DC UNIVERSE Month 101, Part 1

ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #1 by Scott Snyder, Che Grayson and Bengal.  A dozen years ago to the day, young Selina Kyle is trying to survive in a rough foster home, complete with an abusive foster father. Ten years ago, Selina meets another young girl named Holly Robinson and the pair develop a friendship, In the present, Selina goes to the Cat Cave, which houses all sorts of gadgets from an earlier time in her life. Today is her 25^th birthday and suddenly Holly arrives, carrying a birthday cake and apparently asking for her help regarding a problem. Inside the cake is a small ball. Later, someone dressed in a cat costume is trying to crack a safe when another person in a similar outfit, revealed to be Selina, shoots her with tranquilizer darts. Soon after, more “catwomen” called the Calicos arrive and, during their fight, a bomb goes off, sending Selina out the window of the building she is in. Her A.I. named Jonesy releases a parachute, allowing her to land safely. and she gives pursuit on one who has absconded with Holly. She is unable to free her friend and decides she needs more firepower. In the end, the kidnapper receives a call looking for an update and the kidnapper is revealed to be . . . Cassandra Cain.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #21 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Batman fights against the Robins. Deathstroke orders them to knock out Batman’s communications and Jason Todd sets off an EMP that knocks out the power. As Batman runs into an abandoned buildingm Jason’s mech fires on it, leveling it. Harley sends in drones to distract the Robins and give her time to pull Batman out of the rubble. The following day, Bruce attends Gordon’s funeral and thinks of a time when he was working for the Falcones and Gordon paid him a visit, with Bruce saying he was working to pay back the monetary debt his friends incurred paying off that debt. After the services have ended, members of the Robin Program speak to Barbara Gordon and promise to avenge her father but she tells them that Jim would have approved more of Batman’s methods than theirs. Bruce’s friends were also at the funeral and muse if they each think Bruce was responsible for Gordon’s death. Ozzie says the people they were are dead but Waylon, lifting the magic arrowhead off his body and beginning to mutate, says they are those people and will always help each other out, including Bruce. The next day, as Bruce is at work on a skyscraper, he meets an investor who reveals he is Jack Grimm. Bruce lunges at him as The Joker changes into his monstrous form, actually saving Bruce as he slips off the girder he was standing on, telling him he does not get to die until Batman reaches his full potential. In the end, a pool of clay in Ark M begins to shape into a double of Batman.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #16 by Jeff Lemire and Haining. Grodd and his father have taken over the town of Montevale, Colorado; driving out all the residents in the process as they make their home in an abandoned strip mall. While scavenging, Grodd is confronted by soldiers and races back to his father with the soldiers opening fire. Meanwhile, Wally reads Palmer’s journal, which has a cryptic message at the end: ‘What lies below Still Point?’ along with a drawing of an atom and the Omega symbol. He recalls his future self saying that Thawne had taken his father below. He decides to give the journal to Linda to see if she can decipher it and then he receives a psychic scream from Grodd, revealing he is in danger. Wally picks up Linda, who wanted to meet Grodd, and they head to Colorado. After noticing a Blackhawl helicopter flying above, Linda sees a news report about trouble at the mall and heade there, finding it surrounded by empty police cars. Once inside, they find a police officer who growls at them with his eyes glowing green followed by the rest of the police who have been possessed. Possessed soldiers open fire on the pair. Saving Linda, Wally gets shot in the leg and Grodd arrives to stop the bullets with a telekinetic force field. Grodd brings the pair to his nest with him telling Wally that his father is hurt and angry, adding he is “everywhere”. As Linda bandages Wally’s wound, they notice Grodd is not around and soon are visited by Trickster who is holding a knife to Grodd’s throat and saying they need to kill the ape.

ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #2 by Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque. Dinah has a dream where Green Arrow suggests they work together and he unmasks, revealing himself to be Oliver Queen. Telling him he is dead, he screams at her as many eyes appear on his face. The next day, she meets with Merlyn, who get equipped with armored uniforms by Hammond to protect them. They go to visit millionaire Roy Harper, finding he has been out of the country for many months. They then go to visit Mia Dearden at a kickboxing gym but she refuses to talk to them until they get in the ring with her. As the pair fight, Mia tells Dinah that she was recruited by Oliver as a programmer but ultimately, once allegations about Slade came out, she told Oliver to chpose between her and Sladem resulting in her quitting GreenArrows. As the fight gets more violent, Mia accuses Dinah of trafficking children for Hammondm leading to Dinah ending the fight. Mia tells her that Oliver asked her to help him arrange for his son, Connor Hawke, if anything ever happened to him. She discovers that Hawke had recently come to Star City and follows him into an abandoned mansion. After a confrontation, Hawke reveals that Oliver had sent a pre-recorded video telling his son to come to Star City and collect his inheritance, but he says he is not interested in whatever Miraclo is or why Mia is obsessed with it. Hearing ascream, Dinah orders him out of the house. They find a dying man, filled with arrows, hung from the ceiling. As Green Arrow aims at her, Connor shoots him in his armored chest. Green Arrow fires a poison arrow that hits Connor in the shoulder, killing him. In the end, the police arrive to collect Connor’s body and also the other man, revealed to be Edvin Zytle when Dinah gets a call from Merlyn saying Harper was seen digging up Queen’s grave..

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #15 by Al Ewing and Sid Kotian.  The Blackstars face off against John as Hal watches. John, channeling the Red Initiate, unleashes part of his stomach and intestines, badly burning Black Hand Salakk.  Meanwhile, Jo faces off against Tomar Re and their mental torture, eventually channeling her power and caging Tomar Re, who continues to try to convince her to let her town be destroyed so billions can live. In the end, Mogo arrives, to the shock of John, Hal and the Blackstars..

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #20 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. In the recent past, Talia asks Carter Hall why he did not kill Superman when he had the opportunity. Saying he saw Superman save Metropolis, she guesses he wants more money and has the Peacemakers throw a bag of cash on top of his car, adding that she wants Superman in a hole next to Oliver Queen and the rest. He has done the bidding of the rich before but that was before the day that the Reign of the Superman began. In the present, Hawkman confronts Superman, Steel and King Shazam, with Hall telling King Shazam that he knows his story and offers to help him find his way in this world. Shazam calls him a liar and attacks, with Hawkman striking him with his mace and sending him away, so the trio can formulate a plan. Superman insists that Shazam is confused and refuses to let Hawkman kill him. King Shazam returns  and the battle sets off chaos throughout the planet, with Teth-Adam trapping the trio in his sand-cloak. Hawkman reveals he was the one who found Teth-Adam’s tomb and he deciphered the hieroglyphics in it, adding that it was the Brainiacs who found Teth-Adam in the desert, not wizards and he got his powers from a Father Box. He says that King Shazam had the chance to change the world but the Justice League from three thousand years ago betrayed him and imprisoned him. Finally, he says that he was never the savior and that it was Superman who was referred to by the Phantom Stranger. Outraged, Shazam stabs Superman with a lighting spear. The Parasite arrives to protect Superman but cannot affect Shazam. Steel and Hawkman agree that Shazam needs to die but Superman stops them, leading to additional arguments. Shazam destroys the Parasite and attacks the others, leaving them bloodied and beaten. As Superman promises to get help for Hall and Steel, Hall and Steel offer up their weapons, saying those will allow him to defeat King Shazam. King Shazam heads to what is left of the Lazarus Corp headquarters to get Father Box, but Superman sends both of them to the moon, with Superman’s armor in Tornado Mode. He tells Shazam that he won’t be leaving the moon until he says his magic word.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #21 by Kelly Thompson and Dillon Snook. On the Wild Isle, Diana is about to look for her mother. Along the way, she is forced to fight a Manticore, defeating him and making her way to Hecate; telling her that she will never forgive her if Circe or Barbara die. Meanwhile, agents have made their way to The Hieron, but are hampered from entering by some sort of magical defenses. At the same time, Etta is trying to locate Diana, even as Gia is heading off to Gotham for awhile. In Area 41.X, Barbara Minerva is locked away with the body of Cheetah when she hears from Urzkartaga who convinces her to taste Cheetah’s blood and is immediately affected by it. In the process, she sees how Priscilla became possessed and turned into Cheetah, thanks to Veronica Cale. 

ACTION COMICS #1099 by Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge. Epoch has stripped away Clark’s powers and he is frustrated about it, taking it out on John in the process. He also notes that he has been depending on his powers far too much. In the process, Lana invites Clark to a party at her house fir the weekend. Lana finds her house empty but gets a peek inside her father’s newest book and, when she opens it, she is shocked by what she sees. Clark adjusts to being powerless and is not in a hurry to find a solution, something that concerns his parents and Booster. Because of Clark seemingly changing the past, the future is also changing and Mary disappears, causing Booster and John to forget she even existed. They take Clark to meet Bruce Gordon: a scientist who will eventually become Eclipso. But he refuses to help because he feels he cannot waste his time helping Superboy. He eventually agrees and, with Superboy strapped to a table and being exposed to a heavy dose of yellow sunlight, Epoch arrives, having raided S.T.A.R. Labs and upgraded his suit, destroys the equipment. As Booster and John fight Epoch, Superboy dons armor, including a sword and shield, to fight the villain.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BOOK OF EL #9 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski. Pyrrhos begins to pull the Fire of Olgrun from within Osul-Ra but Osul fights back. while the Superman robot with the shard of Brainiac-3 inside recalls that Rowan and Ronan is its master and seeks a new core objective and they attack Pyrrhos. Ronan starts beating on Pyrrhos but Osul gets the beating to stop, saying Superman would not want them hurting others. They try to convince Pyrrhos to join them but he refuses. Elsewhere, Superman, Otho-Ra, Khan-El, and Alura approach Tamaran but come under fire from Warzoon ships. Superman heads off to save Tamarans and discovers they are The Unmade. In the palace, Prince Doukis and his crew search for Theand’r, killing civilians along the way. Theand’r arrives and orders Kryl-Ux’s forces withdraw but Doukis brings out Fatherbox and the Unmade mob as Superman and the others arrive. Doukis attempts to flee but Otho-Ra catches him. Mongul, now one of the Unmade, arrives, knocking out Otho-Ra and saying that the bloodline of Superman will end now. 

BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #2 by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. Barbara wakes in the infirmary, after having taken a vicious beating at the hands of an unknown assailant. With the help of an inmate named Sparrow, she is brought back to a cell where Sparrow gives her “pain medication” that acts as an hallucinogen. Sparrow meets with Die, telling her Barbara is alive but heavily medicated. There is another prisoner murdered in their cell and the inmates wonder who is next. In the end, Death comes calling. Is it real or just another hallucination? Meanwhile, Nightwing assists Jim Gordon, who tells Dick that he has sent someone inside the prison to watch over Barbara.

BATGIRL #20 by Tate Brombal and Stephen Segovia. The police discover the corpse of a nine year old girl and somehow this murder is connected to Batgirl. During her investigation, she has a seizure and passes out, having a vision of her training at the hands of both David Cain and Bronze Tiger.  Tenji calls his father and says that Jaya said the phrase “forget-me-not” and this happened. The vision further reveals Cass and the girl and she is being hypnotized by…Dr. Forget-Me-Not.

BATMAN #10 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez. With Wayne Manor destroyed, Damian texts Duke and Stephanie and informs them of it, telling them to trust the plan. The next day, Savage holds a press conference, announcing the ‘Rat out the Bat’ program that encourages citizens to get cash rewards for informing on the Bat Family. Meanwhile, The Minotaur visits Mr. Tozuki, presenting him with the bloodied glasses of Hugo Strange, who he killed because of his betrayal of Tozuki. In the end, Batman activates the bat-Signal 2.0, consisting of 3,00 drones.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #52 by Mark Waid and Adrian Gutierrez. Superman has been captured by the transformed sorcerer formerly known as Randall Kreitzer. After an argument with Travis, Batman heads off on his own to find his friend. When he does, he sees he has been corrupted by Kreitzer, who plans on heading to an underground laboratory created by the ancient Atlanteans. Elsewhere, Robin and the others are attacked by super-powered followers of Kreitzer, and they have been joined by the corrupted Superman…and Batman.

BATWOMAN #4 by Greg Rucka and Dani. The aftermath of Renee getting stabbed is found by Despina and her people. Meanwhile, Colonel Kane patches up Renee, who believes that Kate was not responsible for this. That night, Renee meets with Kate, who claims she was responsible for killing her sister Beth, who had been turned into Alice. Elsewhere, Batwoman returns and struggles with her identity, believing she is Kate Kane. In the end, Kate and Renee realize that a spare suit is missing and they believe they know what happened to it, with Kate suiting up and promising to bring her sister home.

BIZARRO: YEAR NONE #2 by Eric Carrasco, Kevin Smith, and Nick Pitarra. Three months ago, Lois Lane was interviewing Bizarro Superman, as she mentions some people are offended by his motto of ‘Truth, Justice’ and the American Way’. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Perry are navigating Bizarro World, with Jimmy becoming the Editor in Chief and Perry being the intern. After returning with coffees for the staff, Jimmy sees a note on his cup and proceeds to meet Perry at the corner of Fifth and Tilton, where Perry shows him the silhouette of someone in white against a wall with a backwards Superman logo spray painted above it. Jimmy touches the silhouette and finds it has texture and moves along his fingers. Jimmy later meets with Bizarro for an interview. In the end, Perry investigates Bizarro’s home, discovers Bizarro’s typewritten manifesto and also sees a broken table with another silhouette. It is revealed that three months ago, convinced that his Lois betrayed him by looking into the “other world”, dropped her from high in the atmosphere into their home, killing her.

CATWOMAN #88 by Torunn Gronbekk and Davide Gianfelice. Catwoman is able to convince Holly that the person who attacked her was not her and they fight their way out, even as they are being attacked by a faceless assailant. After defeating him, Black Mask calls, informing Selina that the fake Selina planted a bomb. Meanwhile, Slam Bradley gets Maggie out of her house and the pair head off in different directions. Back in the city, Selina is met with a woman wearing a mask who leads her to a specific location. Once there, the woman unmasks, saying she did what she was told, before being executed by Katarina Belov. She hands Selina a key and, after showing a video of a captured Slam Bradley holding a live hand grenade, tells her she has a choice: save Slam or find the bomb and dispose of it.

THE DEADMAN #1 by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. Boston Brand, former circus performer and now The Deadman, goes about helping souls transition and saving others because it is not their time. He resides in Robertsville with other spirits and the living. Elsewhere, a mysterious Mr. M is revealed to be a cannibal and is connected to a bunch of Hindu demons, one of which The Deadman fights against after it had taken a soul. He tell Rama Kushna who responds by giving him a new costume..

DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #4 by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Deadshot and Deathblow are ready to finish off Deathstroke when he gets saved by Ravager; but that is only because she wants to watch him die for killing Wintergreen. He convinces her to join with him as he claims he has a lead and they leave in a car she “borrowed” from Red Hood. Inside the restaurant, Slade has a verbal altercation with an unruly customer and later kills him in the establishment’s bathroom. Shocked to discover this, she leaves on her father, all while Deadshot, Deathblow and…Deathstroke watch.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1110 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. In the past, Prion, Black Canary and Green Arrow have teamed up with Batman to stop hijackers on a train. Now, Batman and Arrow discover that the girl who they had a tussle with is currently with Black Canary. They warn her that the girl is an assassin and possibly Prion’s daughter, but something is different about her. They track her to the outskirts of Gotham where the girl, whose name is Arabella, is handed an egg and whatever was possessing her ends. Later, Dinah sneaks into Arabella’s bedroom, convincing the girl to leave with her. Arabella takes a tool box her father had left that says to keep it hidden until she is ready to know the truth. While leaving, Dinah fights against armed opponents. Arabella’s grandmother arrives and orders Dinah to tell the girl how she killed Prion.

EMPEROR AQUAMAN #18 by Jeremy Adams and Paolo Villanelli. Aquaman is enjoying his new life and his time with his family when Bill from the Omni Omega+ Entertainment Corps arrives and says that  he is revoking Aquaman’s ability to travel to Prataxia Prime. Of course, that does not sit well and Aquaman heads there right away, but is quickly captured. At the same time, Hal Jordan has been captured by OOEC but breaks free, finding Aquaman, who is being tortured with false visions. With the help of his new powers, Aquaman and Hal escape.

THE FLASH #34 by Ryan North and Gavin Guidry. Wally is with Mr. terrific and trying to understand his future sight powers when he sees Gorilla Grodd and his army invading in the near future. That leads him to go to Gorilla City and tries a number of different scenarios to keep that from happening but all fail. So he rethinks his plan and eventually gets Grodd to temporarily curtail his attack. Later. Mr. Terrific has Wally try to predict the weather and Wally finds that the city is covered in fog. He finds several machines are the course and the source of the machines appears to be…Heat Wave!

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #3 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre. Many years ago, Professor Stein is leading the Department of Metahuman Affairs and has his own agenda, resulting from his son being killed during a rampage by Dr. Polaris. Stein wants to create his own hero and has chosen the person he wants as his template for it. He hires Ronnie as his assistant and, it is revealed, he knew about the bomb that gave them their powers as he was responsible for planting it to achieve his goal. Meanwhile, the heroes continue to fight against Firestorm and lose badly. Now, Firestorm is heading to Pittsburgh.

GOTHAM ACADEMY: FIRST YEAR #5 by Brendan Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, and Marco Ferrari.  It’s September and the first day of Olive’s second year at Gotham Academy, but she has decided to dig into her mother’s history, finding that her mother was the fire starter called Calamity. Pomeline comes in and notices the files on Calamity, taking them to read to the entire student body to embarrass Olive. Olive is haunted by horrific visions until she is comforted by Kyle and then her mother; all of which are visions courtesy The Scarecrow. But everything leading up to that may actually be a result of Fear Toxin and the issue ends in August with Olive comatose, having been found by Tristan and taken away by Batman, so he can help her.

GREEN LANTERN #36 by Jeremy Adams, Ig Guara, and Montos. Kyle and Odyssey are menaced by Dr. Skin, who has transformed into a hideous creature, forcing Kyle to use his White Lantern powers to dispatch the creature. Jade arrives and takes the creature with her but Odyssey is going to a movie premiere later with Kyle as her escort and Jade as his date. Elsewhere, at a meeting for Big Belly Burger, a staffer introducers a group of mascots, which leads to him getting taken out later by them as part of a “hostile takeover”. The mascots proceed to take out a food truck, as this is Big Burger territory. Jade and Kyle arrive on the scene after the fact and share a kiss.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #17 by Morgan Hampton and Fernando Pasarin. Guy finds himself floating through space and troubled by his past and his abusive father. He gets rescued by an alternate future version of himself who, after a long discussion, gives him the insight and drive to break out of this Black Hole prison he finds himself in. Meeting with the Emotional Entities, they agree to join him, as long as he agrees to protect them and the Emotional Expanse, which he does. Filled with new hope and a way to recreate himself, he arrives at The Citadel on Oa, showing the gathered Lanterns he has brought backup.

HARLEY & IVY: LIFE & CRIMES #6 by Erica Henderson. Ivy reveals how she and Harley met during the earthquake but Clayface captured her and kept her for six months, forcing her to grow food he could sell while also using the children for slave labor. But now she is ready to fight back and does so, with the assistance of Red Tornado Ma Hunkel. It is Ma Hunkel who convinces the pair to patch up their differences, resulting in the two admitting they loved each other. In the present, they rob a boutique of some jewels and a wedding dress.

HARLEY QUINN #63 by Elliott Kalan and Carlos Olivares. Detective Phil Charles touches Harley and she begins to turn monochromatic. Being pursued by police, she goes to visit Althea but is refused entry by Amygdala. After making her way through the sewers and having flashbacks to her, she ends up at Helga Grimaldi’s, who plans to clean her up and take her in when a massive explosion rocks the building, courtesy of the Harley Quinn Revenge Squad.

JSA #20 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui. The Spectre is back and unleashing vengeance on everyone he believes has sinned, taking possession of Hourman in the process. Part of the team transports to the House of Mystery to search for Jim Corrigan while Green Lantern and others remain behind with Hourman. The Team meets with Madame Xanadu who cannot find Corrigan but gives Kid Eternity a vision of her past life where she sees her grandmother. In the end, Metron arrives, ordering them to help him save the universe from damnation.