ABSOLUTE BATMAN #3 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. In a flashback, Selina leads Bruce around Gotham, teaching him how to conquer his fear of heights. The pair eventually end up in a movie theater where Selina has arranged a screening of ZORRO, later being joined by their friends. In the present, the monstrous Batmobile, with Alfred atop it, races through Gotham while being pursued by the Party Animals. Alfred explains that he has been pursuing Roman Sionis who he believes is Black Mask and the leader of the Party Animals. He convinces Batman to take Black Mask’s deal to allow them both to investigate. Later, former Mayor Hill brings Chief Bullock to a meeting with Roman that would get Gotham Police vehicles and weapons to fight the Party Animals. Meanwhile, Bruce meets with Edward who has his own A.I. version of himself he has named Al, asking about how the masks on the Party Animals work. Edward calls Harvey, who reveals that Black Mask is funded by various criminals and cartels. It is also revealed that the newest project is called Ark M. and is a private prison.. With his mother taking the job of Deputy Mayor behind Mayor Gordon, Bruce accepts Black Mask’s offer.
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #2 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. Six years ago, a young Kal-El is being criticized by his teacher for writing his own report instead of using the AI connected to the Science Leagues’ storehouse. In the present, Lois has handcuffed herself to Kal-El as he is surrounded by Peacemakers and Lazarus Corp soldiers. Kal’s suit, named Sol, uses a plasma tentacle to try to undo the cuffs while the soldiers decide to open fire, sacrificing Lois if needed. Sol unleashes something like a cape made of Kryptonian dust to shield Kal and Lois. Kal and Lois flee, eventually being shot down by a helitank, causing them to crash into a village church. As kal tends to the wounded with the Kryptonian dust, Lois observes, with him finally starting to tell her where he is from, just as the cuffs unlock and he flies away. Later, Lois writes her after action report and becomes frustrated how the Brainiac AI interpreted it. In the end, in a flashback, we see Kal’s parents inventing Sol. Finally, the Peacemakers massacre the villagers who Kal had just saved.
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #3 by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman. In the past, Diana teaches Steve how to defend against the hydra, telling the creature to choose peace so it can live. After he tells her about his home, she finds a spell in one of her mother’s books; a spell calling for a sacrifice. Later, she tells her mother that Steve’s appearance was a test and she has sacrificed by cutting off her right arm; the dominant arm of a warrior. In the present, Diana tells the troops that the Tetracide is resistant to magic and that it kills in four ways: death of fear, of mind, of body, and of soul. She orders them all to leave before they are killed. Steve wants to stay. Diana goes up against the Tetracide and fails to defeat it, losing the arm that she had replaced with with one created by magic. She replaces it with a metal arm and she again implores everyone to leave or be devoured. She runs into a woman named Barbara Minerva, instructing her to hide out with Steve and the others. Barbara refers to Diana as Wonder Woman, identifying Diana as an Amazon. Commandeering a television news broadcast, Diana tells the television audience she will be casting a spell to make them all deaf to protect them from the Tertacide.
ACTION COMICS #1078 by Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, Clayton Henry and Skylar Patridge. An alien ship is falling to earth and threatens to kill millions. The Super Family struggles to keep it in the air and do, but they find themselves falling to the ground only to be saved by the returning Kal-El. Later, mister Terrific informs them that there is something inside the sun that is causing the energy to be pulled from the sun. Superman, even in his weakened state, decides he is the only one who can enter the sun, so Nat and Mister Terrific set about to build him a super suit. Kal-El decides that, to save lives, he will empty the Phantom Zone, which causes the ire of the head of Kandor’s Science Council who threatens to permanently exile him from Kandor if he does that. With the decision made, along with the Super Suit, he heads into the sun, only to find out that the Phantom Zone criminals have been free and at full power because of the yellow sun. In the backup, 8912 puts Supergirl to sleep and seizes control of the ship but Power Girl, back on Earth, senses it and uses her telepathy to pull her friend out of it. 8912 crashes the ship in an effort to commit suicide and then tries to get Supergirl to kill her. Supergirl asks who her brother is and she replies that he is ”death for all”.
ACTION COMICS #1079 by Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, Michael Shelfer, and Skylar Patridge. The freed Phantom Zone prisoners begin to rampage across Earth and the Super-Family, along with Justice League Unlimited, fight against them but find the only people able to slow them down are magic users. Batman orders Firestorm to start transforming Kryptonite but he does not know how. Two days later, Superman awakes in a lead mine in India with Jimmy and Mon-El. Mon-El explains the prisoners overpowered him when they escaped. They also attacked the Fortress and destroyed the Phantom Zone Projector. He also says he repurposed Aethyr’s sphere which allowed him to be both solid and phantom at the same time. Superman suggests getting Gold K but Mon-El reveals the prisoners already have it. The combined teams finally round up the prisoners and Firestorm outfits them with Kryptonite gauntlets. Those prisoners who took the Fortress get hit with Red K light and they are detained there. Despite this, some of the most dangerous Zoners are still on the loose and they are attacking places all across the galaxy. In the backup, Supergirl attacks 8912’s brother but he is too strong for her. He attempts to take over 8912’s mind but Supergirl manages to get her free of his control. Supergirl attacks him and, even though he says she cannot defeat him alone, 8912 and Power Girl add their psychic abilities to her own.
ACTION COMICS #1080 by Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, Clayton Henry and Skylar Patridge. The Super-Family, along with the JLU, use handheld Phanton Zone Projectors to recapture the prisoners. Supergirl brings Kandor back to the moon and asks for their help but she is turned down and she is threatened with permanent exile. She leaves but warns them that the Zoners will come and the Super Family won’t be there to stop them. On Braal, Superman and Mon-El battle Jax-Ur, who pulls out the containment vessel for Gold K. Mon-El blocks it but it damages the circuitry that is keeping him alive. Superman sends Jax-Ur back into the Zone and he insists Mon-El also goes back but he refuses. Meanwhile, Xa-Du climbs out of the rift he was in on Rann and swears revenge on Superman. In the backup, 8912 becomes one with Supergirl with 8912’s brother saying they will fail. Supergirl realizes that 8912’s brother is an alternate personality of herself. He hits Supergirl and splits she and 8912 apart. Supergirl tells her that if they are truly one, she can control him. She grabs him and begins to reabsorb him.
ACTION COMICS #1081 by Mark Waid, Mariko Tamaki, Clayton Henry and Skylar Patridge. As the Super team figures how to fight against the Zone criminals, Mon-El insists on staying to fight, even as the lead poisoning eats away at him. Superman explains that although sending him back to the Phantom Zone feels more like a punishment, he promises to never stop fighting to find a cure for him. The Zone criminals arrive and overpower the Superman Family, waking up on an orbital platform that, when the criminals use their heat vision, will mimic the detonation of Krypton and they will all be transformed into beings of Kryptonite. A dimensional rift opens and a second Xa-Du appears, tossing the first one onto the platform and causing him to transform back into Martian Manhunter. The super team gets free and Superman fights with the real Xa-Du and the super team fire their heat vision at the platform, revealing it to be a Phantom Zone Projector that sends all the villains back where they came from. Back to the Fortress, Supergirl convinces the Science Council of Kandor to allow the possibility of parole to reformed inmates and also to allow Mon-El to be the warden. In the backup, 8912’s two personalities have merged, meaning she has killed and saved them at the same time. She rebuilds the courthouse and appoints the bailiff as the new judge, where he sentences 8912 to learn everything about the wrolds she destroyed. Supergirl reports to the Thanagar outpost, returning the contact lens she was given to erase people’s memories..
BATGIRL #2 by Tate Brombal and Takeshi Miyazawa. Batgirl and her mother continue to fight enemies, eventually escaping into the alleys of Gotham. Cass wants to call on the Batman Family but Lady Shiva convinces her to hold off for one more night. They go to the kitchen of Ba Bao seeking medical help. After a conversation with Ba Bao, Shiva reveals the history of the Unseen; how they gain their powers from a special blue flower. More ninjas arrive led by their blind leader Kalden the Unseen. Cass’s skills are useless and they are again forced to flee, leaving Ba Bao and her family at the mercy of Kalden.
BATMAN #155 by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico. In a flashback that began thirteen weeks ago, Gordon, not working with Bullock in their detective agency, is asked to check on a woman’s cheating husband. The woman is Koyuki Nakano and her husband is the mayor. Three weeks late and Gordon says he can find no evidence of her husband’s infidelity. Two weeks later, the pair are attacked by kidnappers, who Jim fends off. They share a kiss and the affair begins. On the night of the murder, Gordon arrives at the Nakano home to take her to Metropolis so they can start a new life. Mayor Nakano is waiting for him. They argue and Gordon pulls his gun. Now, Gordon is being held and Bullock tells Batman he has enough evidence to arrest Gordon. Meanwhile, Bruce attempts to meet his half-brother but is stopped by Leonid Kull. While he is being beaten by security, he places a tracker on Kull’s shoe. At the same time, Nygma informs Birkemow that he plans to buy out Wayne Enterprises and take NygmaTech global. In the end, Batman discovers that Jim Gordon is the killer thanks to an app based on Mad Hatter tech that was developed by… NygmaTech.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #16 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Javi Fernandez. The memento mystery deepens as a group of paranormal explorers are killed by spirits while investigating the ruins of Arkham. The Dynamic Duo investigate and discover that at least one of the victims has symptoms caused by a hallucinogen exactly like was used in the original Memento murders. Joining the investigation is Lieutenant Katherine Lautrec, who Bruce knows from his days in London investigating the original murders. That night, Batman and Lautrec meet up at Arkham to interview Jonathan Crane, interrogating him about what he knows about the murders and the hallucinogen known as the Gravedigger’s Poppy. Crane reveals he was somehow involved and memento is the Devil and he crossed the ocean to punish Batman. Just then, the guard clicks his weapon, revealing that he was tasked with killing Crane and, saying “memento mori” he sets off a bomb in the maintenance area that releases gas. That is followed by a stream of people led by Memento.
BATMAN/SANTA CLAUS: SILENT KNIGHT RETURNS #2 by Jeff Parker and Lukas Ketner. With Batman missing, there is chaos in Gotham which gets quelled by Robin, Zatanna and Klaus. This leads them to a solstice party at Wintersgate Mansion, where Klaus masquerades as Batman where Jason Blood tells the story of Sir Brian of Camelot, who apparently was lost in battle at the same castle Batman and the other heroes are at. Gentleman Ghost reveals this batman’s true guise and he tells all the gathered that he came back because the Monsterkind brought Sir Brian of Camelot, to life and he asks for their help in finding the realm. Felix Faust summons the Knight but he breaks free and appears to drain Jason Blood of his life force. In the mysterious realm, the heroes continue to fight their way towards the castle.
BATMAN/SANTA CLAUS: SILENT KNIGHT RETURNS #3 by Jeff Parker and Lukas Ketner. Klaus fights against the Knight and gets an assist from The Flash but he too is drained. The Knight flees and Klaus follows, telling Zatanna and the others to contact Ulah to find him. Zatanna casts a spell which preserves the heroes in amber. Later, Robin reaches out to Ulah which they notice a flicker in Jason’s eyes, causing Zatanna to have him brought outside where, as Mary Marvel, Metamorpho, and Robotman arrive, Jason transforms and breaks free. A portal opens and Ulah arrives, wondering where her husband is. In the other realm, the battle continues when the Knight arrives, followed by Klaus.
BATMAN/SANTA CLAUS: SILENT KNIGHT RETURNS #4 by Jeff Parker and Lukas Ketner In the other realm, the Knight stabs Klaus and escapes again. At the Mansion, Ulah arrives and fights with the heroes as she demands to known where Klaus is. Zatanna uses a spell to catch Ulah up and she reveals that he carries a crystal in his belt meaning she can track him and they head out through a portal. That is when one of Korgus’s creatures arrives and the new arrivals engage him in battle. The Demon also slays a multi-headed creature and Ulah is reunited with Klaus. Thunderheart asks about her father and Robin lies saying they came here before he answered their call. The combined team finally get into the castle and that is when a veritable horde of creatures arrives to attack.
BATMAN/SANTA CLAUS: SILENT KNIGHT RETURNS #5 by Jeff Parker and Lukas Ketner. The team finds themselves wracked by nightmares that make them feel lost and alone until Ulah’s backup in the form of yeti arrive. They manage to break free thanks to listening to Batman’s voice but Klaus tells Thunderheart that the death of her father is true, although he believes it can be reversed. En route, a giant flower appears and squirts water, leading to a giant frog oracle appearing and asking a question to be answered before they actually enter the Hollow Kingdom. Perched in front of the oracle is a box and the creature asks what is in the box. Batman deduces that the box is a gift and what is in it is what we put in it. Batman and Superman are the first to arrive and the Knight flees as the other teammates have turned the tide against the monsters they were facing. Jason Blood transforms into the Knight of the Hollow Kingdon with Metamorpho as his shield. This distraction allows the heroes to capture the Silent Knight and force him into the castle, destroying him but restoring all the people of the kingdom, along with bringing Wally back to life. Ulah invites them all to their home, where they feast and Klaus gives Superman and Batman gifts.
BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #34 by Mark Waid and Fran Galan. On Altos-9, the World’s Finest team fight against Galtar, who has used his Golden Eye to corrupt the citizens of Altos-9. He is defeated by Robin notes that eyes usually come in pairs. One year later, something causes Krypto and Ace the Bathound to freak out, leading to Jimmy becoming Elastic Lad and teaming up with Batgirl. What they discover is that Galtar has arrived with the other eye and is using it to corrupt the inmates at Arkham. He tries to subvert Jimmy and Batgirl when Superman, Batman and Robin arrive and Galtar tries to corrupt them too. But Ace grabs the Golden Eye and Jimmy uses his powers to subdue him.
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #20 by Ty Templeton, Dave Wielgosz, Hassan Otsmane-Elhou, Mivhael W. Conrad, Simone Di Meo, Monica Kubina, Nikola Cizmesija, Travis Mercer, Tom Derenick, and Christopher Mitten. Bat-Mite gets involved with Zatanna in a tale that is told in reverse and shows that he had been in her life longer than either know. In the second tale, Plastic Man faces off against Roulette while Diana deals with Guilborg. She gets her lasso back and turns into Wonder Woman but Plastic Man gets wrapped in it and reverts to plain old Eel O’Brien. Once they escape, he reverts back and tells his sordid past, where she tells him that, despite his past, he has done good. In the third tale, Onomatopoeia has to deal with contract hits but is also driven crazy by a maintenance man he is convinced is following him. In the fourth tale, Martian Manhunter fights to help Animal Girl break free from The Red. In the final tale, Bruce Wayne is driven crazy as he believes he finds himself filled with fear and anxiety when he believes his body is being covered in tattoos.
BIRDS OF PREY #16 by Kelly Thompson and Sami Basri. Cassandra is trapped underneath the Ninth Day Corporation and fights against a dog creature who was once a human named Bella, eventually making friends with the animal.by destroying the electric collar on his neck. The pair escape and that allows Cassandra to break into where another Amazon is being readied for experimentation. She frees the girl but gets gassed I the process but not before she can send out an emergency message to the other Birds. They Boom Tube their way into the Ninth Corporation and smell the gas. They fight against the already transformed Amazons and they defeat them, only to find that Cass has been transformed too.
BLACK CANARY: BEST OF THE BEST #2 by Tom King and Ryan Sook. In the distant past, Dinah watches her mother go off to fight crime. On this particular night, Dinah Lance comes back wounded, which Dinah sees, even as her father orders her back to bed. In recent past, Dinah’s mother puts her through a rigorous, almost torturous training regimen. While massaging Dinah after one of her workouts, her mother collapses to the floor. Once recovered and after she puts in a call to her mother’s doctor, her mother, suffering the effects of her cancer treatment, tells her daughter that she must win to show everyone who they are. In the present, with the start of Round Two, Lady Shiva again takes the upperhand, even as Dinah struggles to stay in the fight.
BLACK LIGHTNING #2 by Brandon Thomas and Fico Ossio. Anissa apparently developed powers after the Task Force VII Amazos were defeated. She tells her story to a robot councilor on the Watchtower while Black Lightning and Lightning deal with a continuing number of Meta outbreaks. The pair head to the Watchtower and Anissa demands to be taken home. Black Lightning gets called away by a Watchtower emergency and Lightning takes Anissa home, but brings her to meet their mother at Steelworks. While there, Volcana leads an attack on Steelworks, causing Lightning and Natasha Irons to suit up.
CATWOMAN #71 by Torunn Gronbekk and Marianna Ignazzi. A decade ago, Selina, as Evie, and Shota are stealing an item during a party. They had been tasked with it by Ivan Belov. In the present, Selina is still changing identities while also being hunted. And Ivan is having another of his parties while still dealing in solen merchandise. Selina makes her way into the party to gather intel but then gets caught and leaves, running into Tinsel’s partner. This leads to a rooftop battle with her, telling her partner to say who hired them or she would drop her to the ground below. He refuses and she does indeed drop her. She makes her way back into the gathering and sees Ivan dressed as a Roman emperor. She walks away from the gathering but is apprehended by someone who is surprised to see her, having heard that Evie was dead.
CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #1 by Christopher Cantwell and Sean Isaaske. After the events of the ALL-IN SPECIAL, where Darkseid was killed and the Absolute Universe was created, the Justice league Unlimited find themselves investigating abnormalities created by it. The Challengers have been treated as the B team, stuck with doing menial jobs including cleaning the septic tank. The team members, specifically Ace, are given their first assignments with Ace leading Superman to meet with Ms. Martian to investigate an unusual crystal formation. As Superman attempts to cut a fragment off the crystal, Ace is haunted by what his life could have been. With the sample cut loose, they return to the Watchtower, where Mister Terrific reveals that the anomalies may have also affected the Challengers themselves.
DC HORROR PRESENTS #2 by LaToya Morgan, Aaron Sagers, Tom Derenick, and Ryan Kelly. On Halloween night, two people dressed as Batman and Wonder Woman make their way to the set of Shadow crest. While there, they find a Scarface puppet but later discovers it has disappeared. Scarface attacks and beheads the man and it turns out that this was all the woman’s plan as she and the dummy find love. In the second story, a paranormal investigator is hired by The Penguin, who has been haunted by many of those thugs who have died in his employ. The investigator manages to bring the spirits to existence and Penguin apologizes to them. When the investigator leaves, the spirts leave with him but he knows they will return again someday.
DC HORROR PRESENTS #3 by Francesco Francavilla and Patrick Horvath. Batman investigates an incident at the former Pomona Botanical Observatory, where he finds numerous corpse that have been transformed into trees. Abby Arcane reveals herself and Batman is put to sleep. When he wakes and finally frees himself, he discovers that Abby has turned the world into a growth of trees. In the second story, Adam Strange returns to Rann after a mission and is told to decontaminate his boots, as they are covered in spores that could cause infect wherever he goes. It dawns on him that he went to Earth and had not decontaminated himself. Arriving back on Earth, he sees what hjis carelessness has done, as people have been mutated and killed by horrific worms in their brain. In the end, Justice League members, included a Superman who has been infected, want to ask Adam some questions.
DC HORROR PRESENTS CREATURE COMMANDOS #3 by David Dastmalchian and Jesus Hervas. Two years ago, Velcro goes after the Triumph Hill Church but is forced to witness Maggie, who he came to rescue, be murdered. In the present, he is told he will get time to visit Cruz Graham, the man responsible for the church and Maggie’s demise. Elsewhere, Wanda finds Mina’s lab and Mina tells how she gained her condition after a mission that led to her team dying but she was spared after Morgana LeFay cast a spell upon her. Meanwhile, brainiac continues to plan for his ultimate attack. In the end, Zatanna tries to figure out who Lucky is and that leads her to Sgt. Taylor’s grave.
DETECTIVE COMICS #1092 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. Kai, the boy Robin rescued and hid away at the end of last issue, is murdered by the female who has been killing many of Gotham’s youth, which causes Robin to blame himself. While investigating the crime scene, the pair of heroes run into agents from an organization called LXR that has a mysterious symbol which seems tied to Sangraal. After a visit to the facility, Bruce takes Scarlett out to dinner which ends when they find themselves fighting off muggers. After they defeat the assailants, they share a kiss and later go to bed, where she sees his scars and suggests he is hiding something from her. He later meets with oracle and finds that Scarlett is somehow connected to the Faultless Juvenile Detention center.
THE FLASH #16 by Simon Spurrier and Vasco Georgiev. As the West family head towards the gap in the mysterious cloud, Linda suggests they should treat this adventure like a Role Playing game. Soon, they encounter Weather Wizard who suggests he and Wally fight while also sounding like a badly created Fantasy character, which leads Linda to realize this place is creating things from their ideas and they should share stories instead of fighting. Weather Wizard responds by creating a whirlwind and trapping he and Wally inside, where Weather Wizard saying that in this place, science is magic.. Irey tells Jai of her new powers and she admits that jai has changed too. Jai tells her he believes that the dog has actually been born from the Deep Change, even though Irey’s memories show that Foxy has been around through most of her father’s life. The dog releases some Speed Force energy that breaks Wally from whatever mind control he was under. Jai manages to transport he and his sister to the Watchtower where they see the duplicate of their father. Jai leaves his sister behind, telling her he will pick her up in an hour, despite the temporal time difference. He sees what is happening as Weather Wizard is about to stab Wally when he is hit with a magic crossbow by Warlord. As Warlord tries to comfort Jai, the boy sees darkness flowing out of Warlord’s eyepatch.
GREEN ARROW #19 by Chris Condon and Montos. The issue begins with a young girl becoming ill because of the polluted water. Meanwhile, Ollie, Detective Benitez and her dog Arrow discuss the case of the Fresh Water Killer, who has just killed Senator Foley. As they investigate, with tech guy hayes looking over every camera feed from the Senator’s place, Benitez takes Arrow for a walk and Ollie realizes the killer has never left. Then he sees her about to be attacked and springs into action, taking down the would-be assailant thanks to help from Arrow the dog. When they unmasked the person, it is a disfigured woman who says she is sorry for everything.
GREEN LANTERN #18 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. Dark Star has ordered his possessed Lanterns to attack the planet. Unable to defeat them, Hal sends the other Lanterns off to attack Dark Star directly. Kyle attacks Varron to keep him from absorbing the energy from the Source Lantern. But he is too late and when the Lantern explodes, Varron tosses Kyle away. Varron heads off to fight Dark Star for the right to rule the galaxy but they eventually team up to fight the Lanterns. Hal sees that Dark Star is drawing energy from a portal created to bring the Old Gods through and he plans to find a way to shove the villains through the portal and sealing them in it. Elsewhere, Kilowog is strangling Jessica but she is able to use her willpower to break him out of his possession. Kilowog and Jessica arrive in time to send the villains away. In the end, the Guardians return now changed by the fact hat anyone can use any color in the spectrum. Carol, as Star Sapphire, confronts and defeats an alien beast, leading her to once again feel whole. And the Sorrow Lantern is summoned by Starbreaker.
GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW: WORLD’S FINEST SPECIAL #1 by Jeremy Adams, Travis Mercer, and Lucas Meyer. In a tale set in 1980, Hal and Ollie set off on a cross-country road trip when they are suddenly attacked by a masked man with a rocket launcher. Hal gets shot but manages to fight back and allow them to escape. After being attacked a second time, they end up in a gas station somewhere on Route 66, taking refuge so Ollie can attempt to patch his friend up. Ollie calls for a jet and heads out to find the attacker. Hal wakes to find himself being cared for by Dinah and immediately heads out to find What he finds is Ollie in the midst of a fight with the would-be assassin, who is revealed to be Deathstroke and who is apparently auditioning to join the League of Assassins. The pair defeat him and flee, but Deathstroke is soon tasked with another mission involving The Flash. Hal joins him to protect him and they defeat Deathstroke, who is arrested. The group “arresting” Deathstroke is presumed to be from the League but the assassin reveals he knows they are actually from H.I.V.E. This gets continued into 1980’s NEW TEEN TITANS #2.
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