. They finally defeat the team and ask Doomsday Jr. to join them. Back in the Quantum Place, Pup-Pup explains how he is alive because of Chairzarro’s A.I. They get transported to Mexico and see Perpetua’s symbol, as Pup-Pup keeps hearing the word “Doom” in his mind.

SUPERGIRL #35 by Marc Andreyko and Eduardo Pansica. At the Fortress of Solitude, the new Brainiac creates a new body for himself, but it is defective. In the process, he destroys Kelex. Elsewhere, Kara reunited with Jeremiah but finds Eliza is dead. As they leave, they are ambushed by one of Leviathan’s followers. Based on the attacker’s moves, Jeremiah realizes he is fighting Eliza. Leviathan tells Supergirl they should work together, but she retaliates, leading to the attackers to transport away. Supergirl gets a distress signal from the Fortress and she flies there, seeing Perpetua’s symbol in the process. As she enters, she sees Kelex and is approached by…?

SUPERMAN #16 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Lafuente. Damian has a strange reunion with a grown-up Jon. They team up for one last set of adventures before Jon meets with his father and then heads off to the future.

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #4 by Matt Fraction and Steve Leiber. He reveals to Lois that Timmy Olsen has become an Internet sensation, angering Batman and others in the process. He explains to Lois that his family screwed over the Luthor’s back in the day before his family became really rich. He also reveals that the whole bit with him destroying Luthor’s valued statue, along with everyone that has been murdered, has manipulated by Luthor, including the assassination attempt on Jimmy. So now he’s pissed off Lex and Batman and now he’s signaling for Superman.

TALES FROM THE BLACK MULTIVERSE: BATMAN KNIGHTFALL #1 by Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins and Javi Fernandez. Tempus Fuginaut takes us to a world where Batman is broken by Azrael, who takes over the role in a cruel way. Although he has killed Batman he has been kept in some sort of life and visited once a year by Azrael. Later, Jason Todd frees him and starts an uprising along with the son of Bane. In the end, Azrael is defeated by a revitalized Bruce, who plans on using his pent-up anger to continue his fight.

TALES FROM THE BLACK MULTIVERSE: THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN #1 by Jeff Loveness and Brad Walker. Tempus Fuginaut takes us to a world where Superman dies, but The Eradicator gives Kryptonian energy to Lois. She proceeds to do what Superman could not, righting wrongs with a vengeance and killing Lex Luthor. She proceeds to Gotham where she kills The Joker and, after a confrontation, killing Batman. She then goes after Superboy and Steel. The Cyborg Superman arrives and he kills Superboy and Steel. The real Superman, miraculously reborn, arrives and is killed again, this time by the Cyborg Superman. Lois becomes The Eradicator; the Dark Avenging Angel of the Multiverse.

TEEN TITANS #35 by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. Roundhouse stole Djinn’s ring and explains how Robin’s fight with a bad guy some time back resulted in his sister’s death and his transformation, thus his wanting revenge. Robin says he can forgive Roundhouse and that just angers him and he traps Djinn in her ring. Crush loses it and beats on Roundhouse, before everyone notices Perpetua’s symbol in the sky.

THE TERRIFICS #21 by Gene Luen Yang and Stephen Segov. The team continues to make their way through the Eighties, crossing paths with the Rocket Red Squad along the way. In the end, Perpetua’s symbol lights the sky.

WONDER TWINS #8 by Mark Russell and Mike Norton. A high school reunion may result in the principal finally getting together with his lost love. Meanwhile, Polly tries a prison break which Jayna stops. In the end, she informs Polly that she believes her father is still alive.

WONDER WOMAN #80 by G. Willow Wilson, Jesus Merino and Tom Derenick. While everyone deals with the loss of love, Diana gets a package from Veronica Cale containing her scientist's formula. Diana battles Cheetah and splashes the formula on the God Killer. But her turns out Cale was in cahoots with Cheetah and the formula is ineffective. Cheetah has a demand: take her to Themyscira or everyone dies.

WONDER WOMAN #81 by G. Willow Wilson and Tom Derenick. Perpetua’s symbol has appeared, meaning Doom has won. Atlantiades convinces Steve to help Diana just before she becomes the new God of Love. She and Steve arrive at the battle between Cheetah and Wonder Woman, giving her armor and weapons to defeat Cheetah and destroy God Killer.  Atlantiades takes Cheetah to an eternal prison and, with love restored, all is well again...except for the relationship between Steve and Diana. Cheetah promises revenge on Cale before she is visited by a trio looking to free her from their prison.

WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #3 by Steve Orlando and V. Ken Marion. Twelve years ago, Wonder Woman saved Helen Paul from a group of terrorists who killed her parents. She grows up and becomes one of A.R.G.U.S.’ best, accompanying Steve and Diana in an adventure in Gorilla City to bring peace. In the present, Leviathan visits her and says her past was a lie by Diana. It seems her parents WERE the terrorists and A.R.G.U.S. killed them. Helen Paul is really descended from a group that had a feud with the Amazons. Helen Paul is actually Paula Van Gunther and she becomes the Warmaster.

YOUNG JUSTICE #9 by Brian Michael Bendis, Andre Lima Araujo and John Timms. In the past, Keli Quintela is a smart girl from Bolivia who discovered a gauntlet and backpack that turned her into Teen Lantern. In the now, the team still struggles to survive on Earth-3 before discovering a map of the Multiverse which may help to get them home.

DC UNIVERSE Month 24, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1016 by Brian Michael Bendis and Szymon Kudranski. While Superman was getting beat up by Red Cloud, he had an ally coming to save the day-Naomi. Red Cloud leaves and Superman takes Naomi back to her parents, where Batman is also there. In the end, Mr. Strong and Leone discuss Red Cloud's new powers thanks to Lex and Leone decides that it’s time to go to war.

AQUAMAN #53 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha and Eduardo Pansica. Someone has trashed the statues in Atlantis and that pisses Mera off. Aquaman speaks with Tristram Maurer, who tells his origin story. Aqualad reveals that Maurer is really the creature that killed Ralph. Maurer claims he is here because he was summoned. Later, Manta attacks, even as Mera and her followers have come to Amnesty Bay. Manta has been powered up by Luthor and plans on taking revenge.

AQUAMAN ANNUAL #2 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Vita Ayala and Victor Ibañez. The town is preparing for the annual Founder’s Day Festival. But first, Aqualad and Aquaman must fight a guy who calls himself Sea Daddy. The Festival grounds get trashed and Salty the dog disappears, leading to Aquaman having to search for him. In the process, Aquaman mistakes Loc for being a dog eater and accuses Atabey of being crazy because she thinks some market fish is rotten. In the end, Atabey was right and all Loc was trying to do was teach Salty to swim. The festival finally goes off, even though Perpetua’s symbol still lights the sky.

BATGIRL #40 by Cecil Castellucci and Carmine Digiandomenico. Burnside is in flames, Perpetua’s symbol lights the sky and the new Oracle is on the hunt. Frankie makes her way to Barbara’s apartment and fires up the old computer system, which acts as a beacon to Oracle. Oracle makes her way in, finds the Oracle back-up and begins to download it. Batgirl arrives and the two fight. The download is complete and Oracle is devastated, wondering how Barbara could do this to her. She threatens to kill Frankie, leading to Batgirl seemingly jumping to her death to save her.

BATMAN #80 by Tom King and John Romita Jr. Professor Pyg and Two-Face stop a man they accuse of breaking curfew but, even after pumping some bullets in him, the man doesn’t die. When he knocks out Two-Face, he reveals a bat symbol on his chest. Hugo Strange meets with Thomas Wayne, who declares that Batman has returned. Elsewhere, Mad Hatter is prepared to kill a stray cat when a long whip wraps around him. Later, Batman faces off with Kite Man and then Hush. Thomas meets with Gotham Girl, who is very sick. Ventriloquist tells Thomas that Bane wants Damian killed and he puts a gun to the kid’s head.

BATMAN #81 by Tom King and John Romita Jr. Thomas decides he can’t kill Damien because he is family. The rest of the Bat-Family shows up and beats on him. Huntress shoots an arrow at him, but he catches it and plunges it into Tim Drake’s chest. Thomas manages to beat down the family and then gets some tea, declaring he is The Batman. Batman and Catwoman beat down some more villains and head to Arkham, where Batman reveals he had an inside man. It turns out the Joker is really Clayface. In the end, Perpetua’s symbol lights the sky.

BATMAN ANNUAL #4 by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and Mike Norton. This annual features tales of Batman from Alfred’s diary.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #6 by Bryan Hill and Dexter Soy. Jefferson calls Bruce and tells him "mission accomplished". Elsewhere, Duke and Cass face Ishmael, who beats them down before heading off. They follow Ishmael, ending up in an underground bunker where Lady Shiva is waiting with the body of Karma.  Ishmael takes Duke away while Cass blames herself for everything.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS ANNUAL #1 by Bryan Hill and Max Raynor. Katana tells Jefferson of the evil demon Tsutomo who resides in Katana’s sword and is after revenge against Maseo. They meet with an old friend from her past who explains Katana must die to enter the sword and fight the demon. She performs seppuku and that sends her spirit into the Soultaker. While she battles Tsutomo, demon minions battle Black Lighting, who is protecting her body. She defeats the demon and revves just in time to save Jefferson.

BATMAN BEYOND #37 by Dan Jurgens and Sean Chen. Terry is still lost and confused, but it appears a new Batman has arrived. Or, more specifically, Batwoman/ Bruce and Matt know who it is…or do they? Is it Melanie Walker or Barbara Gordon? In the end, Blight is back.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #3 by Joshua Williamson and David Marquez. Superman has allowed himself to be poisoned with Joker Toxin to go undercover with the Batman Who Laughs. Although the Batman Who Laughs is aware that Superman is just a ploy and won’t reveal who the Secret Six are, he does reveal that Jim Gordon is infected. Batman goes after Gordon, who taunts Batman before unleashing his Bat Robot. Luckily Superman arrives and they take Gordon down. At the Fortress of Solitude, Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes shows up and shows that he is one of the Secret Six

BLACK ADAM YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1 by Paul Jenkins and Inaki Miranda. Shazam has been possessed and he’s gone to Kahndaq. Along the way, Shazam taunts Black Adam and threatens the people of Kahndaq, leading to a battle. Just when Black Adam seems defeated, he tricks Shazam and, through the power of the resident’s prayers, Shazam transforms back into Billy. In the end, Shazam flees and it shows Black Adam is all about his people.

CATWOMAN #16 by Joelle Jones. Catwoman is beaten and bloody at the Lazarus Pit, apparently at the hands of Raina Creel and her followers. We get transported several weeks after to a birthday party where she beats up some of Creel. Back in the past, before the Pit incident, she gets visited by Luthor with The Offer. At the Pit, Selina enters and it looks like she is reborn as her old self in her original costume. Over Villa Hermosa, Perpetua’s symbol appears.

DEATHSTROKE #48 by Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan. Deathstroke survived death because he was infected by Leprosy given to him by Raptor, which kicked his immune system into overdrive. He then took a job as a temp in a hospital and went off to take down the bad guys who caused the eventual death of a young boy, Now he’s back looking for his son, who accepted Luthor’s offer. He visits his daughter before ending up at his ex-wife’s house, where he kills her husband and breaks her arm. In the end, he tells her to get their son here, but then Perpetua’s symbol appears in the sky.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1013 by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Batman tracks down Mr. Freeze, but Freeze defeats him after a lengthy citywide battle. Batman brings the frozen women back to the Batcave while Freeze injects his wife with a drug that brings her back to life.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1014 by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Victor has brought Nora back to life and now she has the same malady as her husband. Bruce goes to Waynetech and meets with Lucius Fox. Suddenly, Freeze and Nora show up and freeze Bruce and Lucius to the ground. Victor used to work for Waynetech and left a purposely mislabeled compound there, which would allow Nora to exist without a suit. In the end, Nora gets to dance ballet again and now they prepare to change the world…with Perpetua’s help.

DIAL H FOR HERO #8 by Sam Humphries, Joe Quinnones and Paulina Ganucheau. Robby Reed was a hero, but even he couldn’t save his grandfather from death. So he travels to the Heroverse and discovers the Y-Dial. The Operator is nearing the end of his life and convinces Reed to use it to gain more power. In the process, he splits into two people-the Operator and Captain Thunderbolt. They fight at length before Reed bans him, leading him to Earth as a spirit who has managed to convince people to go after the H Dial. Now with one piece of the puzzle, he is poised to get the other parts and take over the Multiverse.

EVENT LEVIATHAN #5 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Lois meets with Elongated Man, Zatanna, Constantine, Harvey Bullock, Renee Montoya, and Deathstroke, with the group believing Sam Lane is Leviathan. She visits her father, who says he believes Leviathan is right. She kidnaps him from the hospital, taking him to a cold winter location. Superman, with an unconscious Plastic Man in tow, is confronted by Leviathan and it appears Manhunter is Leviathan. Talia arrives and bemoans the fact they she has to save the world.

THE FLASH #80 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. Flash battles Black Flash and loses badly. Back at A.R.G.U.S., Barry reads up on Zoloman and discovers he was an FBI profiler and his profile on The Clown said that he didn’t use guns. Hunter Zoloman has captured Steadfast and tries to convince him to give up the Still Force. Steadfast refuses, as he knows that the Black Flash will come for Hunter if he does. Barry arrives and is beaten by Hunter, but Steadfast uses his powers, which Zoloman absorbs. Zoloman transports Barry into the Forever Force, explaining he is looking to die at the hands of the Black Flash. Black Flash arrives and sinks his claws into Barry. At the ruins of Iron Heights, Wally and Avery encounter the Rogues.

THE FLASH #81 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. Zoloman and Black Flash fight, with Hunter revealing he is doing this defeat the aspects of death that has followed him. Barry explains that Eobard Thawne caused the events that destroyed Hunter’s future. Barry comes up with a plan to fix the force barrier and asks Hunter to help. Hunter sacrifices himself to the Force Barrier and repairs it. Black Flash attacks Barry, but with the Force Barrier repaired, the Speed Force grows stronger. At Iron Heights, Kid Flash and Avery are captured by the Rogues. At the Fash Museum, there is lightning and an explosion. In the rubble, Iris finds Avery and Kid Flash. In the sky, the symbol of Perpetua appears.

THE GREEN LANTERN #12 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. Hal faces off with the anti-matter version of himself. The Guardians try to help, even after being soundly defeated by Mr. Qwa. The anti-matter Sinestro shows up to help, but dies in the process. Hal destroys his evil twin and Chriselon is revealed to have been the Blackstar informant in disguise. At a key moment in the battle, Hal gets transported back to the Blackstars, where he is revealed to be the final piece of their Miracle Machine.

HARLEY QUINN #66 by Sam Humphries and Sami Basri. Harley is now the Angel of Retribution and that leads to a reunion with her dead mother, who tells her she must let her move on. This leads Harley to quit being the Angel of Retribution. Back at Coney Island, Harley gets back into reading her comics and sees a scene where she is with Booster Gold and the symbol of Perpetua appears.

HARLEY QUINN & POISON IVY #2 by Jody Houser and Adriana Melo. Harley and Ivy confront Woodrue, who learns that Ivy has had a power upgrade. They defeat Woodrue but all of Ivy’s plants are burned in the process. The duo hit the road and end up in the clutches of the Mad Hatter.

HAWKMAN #17 by Robert Venditti and Pat Olliffe. Hawkman battles Shadow Thief and his own shadow. He is severely beaten. But uses his mace to wound Shadow Thief. Everyone gets their shadows back and Hawkman prepares t kill Shadow Thief when Shade uses his power to stop him and transport him back to Earth. Once there, he is affected by anger and, as Per[etua’s symbol burns bright, Sky Tyrant lives again.

INFERIOR 5 #2 by Keith Giffen and Jeff Lemire. Lisa and Helen have made their way to Justin’s x-graffiti covered house. They explain to him that he’s Number Five when a monster named Angry Charlie/Billy arrives.  Angry Charlie is being controlled by Brother Power, The Geek.  Helen, who is a Durlan, transforms and fights Angry Charlie. Mid-battle, he is called away by the Dominators, being told that he is done for the day. Unknown to Justin, the attack has triggered his metagene, meaning the Dominators aren’t done with him or his mother yet. In the backup, The Peacemaker continues to think his helmet is talking to him. And  the KGBeast is stalking him.

THE JOKER YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1 by John Carpenter, Anthony Burch and Philip Tan. One of the Joker’s henchmen, Jeremy, becomes Robin as Joker plays Batman and they fight crime in Bane’s Gotham. In the end, Joler recreates his most famous moment by beating his Robin with a crowbar.

DC UNIVERSE Month 22, Part 2

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: MILLENIUM #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Jim Lee, Dustin Nguyen, Andrea Lima Araujo. In the future, Rose is talking with an older Supergirl, who is now President. Rose explains how Thorn, her alter-ego, killed her husband many years ago and is looking for help. She continues to live on without aging for over a thousand years. We see Thorn is battling bad guys and meets Batman Beyond, asking him if he is the original Batman. At another time after the Great Disaster, Rose/Thorn finds Superman’s suit and kills a tribal elder. Kamandi finds her and explains that the suit isn’t hers, although she claims it was her father’s suit. Still later on, she meets Tommy Tomorrow with desire to join the Planeteers. But she tells him that Thorn wants to kill him and that leads to Planeteers chasing her.

LEX LUTHOR YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1 by Jason Latour and Bryan Hitch. Lex heads off into the Multiverse to manipulate the Luthor’s of other Earths, beginning with Earth-38, where he kills his “father” and brings a younger version of himself on the journey. They eventually end up on Earth-47, where the younger Luthor uses the weapon they got on Earth-45 to kill the Earth-47 version of himself. In the end, Luthor has the boy in stasis and he is listed as Human DNA Back-up 1.0.

LOIS LANE #3 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. Lois meets with Superman, ho apologizes for his actions as of late. Elsewhere, The two Questions meet, each surprised as to who the other is. In the end, Lois comes home and surprises her son Jon in the shower!

NIGHTWING #64 by Dan Jurgens and Ronan Cliquet. Talon is in Bea’s bar and menacing her. Meanwhile, Ric brings Zak to the hospital for treatment. The rest of the team shows up and Ric gets a call from Bea telling him Talon is there. He races off to find her, encountering bad guys on the way, before fiding her captured on a rooftop. That’s when Takon arrives to say he’s bringing Ric back into the fold.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #38 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort. Bizarro and Artemis discover Faye Gunn in the bottle inside Jason’s apartment. Meanwhile, Jason and his team encounter Reizer/Doomed. He relates how he became Doomed and tries to tell them there are other monsters coming. That is when Monster Arm and his team show up. In the end, the bottle containing Gunn falls and breaks…and it looks like Pup-Pup is responsible. Elsewhere, Luthor tries to recruit Devour.

  

THE RIDDLER YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1 by Mark Russell and Scott Godlewski. The Riddler is miffed that he isn’t getting a gift from Luthor, so he teams up with King Tut to best the Batman and prove himself. That doesn’t go as planned and, when the going gets tough, he quits and walks away, leaving his trademark costume behind. Looks like it’s time for him to rebrand himself.

SHAZAM #7 by Geoff Johns, Dale Eaglesham and Scott Kolins. Eugene, Pedro and The Wizard Shazam are in The Wonderlands with White Rabbit and are in search of Alice. Freddy and Darla are trapped in The Wildlands, where they have been ordered to be killed by tigers. But Tawmy intervenes and helps them make their escape. In the process, they end up falling into The Darklands. Meanwhile, Mary tells her adopted parents their secrets and Billy shows up. After changing into Shazam, he ends up going back to the Rock of Eternity, where Sivana manages to get him into The Darklands. He busts out of his grave and meets with the ghost of the wizard, who explains there is a traitor in their midst. Shazam also sees a tombstone that says “Here Lies Captain Marvel.”

SUPERGIRL #34 by Marc Andreyko and Eduardo Pansica. Luthor tells Brainiac-1 to take all of the information hidden inside the Fortress of Solitude and use to become the real Brainiac, to which he agrees. Supergirl heads to the Black Site and meets up with Dr. Veritas, with Supergirl saying she’s tracking down Leviathan, who was responsible for her adopted parents disappearing. Veritas uses her computer to track Eliza, who is at the Allegeny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Kara opens a body bag to find Eliza’s dead body and her cybernetic hand. She is ambushed by Leviathan’s men, who try to subdue her with Krytonite batons. Just before she passes out, she is saved by a masked man who turns out to be Jeremiah Danvers.

SUPERMAN #15 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado. Superboy declares today as Unity Day before the Legion heads back to the 31^st Century. Adam Strange arrives and tells Superman that Jor-El has been arrested. The council decides that Jor-El needs to go back to his place in the original time stream, which means he dies with Krypton. Zod says he is ready to make reparations and the Super Family heads back to Earth.

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #3 by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber. In the past Joachim Olsson is prepared to get revenge on Luthais Alexanderis about to have his revenge on the man who tried to kill him. Luthor is looking into family mysteries. Jimmy has issues of when he was Turtle Boy. But the world thinks Jimmy is dead, thanks to the help of Metamorpho and a decoy body. Jimmy helps to bury the body, along with his signal watch, before becoming Timmy Olsen. Lois tracks down Jimmy and he asks how hard it would be to take down Lex.

TEEN TITANS #34 by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. D’Jinn interrupts a conversation between Robin and Kid Flash and declares that someone stole her ring, which leads Robin onto a series of interrogations. In the end, D’Jinn takes down Red Arrow and we find that Roundhouse has the ring and is controlling D’Jinn.

THE TERRIFICS #20 by Gene Luen Yang and Max Raynor. The Terrfics battle The Terribles before Bizarro uses the time machine to transport everyone. The Terrifics end up in the Eightes, where they battle Figment Girl, who has commandeered their minds. Breaking free, they commandeer a giant Eighties robot. In the Sixties, The Terribles see hippies, before Bizarro goes home to see his son…or is it a younger version of Bizarro?

WONDER TWINS #7 by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne. The Twins are made tour guides for the Hall of Justice. Meanwhile, villain Repulso gets early release to help battle crime. Word comes that a meteor is coming and the Twins team up with Repulso to quell the riots in the street.

WONDER WOMAN #78 by G. Willow Wilson and Tom Derenick. Diana battles an upgraded Cheetah and gets beaten down before being saved by Steve Trevor and Atlantiades. She meets with Etta and the Veronica who removes a sliver from the magic sword out of Diana;s body. Hopefully she can reverse engineer something from the sliver. But love is dead and the world is going crazy…with Cheetah’s help.

WONDER WOMAN #79 by G. Willow Wilson and Scott Eaton. Diana battles and defeats Cheetah, with Veronica’s help. Maggie meets with Atlantiades and maybe Atlantiades will follow in her mother’s footsteps. Love is dead and because of that, Steve breaks up with Diana.

YOUNG JUSTICE #8 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Timms. The team finds themselves on Earth 3 where they battle this Earth’s version of Young Justice: Amaxon Thunder, Luthor-El, Drake, Speed Zone, Hack and Hex. Red Robin is battling this version of him when The Batwoman, this Earth’s Stephanie, saves him. In the end, Jinny Hex meets her counterpart, who shoots her.