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.