DC UNIVERSE Month 14, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1006 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ryan Sook. The Mayor has shut down the investigation of the mysterious fires and Clark Kent is on the case to find out why. What he finds out is the Mayor thinks there is a leak in the fire department and he wants someone to take care of Fire Chief Melody Moore. No sooner does that happen then Red Cloud shows up to threaten Moore. Luckily Superman comes to her rescue. Following this, Robinson Moore meets with the woman in charge known as Leone and is told that Leone just bought the Daily Planet. And she also has the car the Superman destroyed on the cover of the legendary ACTION COMICS #1.

ACTION COMICS #1007 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Epting. Jimmy goes on a date with a girl named Ella and ends up at meeting of the Kobra cult. Taking pictures of the event, Jimmy is chased out and hunted, only to be saved by a huge ball of energy in the sky which destroys the building and, presumably, everyone in it. He later tries to explain his situation to Clark, but he runs off to suddenly save a falling Amanda Waller. The same ball of energy arrives and Superman saves as many people as possible, with Waller disappearing from the area in the process. Meanwhile, Lois meets with her father and reveals that her husband is Superman.

ADVENTURES OF THE SUPER SONS #6 by Peter J. Tomasi and Scott Godlewski. On a distant planet, Superboy and Robin meet a cute space monkey named Hukka. Later Rex shows up and threatens to kill Hukka unless the boys surrender to him. His plan is to use the Hypercube to team up with the Legion of Super Villains to wipe out all the heroes of Earth. Tommy Tomorrow shows up to save the day but sees the boys as bad guys so he takes them to the prison planet of Takron-Galtos.

AQUAMAN #44 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha. Wee tells Aquaman that he needs to take Caille back to her mother on another island. Aquaman meets with Caille and tries to convince her to join him. That night, the town’s elders meet on the beach and, during a ritual, it is revealed they are incarnations of ancient water gods. Aquaman and Caille show up and, after he throws a log in the fire, the gods manifest themselves and grab Aquaman by the throat, tossing him in the water to prove he can breathe underwater. Meanwhile, the search is on for a proper suitor for Mera.

BATGIRL #30 by Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier. Jason Bard and his cronies disguise themselves to start a riot during a rally for Gotham City congressional candidate Luciana Alejo. Batgirl arrives to keep the peace, even as Commissioner Gordon refers to her as a vigilante. Bard and company run off, but he gets caught by Batgirl, who pepper sprays her and escapes. The next day, Barbara shows up to volunteer for Alejo’s campaign, she finds Bard already there, warning that Alejo should be concerned about a bad guy named the Cormorant. Also, tensions rise between Barbara and her dad, which leads to her storming out.

BATGIRL #31 by Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier. While still working on the Alejo campaign, she still can’t believe that Jason Bard is the head of security, as she believes that Bard is Cormorant. There is a fundraiser that night and Barbara convinces the staff to let her attend, but she only shows up as Batgirl. Edward Wells, the man we are led to believe is Cormorant, arrives and the two battle. Later, she breaks into Branson Moore’s office to find Wells attacking Moore. Moore reveals that he didn’t hire Cormorant and that all of this has to do with possibly shutting down Blackgate and building a bigger, newer prison. In the end, there is a broadcast set with Alejo at Gotham Broadcast News. Bard is there and steps into an elevator with a cleaning man, who turns out to be Wells.

BATMAN #62 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Batman has been captured by Professor Pyg and is subject to torture and drug induced nightmares. The question is: what is false and what is real?

BATMAN #63 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. John Constantine narrates this dream sequence where Batman has married Selina and seemingly is going to live happily ever after. But John warns him that Selina will die and she does. Is this foreshadowing of what could have happened or is this just another nightmare in the life of Bruce Wayne.

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #2 by Scott Snyder and Jock. Batman is desperately trying to save The Joker’s life, despite Alfred’s warnings. Batman is also undergoing treatment for his exposure to Joker Toxin. Meanwhile, Gotham is being filled with dead Bruce Waynes, seemingly from other worlds of the Multiverse. After disguising himself as Harvey Bullock, Batman heads over to Wayne Tower, where the Batman Who Laughs has made his way inside and sets off an explosion there. Later, Batman revives The Joker, demanding answers to The Batman Who Laughs plan. In the end, Commissioner Gordon seeks help from an unlikely source: his son.

BATMAN BEYOND #27 by Dan Jurgens and Brett Booth. After the massive explosion last issue at the Wayne Family Center of Tomorrow., The Joker has renamed The Jokerz as the Throwbacks and continues his plans of destruction. Despite all of this, Terry takes time to go out on a date with Ten. Robin calls him away and the pair go off to battle The Throwbacks. But there is a big surprise: Joker has converted one of his followers into a cyborg.

BATMAN BEYOND #28 by Dan Jurgens and Brett Booth. Batman and Robin continue to battle with the cyborg Joker, leading to Robin crashing elsewhere and being captured by The Joker. With the help of Dick Grayson, flying the Batplane, Batman defeats the cyborg but learns that Joker has captured Robin and is giving him a choice: watch Robin die or reveal who the “Bruce” Batman has been talking to really is.

CATWOMAN #7 by Joelle Jones and Fernando Blanco. Selina is in a jewelry store checking out some gems. Meanwhile, Penguin is in Villa Hermosa, where he kills his cab driver. Raina is waiting to see a doctor, as her looks have totally faded and she needs treatment ASAP. Selina heads out and witnesses an explosion on the Villa Hermosa pier before heading to a location where she meets with The Penguin.

THE CURSE OF BRIMSTONE #10 by Justin Jordan and Eduardo Pansica. After a flashback to Joe and Annie as children, we come to the present where Annie is with the Jack, who it is revealed has been watching her since the diner in issue #1. He once made a deal with one of The Salesman’s servants, killed him and has been masquerading as a helper ever since, creating carnage everywhere he has been. Razorjane, a woman who had been transformed by The Salesman arrives and, after a brief fight, begs to be saved. Brimstone arrives to save Annie while Jack kills Razorjane. Jack leaves to continue on his journey. Meanwhile, The Salesman and his followers are off to kill The Chamberlains.

THE CURSE OF BRIMSTONE ANNUAL #1 by Justin Jordan, Mike Perkins, Neil Edwards and Denys Cowans. Joe and Annie pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be John Constantine. They, along with Swamp Ting, battle the Gods of Carnage, resulting in Swamp Thing being killed. In the second tale, there is the origin of Enoch from issue #4 and how, after a deal with The Salesman, he became the creature known as Detritus, before having to kill his brother who became possessed by the creature. In the third tale, Jack’s origin is revealed: a salesman who made a deal with a minion of The Salesman, killed him and has been doing The Salesman’s killing ever since, because he enjoys it.

DAMAGE #13 by Robert Venditti and Aaron Lopresti. Ethan finds himself in the Hall of Justice, where Batman is giving him a tour and he is going all fanboy about meeting some members. But this turns out to be a ruse as he is actually on an aircraft. This causes him to turn into Damage and battle the Dark Knight. Batman eventually opens the hatch and that leads to Damage being dropped on Dinosaur Island. This is bad news because he has less than an hour to get out of there before he turns back to Ethan.

DEATHSTROKE #39 by Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan and Fernando Pasarin. Deathstroke and a team of heroes and villains are battling Devon and his team. But this is all a flashback that Devon is explaining happened when he and Slade were Zeta Beam transported out of Arkham. He also explains that the Justice League was informed of an alien invasion and they disregarded it. It happened weeks ago but only lasted for a few minutes in Earth time. Meanwhile, Slade is still in Arkham and Hugo Strange has tortured him and his therapist. Joe jumps into Grundy’s body and, in the process, Candace gets accidentally killed by Slade. Devon shows up to free Slade and son so they can stop the alien invasion. Meanwhile, Rose continues on her journey to solve the Willow issue.

DETECTIVE COMICS #995 by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Batman races a Jokerized Leslie back to the Batcave, where the anti-toxin isn’t working and she dies. “Commissioner Gordon” arrives at the Mansion, where Alfred opens the door and gets stabbed in the chest by someone dressed as Zorro. Damian arrives to repair Alfred's punctured lung while Batman heads to Arkham where he meets with many of his Rogue’s Gallery, just as the lights go out. Be afraid, villains-be afraid.

DETECTIVE COMICS #996 by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Batman has beat up the Rogue’s Gallery and heads to the Batcave to check on Alfred. Batman deduces that someone who knows his true identity and believes it is not Ra's Al Ghul, but Henri Ducard. Ducard has an axe to grind because Damian as responsible for killing his son organ, who was the villain Nobody. He finds Ducard and, after a tussle, they talk, up until the creature from a few issues back arrives. Ducard gets captured by the creature, which is morphing into various villains, and he uses a grenade to kill the creature and himself. Batman goes to the Temple of Kirigi, where Batman had some of his training, and finds that the students there have been killed. After a fight with the lone surviving student, Batman meets with his sensei and learns the creature killed everyone. Batman goes to New Mexico where he finds an imprisoned Thaddeus Brown: the first Mister Miracle. Informing him it’s a trap, the ground explodes and the pair are gone.

DETECTIVE COMICS #997 by Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Batman and Thaddeus find themselves trapped underwater surrounded by sharks. They struggle to get free, with Batman taking a bite out of a shark, which attracts the piranhas that have entered the pool to chew away at Batman’s restraints. They free themselves and Batman gets attracted by a demon version of himself and members of the Batman family. He manages to defeat them all, complete with throwing the fake Batman into the water with the piranhas. He tells Brown this is a solo mission and leaves. In the end, Hugo Strange suffers an explosion that destroys his lab, just as Batman arrives.

THE FLASH #61 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. The Flash and Fuerza are battling the Sage Force Goblins, even at Cauldron threatens Fuerza’s family. Fuerza finally uses her gravity powers along with The Flash using the Speed Force to destroy the Sage Force Goblins. The bad guys split, but Fuerza catches Cauldron and destroys the Sage Force gun, but the Strength Force reacts to Fuerza’s anger and transforms her into a monster. It takes Fuerza’s mother to calm her down, Cauldron is arrested and Iris uses the gun to search for the Sage Force. Commander Cold, who is spending some quality time with Detective Burns, gets contacted by Barry and reveals that the Sage Force is in Zandia. Barry and Iris dress as villains to blend into a crowd of bad guys, but got met by a “big fan”, who reveals he has the power to read everyone’s fears and knows Barry is The Flash.

THE FLASH #62 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. The “big fan” says his name is Psych, he is an agent of A.R.G.E.N.T. and he is after Roulette, who has built a casino in Zandia. Psych, whose real name is Bashir, explains that he nearly burned his home down when he got his powers and A.R.G.U.S. saved him and enlisted him. With the trio blending with the crowd, Psych reveals Barry is the Flash, leading to a big brawl. Fleeing the casino, Flash confronts Psych who blames Iris, before surrendering. But this ruse leads to him incapacitating Barry and Iris. Psych was hired by Gemini to capture the Flash, but they turn on Psych and begin draining Flash and Psych of their powers.

THE FLASH #63 by and Minkyu Jung. Iris saves Flash and Psych from the power stealing Gemini, but that isn’t enough for Pysch, who uses his power to sap Santiago’s power and his life. Psych reveals that the four forces are constantly fighting to gain control of the Forever Force and that everything he has been told is a lie. He flees leaving Flash and Iris with Belladonna and her dead lover. Later, she reveals that Flash’ monkey friend told them everything about the various forces. Flash and Iris head back to Gorilla City, where it is revealed that Hunter Zolomon is on the Force Quest too, which is why Flash was lied to. He brings Iris back home and, after running into Booster Gold, heads to Sanctuary, where he finds Wally’s body.

THE FLASH ANNUAL #2 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. Following the discovery of Wally’s body, Flash loses it and heads into the Speed Force, where he is attacked by Godspeed. Flash chases him to Iron Heights, where Wallace and Avery are meeting with Meena. Godspeed attacks everyone before revealing that Wally is dead, which devastates Wallace. Flash takes out his anger on Godspeed before being knocked for a loop because of a special gauntlet from a former speedster. Impulse appears and attacks Godspeed, before running off with Impulse in pursuit, as he wants to find what has happened to his speed family. Barry returns to Iris and tells her the bad news, which breaks her heart. In the end, August meets with a mysterious person who thanks him for betraying Barry, as this fits into his plan to destroy the Flash for what he did to his family.

GREEN ARROW #48 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Javier Fernandez. Count Vertigo breaks out of jail and wants revenge on the person who put him in jail-Roy Harper. Only problem is Roy is dead.

THE GREEN LANTERN #3 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. Earth hasn’t disappeared, it has just been shrunk so it can be sold by a Dhorian slaver. He eventually hands it over to a being called The Shepherd. The Green Lanterns attack the Blackstars, eventually taking them down. Hal goes after The Shepherd, who claims he is a peaceful collector of planets, giving everyone super powers. He is revealed to be a giant insect who has evil plans for everyone. Hal knocks out The Shepherd, tapes off Earth as a crime scene and goes after the Dhorian slaver. Hal kills him with construct spikes and hen claims it was self defense.

HARLEY QUINN #57 by Sam Humphries and John Timms. Harley is hanging out in Coney Island when she meets a Tamaran named Mirand’r, who informs Harley that she has been chosen to undergo some cosmic trials. Meanwhile, Batman and Commissioner Gordon discus finding a corpse with a Joker grin and immediately deduce Harley is responsible. Harley goes to visit her mom at the hospital, where she is asked to leave as she is a criminal. Later on, Batman shows up at her apartment and the two fight, until he makes her feel bad for being a criminal and gives him a hug. He cuffs her and takes her away. Meanwhile, the Joker grinning corpse wakes in the morgue, revealing that Harley and Batman are falling into his trap.

HAWKMAN #8 by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch. Hawkman meets with Catar-Ol, his Kryptonian version of himself from an earlier time. Hawkman explains everything there is to know about the survivors of Krypton: Superman and Supergirl. As Krypton is destroyed, Catar-Ol tells Hawkman that he must be the weapon. Hopefully he can be, as the Deathbringers have arrived in Earth space.

HEROES IN CRISIS #4 by Tom King and Clay Mann. Flash and Batman continue their investigation of Sanctuary, with the pair disagreeing as to who was responsible: Harley or Booster Gold. Meanwhile, Booster is interrogated by Wonder Woman and the Lasso of Truth seems to reveal that he is innocent. He later meets with Blue Beetle, who breaks him out of the Hall of Justice, and, in the Beetle ship, they go off together. Harley meets with Batgirl, who they brawl and then become a team. Superman meets with Batman and reveals that, despite Batman denying it, says there are videos of hero confessions from Sanctuary and that Lois has published her article about them.

HEROES IN CRISIS #5 by Tom King and Clay Mann. Batman examines Skeets and comes away believing that Skeets has no idea where Booster is. Batgirl decides this isn’t good enough and she interrogates Skeets, with Harley and her mallet as backup. Superman gives a press conference, where he reveals the existence of Sanctuary and what has happened there, which is sure to continue to feed the world’s distrust of heroes. Meanwhile, Booster and Blue Beetle come up with a plan, which is to break into Flash’ lab and examine Wally’s corpse. They discover that, because Booster has the ability, this corpse is from five days in the future.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #15 by James Tynion, Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung. Starman has awoken and is releasing his nuclear energy. Meanwhile, Savage Hawkman is about to kill Kendra when it is revealed to be a Thanagar trooper and this is all an illusion placed in their minds by Martian Manhunter. John Stewart, Kendra and J’onn J’onzz head to the Thanagar Prime vaults to find the Martian Keep, but get stopped by the Green Lantern Corps. Martian Manhunter slips free and meets with the Martian Keep, who is hooked up to a machine called the Absorbascon, which has created an entire lie of the planet, built from memories. Back on Earth, Starman reveals he can see the doings on Thanagar and that the League members there are about to learn the story of Perpetua.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #16 by James Tynion, Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung. J’onn learns that the Guardians hid a secret here which involved Perpetua. Her army was made from followers made from a fusion of human and Martian DNA. Humans got involved in reengineering Perpetua’s followers and made use of J’onn’s DNA as a child, explaining why he has seen visions of himself as a child in a cage. It is also revealed that the symbols on the “doorknob” represent justice and doom. The Martian Keep dies and Shayera tries to keep everything as it was, but fails and it all disintegrates, including the Savage Hawkman. The Trinity, along with Starman, arrive and Starman uses his energy to pull a piece of Shiera Hall out of Shayera and give it back to Kendra. He reveals that Shayera will help her people rebuild and it is now Kendra’s destiny to repair the Source Wall.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL #1 by James Tynion, Scott Snyder and Daniel Sampere.

Justice League heads off to the Source Wall, where they plan on taking the surviving Omega Titans, along with Hawkgirl, and putting them back on the Wall, to keep the Multiverse from collapsing. Just as things look to be finalized, complete with Hawkgirl’s sacrifice, Brainiac arrives. He tells Luthor that the League has two of the keys to Totality and they need to direct those to Perpetua. Despite the best efforts of The Justice League, the New Gods and the Green Lantern Corps, the Source Wall breaks apart. Because of this, Apokolips and New genesis disappear, the Guardians reveal that the Multiverse will die in a matter of months, and Luthor and Brainiac are prepared for Perpetua to live again.