DC UNIVERSE Month 86, Part 2

HARLEY & IVY: LIFE & CRIMES #3 by Erica Henderson. Inside of Ace Chemical, Harley and Ivy find a lot of dead bodies with Joker’s grins, not to mention a giant heart shaped from dead bodies. Harley seems to like what she sees as a romantic gesture. The Joker arrives and seems to want to go back to him. But it’s all a ruse and Ivy uses her powers to defeat him. Then the two women have a long romantic session of their own. And that is when the police arrive and Ivy tells Harley to run.

HARLEY QUINN #58 by Elliot Kalan and Carlos Olivares. Sheldon Marcisak is dead at Dolores’ hands. Either way, the residents of Throatcutter Hill are slowly rebuilding and that means Harley is ready to finally settle things with Althea Klang, who she wants to leave Throatcutter Hill, after which they can go out on a date. Before things can be settled, a zeppelin arrives and Colonel Blimp puts Klang in danger. He knows of a change in criminal leadership in Gotham, he has come here to seek refuge. But Guy Mandrake has also arrived, looking to kill Blimp, who begs for his life. Harley tasks Amygdala to stop Mandrake, but he can’t fly and falls to the ground. Mandrake fires a rocket by an armored Richie redirects it, blowing up Mandrake’s helicopter. With Mandrake dispatched and Blimp promising to behave, Harley and Althea prepare for their date.  

JSA #15 by Jeff Lemire and Gavin Guidry. At the Tower of Fate, those gathered debate if Jim Corrigan is ready or even worthy tpo be The Spectre. Meanwhile, Corrigan and Green Lantern leave The Flash to continue their investigation into Degroot’s murder when Johnny Thunder shows up, revealing he knows The Flash is Jay Garrick and also producing his genie. Elsewhere, Wonder Woman and The Atom team up to take down Cheetah. At Starco Headquarters, Hourman and Sandman confront Cyclotron, who quickly takes them down and captures them, where they find a metal skinned man chained to a wall. In the end, Dr. Fate visits Jim Corrigan and tells him that he needs to become The Spectre or it will mean the death of everyone.

JUSTICE LEAGUE RED #6 by Saladin Ahmed and Clayton Henry. The Crimson Cloud has repurposed Red Tornado, who is being used as Crimson Cloud’s CPU. The team is then forced to experience their worst, most traumatic moments but Red Canary finds the strength and attacks. While Simon and Kara continue to fight the Crimson Cloud, Cyborg, Red Canary and Deadman while they work up a plan. Ultimately, they want Canary to fire a pinpoint energy blast at Red Tornado to wake him, even though it may cost Canary her life. She unleashes her power, eliminates the Crimson Cloud and frees Red Tornado. Later, as Canary recuperates, Tornado tells the others he has plans to deactivate himself but is talked out of it. In the end, Canary muses that Justice League Red is over but Power Girl arrives and says that they are just getting started.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #15 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. There is a blackout affecting the Watchtower as the League continues evacuations. Blue beetle goes to check the possible cause of the blackout and finds a portal opening with Air Wave emerging. He explains how he was fighting Shadow Lass to liberate the Vanishing Point. Then a team is put together to help Kid Flash and his friends in Oklahoma who are battling the villains empowered by Neron.. Neron hits Kid Flash with a vision that if the souls of the people Neron has captured are taken from the jar he has them in, they will be stranded on this decimated Earth. Meanwhile, Terrific’s team continues through Hell, with this portion being nothing but ice and snow and a demonic creature that Superman Blue sacrifices himself to destroy it. God Hawk hears a person in danger in a black sea and becomes possessed by it. Doctor fate casts a spell that vanquishes Hawk but Future’s End Batman dies in the process. Terrific alone is allowed into Neron’s throne room with Owlwoman and Doctor Fate waiting outside. They are  attacked by demons with fate dying. Terrific offers Neron a new deal: end the deal with the supervillains and Terrific will be his agent. Although tempted, that position has already been filled…by Owlwoman.

NIGHTWING #134 by Dan Watters and V. Ken Marion. Stuck in the Fifth Dimension, Nightwing is forced to face off against The Zanni in a game where a tin can version of Bludhaven has been built. The Zanni tells Nightwing that each with throw a baseball and knock down the cans with the caveat being that if Nightwing can knock down more cans, he can save the children. But the cans in the Fifth Dimension are connected to buildings in the real Bludhaven, meaning the damage would translate into the real world. The Zanni throws first and building collapse, shocking Barbara and Martian Manhunter , who spring into action. The Zanni tasks the children to attack Nightwing but he eventually throws what turns out to be Nite-Mite, allowing Dick to defeat The Zanni. But the headless Colombina construct throws her head at the model city, destroying both the model Titans Tower and the real one; the same one where Nightwing Prime is.

POISON IVY #40 by G. Willow Wilson and Davide Gianfelice. Harley has returned to Gotham and leads her the Order to take down a company that has been covering up their impact on climate change from the American people, but allows herself to be captured in the process. She is brought to a meeting with Savage, asking him to let her stay in Gotham without fear of arrest and she will have her people not commit attacks within Gotham’s city limits. He introduces her to Marie Henley: his “crime prevention tech czar”. He needs Ivy’s help to figure how to solve the issue of their A.I. processors using so many natural resources, so not she is teamed up with Henley. After making threats to Ivy regarding Janet and Harley, Ivy snaps and kills Henley. Unfortunately, that moment is captured on a cell phone..

SUPERGIRL #9 by Sophie Campbell and Joe Qujinones. It’s New Years Eve and Linda, Lesla, and Luna go to a party at Clarissa Giltedge’s home. Luna mentions that she would like to try alcohol, leading to Luna spiking her drink with a distilled form of Periwinkle Kryptonite that causes Kryptonians to lose their inhibitions, so she can experience it. Unbeknownst to Linda when Luna begins acting weird, Linda takes a sip of the drink and is also under the effects of the drink. At midnight, Luna kisses Clarissa and Linda kisses the stranger she met a few issues prior. Luna gets out of control, even as she shrinks in size as a result of the drink, and Linda leaves and returns as Supergirl, forcibly detaining her friend. Even as she continues to shrink back to Kandorian size, the Science Council orders her to return to Kandor. Heartbroken, Kara returns her and Lesla-Lar has an uncomfortable encounter with Zora Vi-Lar, now calling herself Black Flame.

SUPERMAN #34 by Joshua Williamson and Eddy Barrows. In the past, Superman decides to deactivate his Superman robots because they lack his sense of self-sacrifice. In the present, Prime and Lois Lane use one of the robots to transport the hard drive with Darkseid’s information to the Watchtower. Prime and the robot go off to help civilians who turn out to be the Royal Flush Gang. Back in the Fortress, the Legion of Darkseid members destroy Kelex. At the Watchtower, Lois and Robot Superman discover a near death Time Trapper, explaining that Booster Gold was actually Darkseid in disguise and the heroes are quickly captured and tortured by Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy. The robot refuses to give any information and when the villains turn their attention to Lois, Prime prepares to unleash his full power on them.

SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #9 by Dan Slott and Mike Norton. At the Bronze Swan bar, Vicki Vale, Jack Ryder, Steve Lombard talking about recent freak accidents in Metropolis resulting in death. Perry later sends Clark to cover the mayor’s press conference, where Perry announces the work of the police in getting their hands on Intergang’s weapons, reducing the threat of the group now led by Minnie Manheim. Meanwhile, Manheim is meeting with Oswald Loomis and his protege, the new Prankster and they plot to kill Mayor White. At a baseball game where White is throwing out the first pitch, the ball he is using splits into hundreds and they are thrown at White, leading to Clark disappearing and saving him as Superman. Elsewhere, at Steelworks, Jon gets a visit from Mxyzptlk, saying the Fourth Dimensional demon Master Txyz is coming for Jon. At a ceremony in Centennial Park where Superman is getting another key to the city. The key is Kryptonite coated in gold paint and this forces Superman to go into his golden form to handle a renewed attack on Perry. As his powers fade, one of White’s security team saves him; injured but alive and Superman insists he get the key to the city. Later, Clark reports on the attack, saying it was the result of antics from the Trickster, which enrages the Prankster who vows to kill Clark.

TITANS #31 by John Layman and Pete Woods. The Titans are spread out in different places to help evacuate the planet. Starfire has evacuated refugees to Tamaran, Beast Boy, Beast Girl and the Doom Patrol are with another group on a distant planet, while Nightwing and Raven have brought evacuees to Gemworld. Donna and Roy have stayed on Earth and are battling Grail and her Parademon horde, who offers Donna a chance to become her new ward. She refuses and Roy takes a direct hit from Grail and Donna confesses her feelings for him, as Grail says Donna needs to join her or Roy will die. On Gemworld, Raven confronts Jinx, who Raven attempts to recruit to help Dick, but she refuses, leading to Raven attempting to convince Terra to help. Terra helps but immediately betrays the heroes to seize control of Gemworld..

WONDER WOMAN #29 by Tom King and Jeff Spokes. Diana, fresh from her recent battle with Mouse Man, goes to Themyscira and deals with insecurities about truly being able to protect her sisters or her daughter. At the insistence of her sisters, she leaves baby Elizabeth with the Wonder Girls: Donna, Cassie, and Yara. Yara gets the idea to show the baby, who is refusing all nourishment, combat between her sisters. During their interactions, things get heated, going from “play fighting” to real violence. Nubia believes that something is compelling the Wonder Girls to behave this way and believe that Elizabeth is the source of whatever is affecting them. Nubia steps between them and stops the battle, believing the person responsible must be Eris, the Goddess of Strife. Hiding in the shadows, Eris watches, believing Elizabeth is  the catalyst to start conflict between the Amazons.

DC UNIVERSE Month 96, Part 1

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #16 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. Back in Gotham, Lucius Fox tells Bruce to take the weekend off and Bruce goes to Gotham Presbyterian Hospital to visit Oswald and Harvey, who accuse him of failing his friends. At the same time, he wants to help Croc and Bruce summons Diana through the talisman she Gave him. She transports themselves to the place between the surface world and the underworld located beneath Aeaga; a sixteen day journey through a number of deadly hazards. On the night before his battle against Akrolis-a centaur lord of transformation-Bruce dreams of walking with his father. Fighting the centaur, it results in Bruce being kicked off a bridge and being saved by Pegasus. Together, despite taking an arrow into his body, Diana and Bruce defeat Akrolis. Returning home, Bruce meets with Killer Croic and places a necklace around his friend’s neck, telling him he is never alone.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN: ARK-M #1 by Scott Snyder and Frank Tieri. In 1945, Dr. Amadeus Arkham tells his origin  to a potential buyer for Arkham Asylum. After his mother’s mental breakdown upon learning of her husband’s death at the end of the Civil War, with her murdering her other children and then killing herself, leaving Amadeus an orphan. He ends up in an orphanage but, later in life, builds a mental health facility. With help from the Elliot family. While the care is excellent, Arkham is troubled by the violent inmate simply known as Jack Doe. But Arkham’s adopted son believes that healing is possible for Jack Doe, despite his tendencies. In 1886, an orderly accidentally allows inmates, including Jack Doe, to escape through the furnace room. Among the missing and presumed dead is Arkham’s son. Soon there is a wave of horrific crimes that are reminiscent of Jack the Ripper’s crimes, even after all the inmates except Jack Doe are recaptured.. Back in 1945, the potential buyer whispers a phrase to Arkham while they tour the furnace room that reveals the buyer could be his long lost son. That night, Arkham goes to the furnace room and unearths Jack Doe’s body with a note pinned to it with the phrase. It becomes apparent his son was responsible for the breakout and has come back as Jack Grimm to claim the Asylum. He writes down his story and sends it to GCPD before burning down the Asylum and killing himself. The story said to stop Jack Grimm but Grimm intercepted it before it got delivered. In the present, The Joker and his operative Deathstroke watch footage of Batman in action; watching along with Hugo Strange, Pamela Isley, Jonathan Crane, Jervis Tetch, and Basil Karlo.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #11 by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles. Wally is in Still Point where Barry Allen exists as consciousness trapped in red energy, explaining that multiple versions of Flashes accessed Still Point but Wally is the only one who made it through intact. Barry and other travelers are here because there physical bodies were destroyed but Wally is still alive. At Fort Fox, Elenore realizes her plan has backfired and this creature who was her father is now loose, Trickster reaches Barry’s lab and begins to reopen the Still Point gateway, while the creature devastates Lisa Snart. In the end, Wally steps through the portal declaring he is done running.

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #10 by Al Ewing and Sid Kotian. In Hammond’s lab, scientists seal Todd Rice into a tank filled with the black fluid from the Green Lantern. In a Hammond Consulting lab, scientists seal Todd Rice inside a tank and immerse him in the black fluid ejected from the Green Lantern, creating a huge crystalline monster. . At Cameron Chase’s apartment, Goldface tells Jo he will let her live if she tells him where the Green Lantern is. She feigns passing out before punching him in the crotch. Crawling into her kitchen, Jo finds a pair of pliers and pulls the gold bullets out of her body, allowing her to heal. As Goldface bursts in, she uses her power to shoot the pliers into his eye, killing him. Simon and Kari show up and, upon seeing an unconscious Hal, wonder what is happening and Joe assumes they are working with Goldface. When Kari calls him Simon, Jo realizes he is Cameron’s partner. When Cameron arrives, Jo shows them all Goldface’s dead body, explaining how he impersonated John Stewart. Kari uses her psychic ability and finds that Goldface worked for Hammond

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #8 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. Something is happening that is leading to people reporting their friends, neighbors and family members to the FBI with an amount so John Jones is brought back into fieldwork. His boss makes enigmatic comments and a grey figure with a red eye stands behind him, warning about Anti-Life overexposure. John ends up in a bar, looking to get drunk but the Martian metabolism prevents that. The Martian insists that John needs human contact but all he wants is a night alone with his family, with john going to visit Bridget. John explains what is happening but Bridget thinks he is crazy. Meanwhile, Federal agents confront the Martian in an alley and he gets shot by a sniper, allowing himself to be captured. In the end, John is visited by  his ‘replacement partner’: an entity calling itself Despair.

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #15 by Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra. Weeks after the ending of the siege of Smallville, Clark is trying to rebuild the Kent farm .Later, Superman visits toy maker Winslow Schott, demanding Schott needs to handle what has been a rise in worker deaths at his business. Superman then heads to Nevada to search for Brainiac, only finding his abandoned lab along with the bottles containing miniaturized alien cities. After that, he visits a rapidly aging Ra’s in prison in Pakistan. Ra’s is belligerent but Superman shows him a book filled with prayers and poems written by children orphaned by Lazarus. Back in Metropolis, he meets with Lois and refuses an interview, despite her insisting he could be an inspiration to billions. In Smallville, Lana delivers dinner and he says he will deliver it to the starving people in the Sudan. After repeated visits with Ra’s, the dying villain finally gives in and repeats some of the passages from the book. Overwhelmed by emotion, Superman flies away and screams for all he is worth, causing Hawkman to arrive and ask what it is he is doing. In the end, Brainiac walks through a town in Missouri when he gets a call from Taliua, asking him to join her. He refuses and calls it his resignation. He hangs up on her as he reaches a house with a mailbox bearing the name Luthor.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #16 by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman. Aphrodite appears to Diana in her dream and warns that something catastrophic approaching. Meanwhile, Steve is appearing before a Senate committee where his loyalty is being questioned and he resigns as he declares the government is wrong to oppose Diana and her help. At the same time, in Area 41, a mysterious figure is preparing a weapon called the parasite and the plan is to kill Diana and ruin her public image at the same time. Diana arrives at an event celebrating a new exhibit Barbara Minerva has curated. During the event, Diana collapses and realizes her magic has been taken from her. There is an explosion and a woman named Zatanna, backed by the Suicide Squad(Cheetah, Doctor Poison, Kappa Queen, Zuel). Arrives and announces Diana’s magic is now bound to Zatanna.

ACTION COMICS #1094 by Mark Waid and Patricio Delpeche. In the distant past, Superboy is helping sort books in Smallville’s Library. Then, as Clark, he goes to study at Lana’s house, where her father always seems to be taking notes when Clark is around. Back at home, he gets a call from General Lane who sends Superboy to rescue Dr. Silas Stone from Modoran agents. Arriving, he and the Army soldiers there are attacked by a weapon that causes vertigo and nausea. He proceeds to rescue the soldiers, carrying a dead one across the battlefield. He discovers where Stone is but is against incapacitated but uses an ultrasonic scream to destroy the weapon. Later, he goes camping with Pete Ross and debates revealing his secret to him. he goes off to rescue a pair of campers from bears and then slips back into the tent, unaware that Pete has seen him in action.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BOOK OF EL #5 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski. As Ronan and Superman try to get the Lightborn to the escape rafts, Rowan battles Thularamm the Inevitable, creating a construct of herself that gets shattered by the Sun-Eater. Kryl-Ux demands she turn over the Darkstar Ring that holds the Will of Olgrun. She orders Ronan to leave her so they can both save all the Lightborns. She attacks the Sun-Eater and her punch lodges the Darkstar Ring into his armor. Defeated, the Sun-Eater leaves, still carrying the Darkstar Ring and the Central Power Battery tells Rowan she will be the first of a new Corps and bequeaths her with a Green Lantern ring. Elsewhere, a band of space pirates meet with the Valkyries of the Warworld Engines and hand over Otho-Ra.

AQUAMAN #13 by Jeremy Adams and Daniel Bayliss. Mera returns to Xebel, only to find it devastated with the Xebelian king Nereus saying this was the result of a redheaded woman who looked just like her. She arrived promising freedom to the Xebels but distributed pearls that turned the residents into Atlanteans; something similar to what happened in Atlantis. On the surface, Arthur senses something is amiss in the ocean. Meanwhile, Andrina leads forces against Parademons and approaches the Hall of Kingdoms for help.Inside the Hall, a woman who looks like Andrina demands fealty an, when the Brine King refuses, she unleashes an attack. Mera and Nereus go to a place where the strange woman came from and Mera discovers the statue of her mother is gone..

BATGIRL #15 by Tate Brombal and Stephen Segovia. Batgirl and her brother fight over what to do next; each with different views and hers being influenced by the vision of Lady Shiva. They go their separate ways, with Cass meeting with Nyssa, who tries to convince her how they need justice. Jade Tiger sneaks back into the Unburied’s facility and learns that they are not completely trapped and the tunnel will lead them straight to Samsara. He arrives and tries to warn Nyssa but she is well aware of things and has aligned herself with the Kalden the Unseen, Angelbreaker, Aruna, and Jaya.

BATMAN #5 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez. Bruce takes Dr. Zeller to dinner in Little Tokyo but they get intercepted enroute by assassins. He avoids them but then they are attacked by people on motorcycles and a woman made of birds. With the help of a titanographene cube Bruce gave Zeller as a gift, he is able to shatter the woman’s sword and finally hide out. Bruce explains that there is a bounty on Zeller because of her work with identity transformation. The woman appears again, followed by Damian who neutralizes the assassin and forcing her to flee. Then Damian refers to Bruce as “father”, meaning he may have just blown Bruce’s secret identity.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #29 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Fico Ossio. Wesker and ‘Blair’ break into the GCPD Storage and Archives building, kill the guards  and take items from the box containing Wesker’s personal effects. At Blackgate, the Quiet Man, AKA Cyrus Mercer, receives a visit from Batman and Robin. Mercer says that he wants revenge for his son’s death because his son was with him during the botched heist with the Ventriloquist and his men opened fire on the truck, ultimately killing his son. When they leave, Batman and son argue over Mercer’s motives, with Robin wondering how Mercer and Batman are any different from each other. Together they deduce the Ventriloquist is going to take out The Penguin at the Sacred heart Valentine’s fundraiser. The Penguin instructs his men to arrange for the Quiet Man to kill himself but they are quickly executed by Wesker and The Ventriloquist. Mercer breaks out of his prison and plans to also be at the fundraiser, meaning all the various players are converging for a showdown..

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #47 by Mark Waid and Adrian Gutierrez. Batman and Superman have been merged, as have The Joker and Lex Luthor, and the villains have released the heroes’ secrets to the world. Meanwhile, Poison Ivy has invaded Wayne Manor and attacks Alfred, who is saved at the last minute by Batman/Superman. With their secrets revealed, Batman/Superman meets with Lois, who is angry that Clark never told her his secret. The effects of the villains continue to resonate, affecting the Green Lantern/Flash team, along with the Green Arrow/Speedy team. But The Joker is determined to take control of their joint body; threatening to drive Lex mad. As Batman/Superman battle the villains, The Atom arrives and rips off the Absorbascon as The Flash triggers an explosion that separates both heroes and villains. But a curious thing remains: a Batman/Superman individual. With everything settled and all the leaked information back where it belongs, the heroes agree to never merge again unless they have to…as they stare at the Batman/Superman individual in a stasis field.

CATWOMAN #83 by Torunn Gronbekk and Danilo Beyruth. In the past, Carmine Falcone is goaded by his father to execute a man. Today, in Venice, Carmine is involved with the Court of Owls and has Zervas executed in his desire to secure the pearl. At the same time, Talons are unleashing their fury in Gotham. Selina slips away during all of this, crossing paths with David as she makes her way to the roof, securing her gas mask and an oxygen tank in the process .Carmine has Belson brought in, with Aldo break his fingers until he reveals where the pearl is. He and Also scan the list of presidents and princes and see Selina’s name upon it. Once on the roof, Selina encounters a Talon and fights viciously but he is unstoppable, leading to her diving into the waters of Venice to escape.

CHEETAH & CHESHIRE ROB THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #6 by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott. The Justice League is confused as Cheetah and Jade’s crew have been transported into the arms of Black Adam and his team; apparently betrayed by Klarion. Pressured to do so, Featherweight gives Grundy the Power Bank-just as the Justice League arrives. It is revealed that Klarion did what he did because Jade and Cheetah told him to. As the battle rages, the thieves transport back to their home. Stealing the Power Bank was a ruse with the actual theft being of powerful items from the League’s trophy room. Nost of the team take their items and depart, leaving Jade, Barbara, Lian and Klarion. Cheetah summons Urzkartaga and, with Klarion’s help, he is dispatched, finally freeing Cheetah from the hunger that has haunted her. 

DC K.O. #3 by Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Javi Fernandez, and Xermanico. Clark is trapped in a vision where the universe is at peace when he wins the tournament. He is soon torn from that vision, as are the other finalists. The Heart of Apokolips announces that the third round will allow each of the competitors to choose a partner from the dead. In Arena One, Guy and Hal Jordan face off against Superman and Shazam. Superman admits he chose Shazam so he could stack his power of the gods and uses that to defeat the other heroes. In Arena Two, Lex and Supergirl are matched against Aquaman and Hawkman. Lex ends up using a custom Kryptonite cocktail to send Supergirl into a ragem quickly defeating their opponents. In Arena Three, Wonder Woman chooses Barda to go against Cyborg and Connor Hawke. During the battle, Barda punches Wonder Woman’s gauntlets and the sonic boom defeats their opponents, Following the battle, Diana asks Barda to tell her everything there is to know about the Heart of Apokolips In Arena Four, Zatanna and Constantine face off against the Joker  and a mystery partner, who is first revealed to be the Batman Who Laughs but turns out to be Mxyzptlk, who attacks with something akin to a neurotoxin. With the heroes defeated, Mxyzptlik orders The Joker to send him home. Clark finds himself back in another fantasy where he meets his parents, but manages to fight his way out as the Third Round ends. The final battle, with the survivors being Diana, Clark, The Joker and Lex, are transported to their now devastated Earth where the Absolute Universe Trinity-Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, along with Booster Gold/Darkseid, are poised to be the rulers and the champions.

DC K.O.: GREEN LANTERN GALACTIC SLAM #1 by Jeremy Adams, Cona Tormey, and Pat Boutin. Kyle Rayner gets hit by a Parademon and has materialized on the alien wrestling planet called The Hub, where he meets the Galaxian wrestler known as Omega Bam-Man. He explains that The Hub operates outside of time and space and cannot leave until the algorithmic drive that controls the matches sets up another match. Omega Bam-Man tells how he was an outcast from his home planet and was saved by legendary wrestler Bromega, getting trained to be the greatest fighter, winning the W.A.M. championship after Bromega’s death. What is later revealed is that the computerized A.I. that controls The Hub is being manipulated by Bromega, who actually faked his death and became one of Darkseid’s agents. Kyle and Omega Bam-Man confront the ‘dead’ ex-champion in an effort to disable their jamming of transmissions, regain control of the ship and reach Earth. As The Hub transmits an emergency W.A.M. match across the universe, the two heroes defeat Bromega and his allies, even though Omega Bam-Man is stripped of his championship because a Green Lantern was involved. He decides to remain on Earth to fight Darkseid’s forces.

DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT #3 by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora.  Bruce refuses to fight his proteges and The Heart forces him to watch his allies lose in the tournament and offers to let him back into the tournament if he competes in a psychological tournament, transporting him to a Gotham murder mystery. He solves the mystery but reveals this to be a construct and Bruce is actually trapper in the Batcomputer. Tim Drake discovers the Batcomputer has been hacked but Bruce insists that it’s him in the computer, finally convincing Tim to help him solve his own murder. They solve it with The Heart destroying the digital connection, leaving Tim overcome. Bruce is then transported to a future Gotham where an elderly Damian reveals he saved the city and no longer needs a Batman. But Damian questions if he is real and asks Bruce for help escaping as he introduces Bruce’s grandson named Alfred.

DC K.O. THE KIDS ARE ALL FIGHT SPECIAL #1 by Jeremy Adams and Travis Mercer. Jon Kent is assigned to babysit The Boom, Cheshire Cat, Fairplay and Quiz Kid. The kids detect an energy signature tied to Granny Goodness and escape to Earth, encountering Granny’s forces and mind controlled population, including Stargirl, Wonder Girl and Thunderheart. Losing badly in the battle, Fairplay escapes and reunites with Jon and Batgirl and Jon attacks Granny. Static arrives and destroys Granny’s device, freeing those she had mind controlled. Granny escapes and the heroes declare they will face her yet again.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1105 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. It is revealed that The Lion is Leo Kinsford: the son of a triggerman who was arrested by Batman when Leo was young. Bruce Wayne took him under his wing when Leo won a Waynetech Science Fair. That was then. Now, an infected Batman suits up in an armored suit and visits Black Canary who recalls how Leo had trained with Wildcat. One time when he lost a bout, he visualized a Wildcat as a Bat Creature and never came back to the ring. From there, he visits the Gotham Infectious Diseases Center and meets with Mr. Terrific and his team that are working on a cure. They have come up with an antidote and Batman says he will ultimately test it on himself. He goes off to face off against Leo whop forces him to see his allies, Robin and Barbara, falling amongst the chaos.

THE FLASH #29 by Mark Waid, Christopher Cantwell and Vasco Georgiev. Wally steals a Legion of Darkseid flight ring and heads to Barry’s lab, as the Legion is attempting to stop Barry’s origin from happening and destroying the Speed Force in the process. Dream Girl leaves the Legion and tries to help but fails as Saturn Girl prevents Barry’s lightning strike, which hits Wally instead and almost kills the Speed Force. Bart Allen realizes what is happening to the Speed Force and steals Iris’ car to reach the lab. In the process, Bart learns that he is actually the Speed Force. Jay Garrick, currently a statue after his DC KO fight, instructs Bart how to reignite the Speed Force, transforming him and saving Wally and Barry. In the end, Darkseid’s voice speaks to Bart, telling him that Barry is destined to die during the ‘Great Crisis and if Bart tries to change that, everything will collapse. Despite that, Bart goes chasing after a time bubble to save Barry. Dream Girl vanishes and promises to meet them all again.

GREEN LANTERN #31 by Jeremy Adams and Montos. Barry Allen is in witness protection for him to testify against mob boss Anthony Bordello and is being taken  there by two police officers. But it turns out the cops are crooked and Barry, no longer with his powers, flees. Luckily Hal Jordan shows up and rescues him. Hal is going through some personal issues lately, leading to he and Barry having a heart-to-heart talk when one of the crime family’s muscle men, Bruto, shows up. It eventually takes Hal creating a Flash construct for Barry, allowing him to flee and make it to court. Bruto is beating Hal badly when he learns Barry made it to court and learns that the defendant plead out, meaning Bruto and Hal no longer have to fight.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #12 by Morgan Hampton, Jason Paz, Will Conrad, Oclair Albert and Fernando Pasarin. In the Prodyon System, Enquar is manipulating Fatality’s existing doubts with his influence while preparing to spread that influence to other worlds. Meanwhile, on Oa, Jessica sends out a message announcing she wants to have all six Corps states come together so all ring holders would be able to cycle through their power sets at will. Larfleeze arrives, reveals a hidden power battery while declaring himself the owner of Oa. He triggers an explosion that the planet’s defense and Thanagarians, now possessed by Larfleeze’s energy, attack. At the same time, Enquar heads towards Oa and looks to be poised for a collision.