DC UNIVERSE Month 102, Part 2

HARLEY QUINN #64 by Elliott Kalan and Carlos Olivares. Batquinn is being hunted by the Harley Quinn Revenge Squad and is forced to fight Amenity, Forehand/Backhand, Colonel Blimp, Penny Plunderer, SUPR, and Super-Hunter. She is also looking for Mrs. Grimaldi, who she believes has been kidnapped. Forehand/Backhand take her to meet the “big boss” and there they find Mrs. Grimaldi. But she is not the boss; that would be Harleen who says she had to turn bad to save Harley from herself.

JSA #21 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui. Metron takes Doctor Fate, Stargirl, Kid Eternity and Jakeem to the Dawn of All Things, where they see Lucifer Morningstar attempt to have a rebellion against God. Lucifer became the Prince of Hell while Aztar was a demon lord. When Aztar went back to Heaven, God made him The Spectre: the dealer of Divine Wrath. Over the centuries, The Spectre acted with vengeance and eventually ended up with Jim Corrigan to be Aztar’s chosen host. Recently, Darkseid tried to be combined with The Spectre but Corrigan and The Spectre refused, but The Spectre was ripped from Corrigan’s body, allowing it to try and find a new host.. Meanwhile, Jade unites with her father to try and dispel The Spectre from Obsidian’s form, with Jade begging to take The Spectre into herself to save her father.Alan begs his daughter to allow him to become The Spectre, but the spirit departs and makes its’ new home in Yolanda Montez. Metron sends the Society members away to find Corrigan, sending them to Gotham in the 1940’s.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #21 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. The Brainiac Queen has escaped into the Internet and the League is trying to find her. The Queen is looking for Waller but they have no idea where she is after Dreamer had released her from imprisonment. When Red Tornado admits that he knows Waller’s location and knows the Queen will come after him, which she does by infecting the League’s mainframe. As Red Tornado resists, Atom shrinks her and traps her inside a Faraday cage. Tornado reveals he does not know Waller’s location and simply used that as bait for the Queen. Meanwhile, on the planet Dronnda, Terrific’s team is defending itself against the reptilian population and they discover the alien captain and crew were escaping from Despero. Hawkgirl believes they have a numbers advantage but the rest of the team is suddenly vaporized by a blast from Despero’s third eye. Back on the Watchtower, Batman confronts Lex about his actions and the two share a vision about a man, covered in a muck from a swamp, walking through the streets of Gotham: a man who will eventually be revealed as Prometheus. Continued in JUSTICE LEAGUE: KNIGHT VISION SPECIAL #1.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: KNIGHT VISION SPECIAL #1 by Mark Waid, Joshua Williamson, and Miguel Mendonca. Batman and Lex Luthor team up in Slaughter Swamp fighting a group of gunrunners when a displaced crooked house appears; the home of Prometheus. They encounter more gunrunners who have been horribly corrupted by the alien tech in Prometheus’s home. Lex wants to kill them and Batman explains they need to be dispatched but not killed. The pair drop through a trap door and find themselves encountering multiple implanted visions until Batman takes out the projector, where they find more alien tech. Prometheus battles them, with his natural abilities merging with those of the Justice League. To adapt, Batman and Lex change their tactics long enough to remove his helmet, revealing he too has been corrupted by alien tech. The duo race out, carrying the gunrunners, before the house folds up and disappears. In the end, Lex recognizes the tech as coming from Apokolips.

LOBO #5 by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. Mr. Kzzt has put out a bounty on Lobo. Lobo gets a visit from someone named Lip Bomb and it looks as though they will have some intimate time together when she turns out to be an assassin, leading to Lobo being shot at until he can take her out. Then The Johnnies arrive and they are also poised to kill Lobo and, despite being shot up by them, he defeats them. Next up is Murder Mouth and Fisty Claws, who he viciously defeats before paying Kzzt a visit. Kzzt offers him a lot of money to take out the dental vendor who has raised their prices. Who is the dental vendor? The Tooth Fairy, of course!

NEW TITANS #37 by Tate Brombal and Marcus To. Neibros has a baby given to him as tribute and calls upon the citizens of Happy Harbor to face off against the Titans. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Tara are facing off against Draggo, with Cyborg using his powers to force the creature to flee. Nightwing is able to grab Draggo as it heads towards Neibros and the Titans. Eva manages to snatch the baby from Neibros allowing the Titans to detain him until Red Devil can send him back to the Sixth Circle of Hell. In the aftermath, Titans Tower has been smashed and Tara uses her power to rebuild it. In the end, Virgil Hawkin’s long suffering girlfriend breaks up with him, just as Jon Kent arrives, offering him a spot in the Titans.

NIGHTWING #140 by Dan Watters and Denis Cowan. Nightwing is making his way through the seedy underworld, looking for Cannibal Colm. He eventually tracks him down and is told that Colm used to drive for Roland Desmond until he got killed and now drives for the Mayor. Colm reveals a meeting between the Mayor and Charles Halstead, who revealed he was once the Psycho Pirate: a role now attributed to Roger Hayden. The men designed the super highway to purposely make life worse for everyone who lives in Bludhaven. Colm executed Halstead. Nightwing tells him to come with him and testify but the police burst in and kill Colm. They attempt to execute Nightwing but fail.

POISON IVY #46 by G. Willow Wilson and Leandro Fernandez. Juhi and Janet are walking down the street, discusses Ivy’s current state of mind, when they spy the police beating up a boy for loitering. Janet declares her anger to them and one of them strikes her. When they discover Janet works for Ivy’s administration, the police leave and leave the boy, who it is revealed was the person who shot the assassination video, with Juhi and Janet. Hearing a noise that turns out to be a cast, Juhi summons her Familiar. Catwoman arrives and berates both women, saying they work in Ivy’s office and should keep her on a leash. The boy heads back home and soon the women cross paths with Great White Shark, who says that the women are going to mess up his “gig”, causing Janet to kick him in the groin and they run, Later, Juhi says she was responsible for the Shakespeare quotes appearing on the walls. As she starts to explain, a building explodes from a gas leak, leaving Janet more determined than ever to get Harley involved.

SUPERGIRL #15 by Sophie Campbell. Supergirl and Lesla battle The Black Flame. Connor arrives and lends a hand as does Thundergirl who turns her allegiance away from The Black Flame. The Black Flame gets powered up by direct sunlight; unaware that her exposure, thanks to her yellow ring, is overloading her cells, weakening her but raining her to the point of near death. Supergirl takes the ring away and Zora is brought back to Kandor proper, where Surpergirl insists that Zora and the Council should stand trial. Lesla stands up to her father, saying Zora does not belong in the Phantom Zone and how they should all work together to rebuild Kandor. Kara gives Lesla the yellow ring, saying that Kandor needs someone to light the way as Luminary. Back home in the Fortress, Kara decides to put together her Super Force: Lena, Luna, Nightflame, Princess Shark, Thundergirl, and herself.

SUPERMAN #40 by Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora. A resurrected Manchester Black works to torture Prime mentally but Prime manages to take their fight into Asteroid Comics. As the latest issue of SUPERMAN falls off the shelf, Prime and Black emerge. Black wants to steal Prime’s knowledge of the world and Prime opens his mind to him, overloading Black’s mind and putting him into a catatonic state where he is then sent to the Phantom Zone. Mister Terrific is concerned that Prime relinquished the secrets. At Asteroid Comics, Prime apologizes for his lies while his boss promises to protect his secret. He apologizes to Rebecca and promises to stay in touch with her. Supergirl arrives, requesting him for a special mission. Later, he finds himself in a brawl with Connor.

SUPERMAN ANNUAL: YEAR ONE THOUSAND #1 by Joshua Williamson and Eddy Barrows. After winning the King Omega Tournament, Superman has repaired the reality damage but senses trouble and enters the Timestream, eventually landing on Hourman’s Timeship. Hourman tells Superman that the distant figure in the midst of the Timestorm, revealed to be the Infinite Man, is causing the chaos and feeding on it. Superman uses the Alpha Energy to undo the damage in time and he gets pulled through multiple possible futures eventually ending up in the 31^st Century ruins of Metropolis. Noticing a small settlement of houses, he sees Saturn Girl carrying two small children, who explains that she does not want to fight and things have changed. Lightning Lad comes out of the house and explains they have been forced to hide from their enemies and their former master and have been forced to hide for years. Cosmic Boy arrives and shows him the monument to the dead Legionnaires. Superman tells them that, to fix the timestream, he needs to send them back to their original universe. Infinite Man arrives and he is here because this is the last version of the Legion that he can kill while also saying he is becoming the new Time Trapper. Superman blasts him and restores all versions of the Legion along with their timelines, but losing his cosmic power in the process. Powerless and floating in the Timestream, he is being pulled towards the End of Time until he is pulled to safety by his younger self as seen in ACTION COMICS #1100.

SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #15 by Dan Slott and Lucas Meyer. Ultraboy continues his attack on Tomorrow Man and Steel while the mutated Kryptonite crystals continue growing and it looks like it might consume Smallville. Because of exposure to the Kryptonite, Lana has mutated and now has the power to absorb Kryptonite radiation. At the Kent farm, Lois wakes Krypto and powers up the Supermobile, with the two of them protecting the people of Smallville while the Kents sound an alarm to have their neighbors head to their storm cellars. Batman and Robin arrive, with Robin equipped with Blue Kryptonite weapons. He then attacks Ultraboy, revealing he is from Universe-3 and is Ultraman’s son. Batman starts spreading a chemical that will turn Green Kryptonite into Blue, negating its effects. Tomorrow man convinces Ultraboy to save the people of Smallville, resulting in Ultraboy gathering up all the Kryptonite crystals and throwing them into space. As Tomorrow Man unmasks, although both Batman and Lois knew who he was, Txyz arrives, giving Jon a choice: save himself in the past or let Ultraboy stay here. He decides to save Ultraboy. Txyz opens a portal and Superwoman arrives, forcibly dragging Ultraboy away with her back to Universe-3. In the end, Batman agrees to help John Henry find a cure for Lana’s condition while Robin plans to investigate if those Kryptonite samples had been weaponized.

WONDER WOMAN #35 by Stephanie Williams and Clayton Henry. Twenty years from now, Wonder Woman has committed suicide and now the Fates have provided a boat for them to traverse the River Acheron. Along the way, Steve tells the story of how he and Diana met. A long time ago, Diana would spend her free time to stare into the Magic Sphere and see what the outside world looked like. Hippolyta tells her that she is wasting her time and tells of her time with the Justice Society but, because of their apprehension and suspicion, she left man’s world to head back to Themyscira. When Steve’s plane crashed on the shores, the Amazons tend to his wounds and, once he gained Hippolyta’s trust, she decided it was time to send their greatest champion to the outside world to protect Themyscira. Despite forbidding Diana to compete in the tournament, Diana donned a mask and entered the tournament. Steve ends the story there, frustrating Lizzie.

ZATANNA #4 by Jamal Campbell. Zatanna has been dispatched to Zehuti’s home to find out how she became Prime Magus. She creates shadow constructs representing the personalities of the mages. Hecate is the first Prime Magus who spread out pieces of herself when the universe was still young, creating Homo Magi during the Age of Creation. Next shade is the Upside-Down-Man: the second Prime Magus, who was responsible for the Age of Horror. The third shade, Zehuti, explains he brought order to the nature of magic in the Age of Wisdom. She is then called to a fairy-populated forest in the Sea of Dreams as the fairies of the four seasons believe each other to be responsible for the destructions of their gardens but Zatanna helps them restore their forest. She saves a huntress from demonic beasts before going off to stop an edification device from destroying a magical academy in the Sea of Dreams. Returning to Zehuti and tells of her exploits. She heads to Turkey, taking Allura to the hidden city of Homo Magi, only to find it immersed in flames.

DC UNIVERSE Month 102, Part 1

ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN #2 by Scott Snyder, Che Grayson and Bengal.  Nine years ago, at the Gotham Calico Clubhouse, Selina and Holly are making plans for a heist. Selina, Holly, Helena Bertinelli, and Victoria Sage break into an office building and proceed to drain the bank accounts belonging to Falcone, Thorne, Elliott, Crowne and Bertinelli. Now, Selina is in China and not only trying to track Holly’s recent movement but what the story is The Sphere, which she sets up an auction for as bait. Back in Gotham, an unknown person sees the auction posting. At the auction, Selina is greeted by Victoria, who says she had previously met with Holly. Helena arrives and soon the trio find themselves fighting Cassandra Cain and her gang of Shadows. Cain steals The Sphere as everyone flees, thanks to an explosive charge Selina had set. In the end, it is revealed The Sphere is the key to unlocking the map to find something called The Yarn, that can create an “unimpeachable reality”..

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #22 by Scott Snyder and Werther Dell’edera. In the past, Harley Quinn lives in a broken home with her mother and, because of her fear of monsters at night, her mother gives her a mallet to fight them off. As she grew up, she took a DNA test and tracked down her father, who was a doctor living in France. One day, she found a panel at the back of her closet, which set an elevator in motion bringing her to Ark M, where she discovered a captive Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, along with a dead Calendar Man, who was giving birth to a reborn Calendar Man. Her mother arrived, saying Grimm was helping people. Her mother was Dr. Arkham. Fleeing the space and going back to the surface, she is met by her father: Jack Grimm, forcing her to flee the house. In the [present, she is trying to assist Batman in his battle against the Robins, but he continues to refuse her help. She finally convinces him that they need to hide for now until the Robins give up and agree to reconvene the following day. Bruce goes to his father’s grave and begins to dig, opening the coffin to find it empty. His phone rings and he sees a video the Scarecrow has sent him that shows Thomas Wayne alive and held in captivity.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #17 by Jeff Lemire and Haining. Three days ago, Rick Flagg contacted the Rogues, paying them and saying that they would get the balance when they bring him Grodd-dead or alive. They made their way to Colorado and discovered that Flagg’s troops had been compromised, eventually doing the same to all but Jesse. Currently, Jesse is prepared to kill Grodd until Wally explains that it is Grodd’s father causing all the havoc. Grodd leads them to his father where they find the compromised Rogues. Wally takes them out and they all go outside to see Grodd’s father with a lot of compromised townsfolk. Grodd convinces his father that these people are his friends and there seems to be a peaceful resolution until his father is killed by Jesse, who tells Wally he can find Thawne in Kansas, where she is hiding with Brainiac.

ABSOLUTE GREEN ARROW #3 by Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque. Dinah continues her digging into who the Green Arrow killer is, leading to her interrogating Roy Harper, who tells her that Hammond stole Ollie’s body and that Ollie is still alive. Roy breaks into a secure facility while telling Dinah how Hammond bought Tyler Pharmaceuticals to gain access to the super steroid known as Miraclo, which was used to resurrect Ollie. There, they discover one of Hammond’s test subjects: Solomon Grundy.

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #16 by Al Ewing and Sid Kotian. Jonny Double had a dream in which Kari Limbo appeared as purple light telling him that he is going to die and that he needs to tell Jo, who apparently will kill him, that there is something bigger than what she learned from the Oracle. He wakes after receiving a call and heads to the D.E.O. parking lot, where Simon attempts to strangle him, stopping the action by tearing off Simon’s mask and showing him his own face in the rear view mirror, leading to Simon fleeing. Jonny yells to Cameron, telling her he did not betray her to Hammond. In response, she shoots him in the head before heading to his office. Inside the Green Lantern, Tomar Re tells Jo that Mogo is pointed at the Lantern and will destroy them all, condemning the people of Evergreen to death whether she goes with Re’s plan or not. Mogo responds saying it will destroy the Lantern and Rann and the Blackstars. Mogo fires at the Lantern, but Hal creates a force field that blocks the beam. Salakk attacks Hal and tears his heart out but ends up with Kari Limbo telling him that he needs to tell Jo about the Big Black Zero. He wakes and finds that Guy is using his own body to link Hal’s circulatory system with Salakk’s, keeping Hal alive. Katma Tui berates Salakk, telling him that destroying Rann is wasteful. Jo tells Re that Evergreen isn’t the ammo but the weapon. One woman, revealed to be Jessica Cruz gives Jo her own power before she grows to giant size and claims she is on Mogo’s side.

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #12 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. John is dying and Bridget is upset and confused; especially as Despair the Zero tells her she must kill John and save the universe in the process. The Martian arrives and chases Despair the Zero off, arriving at the worldwide conga line, led by a possessed Tyler, with everyone under the influence of the White Martain. The Martian shows John his son in a coffin and then John relives moments in his life, from his birth to when he met Bridget and beyond. All across the known world, the effects are being felt; by Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Bridget tells John the world is falling apart and forces him to use his Martian Vision, allowing him to reconnect with Tyler, which causes the end of Despair-the Zero and the White Martian. In the end, the world rights itself and John looks to be able to repair things with his wife and son.

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #21 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. Before he headed to the moon to fight King Shazam, Superman gave Lois and Jimmy a list of people he helps around the world, so they can take care of them if something happens to him. During the fight, Superman tries to appeal to him to work together, but Shazam refuses and takes back his mace and gains his own Nth metal armor, using the mace to knock Superman through the moon. He says he is no longer Teth-Adam but is Shazam and that triggers his transformation back to Teth-Adam. At the same time, on Earth, Talia uses the Fatherbox to escape her bonds and attacks Lois. When Hawkman arrives, she orders him to kill Lois, but he refuses and takes the Fatherbox. Jimmy runs into the ruined Lazurus Corp basement and shoots Talia in the leg. Teth-Adam begins having trouble breathing and Hawkman arrives and blasts Teth-Adam with lightning from his own mace, then teleports Teth-Adam to an alien planet, where he turns into Shazam again as he is seen by spiked gray aliens. Berating Superman for his own doing what Superman couldn’t, Hawkman flies to Venus as Superman repairs the moon. In the aftermath, Jimmy quits the Planet to go to Thailand and join up with the other Omega Men Lois moves to Smallville to take a job at the Smallville Gazette. John Henry Irons takes up residence on the Kent Farm. Talia is imprisoned and Lois occasionally visits her, reading from the book Superman had given to Ra’s.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #22 by Kelly Thompson and Dillon Snook. Diana is in the Underworld where Circe is being held. Determined to free her, Diana fights against Scylla. Circe manages to free herself and joins the battle. But it ends up being Hecate who dispatches Scylla, then tells Circe and Diana how this was a foolish task and that they should consider their future actions. Meanwhile, Barbara is tempted by Urzkartaga and seemingly accepts an offer for her to become a god like Diana.

ACTION COMICS #1100 by Mark Waid, Joshua Williamson, Dan Slott, Ryan Sook, Daniel Sampere, Skylar Patridge, Dan Mora, and Lucas Meyer. In the past, Superboy, in armor and with sword and shield, battles Epoch while Bruce Gordon is trying to find a way to restore Superboy’s powers. Epoch destroys Gordon’s equipment and tries to kill Superboy, who explains that Epoch would not exist if the past is changed. Epoch says he is protected by a “paradox engine”, but Superboy short circuits Epoch’s armor with one of the cables from Gordon’s machine and that also restores Superboy’s powers. This causes Booster Gold, Mary Marvel, and Martian Manhunter to reappear in the timeline and they defeat Epoch. With Epoch defeated, the heroes journey through the timestream, where Booster, despite the objections of Mary and J’onn, shows glimpses of Superboy’s future to him. They eventually reach the end of time where Superboy saves a person trapped in the singularity. The person he saves is the former King Omega-Superman. As they head to the present, we see Lois having a not-so-fun game night with Supergirl, Conner, Jon, and Thundergirl. When Superboy-Prime arrives, Conner tussles with him. In El Caldero, President Castilho is trying to get control of the Kryptonian fortress he had built. He calls his trusted lieutenant, Bruno, to help him and Bruno attacks Castilho, telling him he is not fit to be king. The Krypto-Knights help Bruno put a Kryptonite mask on Castilho and removes his helmet, revealing his name is Dru-Zod and the Krypto-Knights kneel before Zod. To be continued in SUPERGIRL #16.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: BOOK OF EL #10 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski. Superman is fighting the Unmade Mongul, telling him he did not deserve the fate from Kryl-Ux. Meanwhile, Brainiac-4 is leading Rowan, Ronan, and Osul-Ra to the wreck of a Warzoon ship, which he can control because they use Brainiac technology, and uses a Boom Tube to send them to Superman. On Tamaran, Prince Doukis tries to escape but is caught by Theand’r. A Boom Tube appears and Bryl-Ux arrives, which excites Doukis until he is crushed by Kryl-Ux, forcing Theand’r to surrender. Superman attacks Kryl-Ux until Theand’r orders them to stop, telling Kryl’Ux she will give him the Passion of Olgrun if he promises to leave in peace. He agrees and she hands it over. When the House of El arrives, he grabs the God-Aspect and leaves saying the next meeting with Superman will be their last. Kryl-Ux finds Thularamm and attacks but Kryl-Ux controls the constructs and stabs Thularamm, telling him to help remake the universe or die.

BARBARA GORDON BREAKOUT #3 by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. Barbara is still adjusting to life in prison after numerous beatings. Sparrow keeps feeding her painkillers which bring about horrendous nightmares involving the Grim Reaper. At one point, she notices a strange symbol on the wall of the prison and shifts into another Grim Reaper nightmare, with her falling into the electrified prison fence. As she also struggles with memories of a mission with the Bat Family many years ago, that was actually a trap, she realizes this too is some sort of trap, as a shadowy figure, presumed to be Commissioner Savage, watches it all.

BATGIRL #21 by Tate Brombal and Stephen Segovia. Cassandra remembers Doctor Forget-Me-Not asking her who killed Victoria while also flashing back to training against Victoria. Tenji and Jaya make their way through the GCPD when Bronze Tiger shows up, finding Cassandra’s unconscious body and Victoria’s corpse. As she struggles to remember a particular incident, she discovers who the murderer was: herself.

BATMAN #11 by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez. During a meeting of The Shadow Board, a Mr. Blake is tasked with meeting with The Ojo to tell her that her services are no longer required, leading to her kill Blake by dismembering him. Meanwhile, The Penguin meets with members of the various crime families and has a plan to take down ‘The Minotaur’.  Bruce meets with Dr. Zeller, telling her of his history with Ra’s and Talia. Gordon and Bullock are mourners at Lannie Davis’s funeral, with his widow berating them both. That night, Batman confronts The Ojo, telling her that Zeller is protected, The police arrive and Savage orders them to shoot him, but he escapes. In the end, Verity Pennyworth arrives at one of Batman’s homes, telling him she is his new Majordomo.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #53 by Mark Waid and Adrian Gutierrez. Robin and Mariah deal with Lizardmen, who is slain by her, much to Robin’s disliking it. This villain had super-breath, meaning other of Superman’s powers are still in play. The corrupted Superman and Batman fight against Machiste and Tara. Batman takes Tara out and Machiste is taken down by a Lizardman. In the lair of Tyrant Rex, Shakira has been captured and Tyrant Rex declares that Batman and Superman will secure his exit from Skartaris. Robin unites with Warlord and they attack Tyrant King with Robin purposely engaging in a death-defying fall that snaps the heroes out of their corrupted state. Leading to the villain being defeated.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2026 ANNUAL #1 by Mark Russell, Mark Waid, Tyron Hitch, Clayton Henry, and Pat Boutin. It is Father’s Day and Clark and Bruce are entertaining Jonathan Kent and Alfred at a steakhouse. Alfred does not seem entirely interested while Jonathan is all about enjoying himself and needling Alfred. When Batman gets a distress call regarding The Flash being missing, he leaves, finding Barry in a trap that he is also stuck in; one where either of them attempting to leave will trigger an explosion somewhere in the city that will kill hundreds. Clark gets antsy and he tracks Batman and also gets stuck in the trap. Alfred and Jonathan bond and then go after their “boys”, using Alfred’s SAS skills along with Jonathan’s strength to take out the guards and make their way into the trap, allowing the heroes to escape and deactivate the bombs. In the end, Jonathan says it was his best Father’s Day ever while Alfred says it was his first. In the second tale, Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk mess around with Superman and Batman as Bruce is tasked with watching over Lois and Superman does his best to embarrass the civilian Bruce Wayne, complete with Bruce having to wrestle a pig.

BATWOMAN #5 by Greg Rucka and Dani. Kate is determined to find her sister and she and The Question head to where Despina and Pagona have her and convinced her she is Alice. The Question encounters one of Despina’s guards, leaving Kate to find her sister, who is wearing the spare Batwoman costume. Kate convinces Beth that she is actually Batwoman and she should save her sister, while also explaining that batwoman does not kill. The pair leave but Beth may not have broken free from her Alice persona, if Despina has anything to say about it.

CATWOMAN #89 by Torunn Gronbekk and Davide Gianfelice. Selina has a dilemma: save Slam Bradley or find the bomb planted by the fake Selina and dispose of it. Selina saves Slam while Holly discovers Maggie ina water trap and manages to free her. Of course, Selina and Slam allow themselves to be captured, with her tossing the live grenade at Black Mask.

CLAYFACE: CELEBRITY DIRT #1 by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Fran Galan. In Los Angeles, an assistant brings a new wig to an actress known as Lorna, only to find her having a literal meltdown, as she is made of clay. In Arkham Tower, a doctor meets with an inmate who is a Clayface and insists that he is Basil Karlo, although the doctor informs him that he is not. Later, Clayface escapes, discovering that Basil Karlo is making movies, leading Clayface to question who he really is. Clayface sees a news broadcast, complete with interviews from a reformed Karlo. In the end, “Basil Karlo” kills a woman named Maria.

THE DEADMAN #2 by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. Batman, Plastic Man, and Deadman go on a mission dealing with the Bestiary of Bedlam, which exists in the mind of Tomas Vahrilong. While interrogating him, at Blackgate Prison, Mr. Bloom attacks, killing Plastic Man. While Batman battles Bloom, Deadman calls upon Brahmans to save his life. Bloom explodes with Batman revealing it was actually a vivipary. In the end, Rama Kushna tells Deadman to go the underworld to fight the soul-eaters.

DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR #5 by Tony Fleecs and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Slade accepts a contract from a woman who wants him to kill her husband Dylan. Meanwhile, Deathblow and Deadshot meet with the fake Deathstroke, who has kidnapped Ravager. He finds the target and is preparing to act when the fake Deathstroke kills Dylan, denying Slade his bounty. Slade fights the trio of villains, with the fake Deathstroke revealed as his ex-wife Adeline, who has killed Wintergreen and threatens to kill Rose. In the end, a gunshot goes off. Is Rose dead?

DETECTIVE COMICS #1111 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. In the past, Prion is presented with his own uniform, made for him by Batman. Later, in a sparring session with Dinah, a misplaced blow caused him to have a heart attack and die. In the present, Dinah explains this to Arabella, trying to convince her to leave Rita and go with her but Rita attacks. Arabella stops the attack and she and Dinah flee, meeting up with Batman and Green Arrow, who fly away. Dinah gets a notification that her gym is on fire and the heroes head there. As Batman puts out the fire, Rita confronts him, telling him to turn over Arabella to her or everyone Batman knows will die. He zaps her with an EMP and hands the egg to her which breaks the brainwashing she has been subject to for the last decade. Batman decides he needs to find the people responsible.

DETECTIVE COMICS 2026 ANNUAL #1 by Tom Taylor, Dave Wielgosz, Nicola Scott, and Fran Mariscal. Batman is enjoying a nice tea and toasting to his departed friend Alfred when Lobo shows up to arrest Batman for a murder he did not commit. During their fight, Batman tosses the heart of a shrunken yellow dwarf star down Lobo’s throat and threatens to blow him up with the push of a button. Together, they go off to the planet Durghan where Batman interrogates people, leading them to the Burghanian president. When they go to investigate the body of the slain king, the president infects them with a Black Mercy. This leads to Bruce ending up in a dream where he is married to Selina, has two children named Helena and Damian, and his parents are still alive. He manages to push himself out of the dream, freeing Lobo from his own. Batman goes home on Lobo motorbike while Lobo gets a dose of Black Mercy, where he visualizes himself as a space dolphin. In the second tale, Batman teams up with the citizens of Carol Street to rid themselves of Professor Pyg. 

EMPEROR AQUAMAN #19 by Jeremy Adams and Paolo Villanelli. Aquaman returns to Earth and is greeted by Batman and Wonder Woman, telling him they need to talk. He meets with members of the Justice League on the Watchtower, where he tells them he has not told them about his new powers as he had seen “the end” coming. He then tells the members that, if he turned evil, there is nothing any of them could do about it. Meanwhile, outside of Atlantis, Mera, Vivienne, and Lori spot the Manta-Sub, overpower the guards and investigate, finding Lolanna speaking with Manta, Siren and Ocean Master, among others, where Lolanna has a plan to attack Aquaman the next time her goes off-world. The trio is attacked and captured by Scavenger, except for Vivienne who manages to teleport away. Hila tries to murder Mera but Manta stops her, saying Mera is more useful as a hostage. Vivienne teleports into the Manta-Sub and takes control, freeing the others. They teleport to the area of the Curry Lighthouse and Mera warns Arthur, along with Jackson and Garth, that her mother is coming. That is when Poseidon arrives and says Aquaman has angered him.

THE FLASH #35 by Ryan North and Gavin Guidry. Heat Wave has managed to find the once sunken HMS Bulldog and claims Maritime Law allows him to salvage it. But a quick check by Wally reveals he cannot salvage it because it is considered to be an historically significant ship, leading to the villain to attack. Wally disarms him and convinces him to sell his story of how he found the ship. Later, he meets with Mr. Terrific, as Wally continues to figure out his predicting powers. Hye takes Linda with him as he goes to a bank and, with his new powers, is able to stop Captain Boomerang from a heist in rather humorous fashion. Having saved everyone and everything in Central City, Wally turns his attention to Metropolis with plans to do the same there.

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #4 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre. Lorraine meets with Stein, who reveals that Will Magnus, Simon Stagg, Niles Caulder, and himself had been working together on The Superman Project. She accuses him of grooming Ronnie and then asks if he was responsible for her creation, with him admitting that he engineered the “accident” that created her. He shows her a device he has created that he believes should contain the matrix and, with the huge device strapped to the roof of her car, they head to Pittsburgh, where a giant obelisk is in the center of the city, with soldiers saying that Firestorm is in there.

GREEN LANTERN #37 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. A streamer is playing video games in her apartment and gets killed by an unseen assailant he believed was delivering his food. Later, Kyle and Odyssey are watching news coverage of the movie premiere, with her being upset by all the negative comments left on her social media. Kyle decides to answer those comments which only makes things worse. After fourteen hours of answering the comments, he gives up and goes to breakfast with Jade. Odyssey gets a visit from a stranger and gets kidnapped, with the assailant calling Kyle to arrange a meeting to save Odyssey’s life. Kyle and Jade confront Odyssey’s kidnapper who is revealed to be an actual troll named Zmora who feed off negativity from the internet. Kyle uses a construct to cut up Zmora but the troll survives and is stopped only after Osyssey reveals Excalibur. After visiting with General Frankenstein at S.H.A.D.E. Headquarters, Major Force arrives and demands Zmora be released to him. Meanwhile, Hal and Jayna, stuck in outer space, finally get their ship working again, thanks to Tobi, and head off to the source of Hal’s visions.

 

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #18 by Morgan Hampton and Fernando Pasarin. At the Citadel, Guy and Jessica argue about how to proceed when Jo lets them know that they need to enact Oan defense protocol against the Manhunters. Guy and Jessica end up in the Emotional Expanse so they can speak directly to the Emotional Entities. Jo bands the Lanterns together to create a massive robot from the various parts of the emotional spectrum to fight against the Manhunters. But it may be too late for Jessica and Guy as the Manhunters, led by a corrupted Aya, want the entities inside Guy or they will kill Jessica.