The NEW 52, Month 35, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ANNUAL #2: Zatanna and Constantine meet in Paris, although she is suspicious that he is trying to take back the House of Mystery and Justice League Dark. Catching him in a number of lies, she accuses him of trying to manipulate her and she leaves. Later, he shows up at her door, insisting that he truly loves her. They kiss and he soon finds himself in what he believes is another dimension or some twisted version of the House of Mystery. He frees himself from the allure of a strange book containing many of his secrets. A mysterious woman arrives and introduces herself as the House of Secrets. Zatanna wakes to find that the rest of Justice League Dark has been transported here against their wills. A man appears and introduces himself as the House of Mystery. He tells them he has come to stop the destruction of humanity that he says will be brought on by his sister, the House of Secrets. Meanwhile, Constantine is told that the House of Mystery is manipulating the inhabitants and that she has been raising an army to defeat her brother. Suddenly, Frankenstein, Andrew Bennett, Black Orchid, and Madame Xanadu appear and are told they have been brought here to stop the House of Mystery. As the two Houses approach each other, the team learns that both were in alliance and have formed a new house called the House of Wonders and used the love between Constantine and Zatanna to make it happen. Soon the House will control all of the houses and minds on Earth. Xanadu explains that John and Zatanna need to use the K'am'deva curse to erase their love. For one, it will be like it never existed. For the other: they will remember it forever. Swamp Thing and Deadman attack the House and possess it, allowing Xanadu to perform the curse. John and Zatanna decide who will remember and she shoves her fist into his chest, tearing his heart out. The House of Wonders is blown apart and the team is pulled into the vortex. Constantine discovers he has been sent back to Earth, telling himself that he never really cared for her although she will always remember the truth.

J.M. DeMatteis and the legendary Klaus Janson combine on this tale of trickery and heartbreak. And with that being said, it was pretty darned good, although I could have used a bit less of the drama at the end with Z and John suffering through their heartbreak. As expected with Janson, the art was great and DeMatteis kept the action moving while revealing bits of plots for futures issues. Because, you know, this does continue into JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #35.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #35: The team has used a curse to destroy the House of Wonders which consumes Constantine and send the rest of the team hurtling through time and space. Zatanna finds herself in a dreamlike landscape where she meets up with her long dead father Giovanni Zatara, who saves her from a monster and implores her to go back to sleep. When she wakes, Zatara  is called to breakfast by her father and sits with her mother Sindella and a child version of herself. Her father explains he believes they are 6 billion years in the past and had been transported here from 1992. "Dorothy", as she refers to herself, and her father fly off on his magic carpet as he explains about his family’s time here and how he has no idea how long that has been, as they never age. She decides to search for her team and finds them. Constantine kisses her and, realizing it’s only an illusion, she returns to her father’s cottage where he now realizes his family has also been only an illusion. They are again attacked by the mome-raths and Zatanna flashes back to her childhood when she dreamed of fighting the same monsters. She finally realizes that realizes that everything here is manifested from her own memories. Crying, her father says he can no longer stay with her with and that she needs to find her way home. The world she has been in disappears and all that remains is the vortex and Zatanna. Meanwhile, the rest of the team have reached the end of wherever they truly are.

J.M. DeMatteis and Tom Derenick pick up where JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ANNUAL  #2 left off. With the team lost in space, it’s up to Zatanna to reunite them or die trying. Not a bad issue, but not the best in the series. Apparently, there is enough interest in the series to cause it to become a big enough blip on the movie radar to put it into production. We shall see how much that news affects sales on this title.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #10: The team has escaped from the Five and made their way to Camelot Nine, seeking the help of Arthur and his followers. Since King Arthur is not too thrilled to have the Five come to his peaceful world, the Justice League 3000 begins to set a trap for when the Five arrive. When they get to Camelot Nine, they are immediately greeted by Etrigan and his army of demons which leads to a fight before the Five can teleport out of that room and into the one where the League is waiting. Both teams battle, leading The Five being defeated, Coeval retreating and Terry being beat up by his sister. With the battle won, it may be time for the team to think about establishing a headquarters-one Camelot Nine.

Well, it’s nice to see that Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Howard Porter can continue along the same wacky road they have been travelling since issue #1. This book is so much fun to wade through, especially when you break down the individual NEW personalities of the World’s Greatest Heroes. I love that Superman is so full of himself that it must be next to impossible for him, to get his head through most doors! And they promise a big surprise for next issue and, knowing what Giffen and DeMatteis have done in the past, I am psyched and afraid at the same time because, outside of dropping Ambush Bug, I have no idea who could make this book even wilder.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #5: Martian Manhunter has taken Ultra to Earth, where the team meets Miiyahbin and Heather. Miiyahbin explains that Whitagos are monsters that were once people. Hawkman, who is supposed to be dead, has triggered Green Arrow’s transmitter leading Oliver to head a team to the Polaris System, where they find the beacon is coming from a bounty hunter bar. Meanwhile Alanna, Miiyahbin and Heather go to learn more about Miiyahbin’s powers. Miiyahbin says her word of power and transforms into Equinox, causing her grandmother to explain they are Midayos and have the power to be protectors of the land. She also explains that Miiyahbin's father lost to the Whitago and that it cannot be destroyed-only stopped from harming others. Miiyahbin and Alanna go to the cave and are attacked by the Whitago. Miiyahbin reaches out to her father’s spirit, who apologizes to her and fades back to the spirit world. They return to J'onn and discover Ultra can speak and is warning them that someone is coming. And that someone comes crashing through the bunker in the form of the Mon-El, who says he must kill Ultra or the Legion of Super-Heroes will die.

Well, it’s nice to see the legion region to comics, courtesy of Jeff Lemire and Timothy Green II. The previous incarnation in the NEW 52 left me extremely disappointed and I hope that Lemire won’t mess things up. I mean, I do come from the Jim Shooter era and the runs that followed it, so I am pretty picky when it gets to the Legion. Making sure this teams is in top shape is a pretty tall order to ask for. All we need now is the Legion Lost. Oh wait…maybe I’m speaking too soon!

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED ANNUAL #1: Picking up where JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #5 left off, Mon-El has broken into the team’s headquarters to kill Ultra. Equinox manages to freeze him in a block of ice. As Martian Manhunter attempts to gain Mon-El’s identity and purpose from his mind, Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl stop him. On the Plexus-6 Pleasure Station, the rest of the team is looking for Hawkman and Supergirl catches up with the person carrying Hawkman’s transmitter. He reveals that Hawkman's body was being kept on one of the moons of Thanagar by a priest named Byth. Brainiac 5 explains that they have used a Time Bubble to return from the 31st Century where a being called Infinitus has been consuming planets like Thanagar and Psion While defending Rann, Shadow Lass was wounded badly. Brainiac had discovered that  Infinitus energy signature matched Ultra’s. On the moon of Ryngor, Supergirl and the others company have arrived and so has Byth. He has revived Hawkman and brainwashed him to attack the team. Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 explains that he is prepared to use the next 24 hours to figure out how Ultra becomes Infinitus. If that can’t be done, the rest of the Legion will come to this time and destroy Ultra. Green Arrow appears via hologram to say that Hawkman is alive and that Byth wants Ultra. The League battles Byth, he explains that this has happened before and he has sent a Cadre to Earth to get Ultra. On Ryngor, Supergirl and the others see that Byth has opened a doorway and is ready to implement the birth of Infinitus.

Jeff Lemire and Neil Edwards continue this tale of the potential origin of Infinitus and continue to make good use of the Legion. Sure, some of the dialogue is a little on the corny side, but it is better than the last time we saw these characters. I honestly can’t wait to get into the next issue to see where we go with these folks. And, I’ll say it again: can the Legion Lost be far behind?

KLARION #1: Somewhere at the crossroads of the Multiverse, Klarion finds himself hitching a ride to Earth in a sweet looking Mustang driven by Beelzebub the barber. Klarion  has left Witchworld after he disintegrated his teacher because the smashed Klarion’s hands with a ruler. Landing on Earth, Klarion helps a boy named Rasp, who is also a witch, from being beat up by two other kids. He asks Klarion to move in with him at The Moody Museum, where he hopes to be a Sous Chef. And he also carries around his dead cat Teekl, who he keeps in a jar of formaldehyde. Later, Klarion discovers that the first rule of magic is “don’t hurt anyone…not even a bird.” Later that night, Klarion takes Rasp’s lady friend Zell to the Neapolitan Club which leads to a fight between Rasp and Klarion. While they battle, the cook from The Moody Museum(Noah) and the landlady(Piper) discuss what might happen when Klarion and Zell become a couple.

I can tell you what might happen: they’ll cast a spell on this title and we will all forget this ever existed. What a monumental pile of festering doogie poop! Ann Nocenti and Trevor McCarthy has taken one of my favorite Jack Kirby characters and turned him into something completely unrecognizable and totally unreadable. He hitches a ride to Earth in a Mustang driven by Beelzebub, makes friends with another witch, goes to work as a sous chef, meets the hot girl and gets into a fight. And Teekl is dead in a jar? Okay-so I’ll forget how creepy this guy was in THE DEMON and how cool and creepy he was on the BRAVE AND THE BOLD cartoon and realize this is the one and only Klarion from now on. HELL NO! This is possibly the worst thing I have read all year. Oh wait…there IS our next entry!

LOBO #1: The book begins with the NEW 52 Lobo talking to the decapitated head of the “Classic”Lobo: The Main Man. Lobo passes out and dreams of his past. He is painting and romancing the daughter of the kinf of Czarnia and that soon dissolves into a vision of everyone turned into zombies. When he awakens, Rhialla assigns him to kill eight of the universe’s most deadly assassins before they can kill their target on Earth visits him. Arriving on Earth, he meets Gus and then proceeds to battle and decimate most of the aliens (except for the monster dogs, because he doesn’t kill dogs). He returns to Gus, cuts off all of his arms, gets his information and decapitates him. He still has an army of assassins to kill and that takes him to…Florida.

Let it be said: this is NOT MY LOBO! Cullen Bunn and Reilly Brown deliver an ultra violent, metrosexual Lobo. The Lobo I know and love killed everyone on Czarnia. I think this one killed them all with his ridiculous bondage inspired outfit and his even more ridiculous Duran Duran inspired haircut. This book is such a mess and I’m insulted about what has been done with the coolest bounty hunter in comics. The thing I love the most about this book is Brown’s art which I’m sure is totally enhanced by Pete Pantazis’ color work. I will give this title an issue or two, just to see where our guy ends up. But I don’t see this book as being long for this world.

NEW 52 FUTURE’S END #22-25: In issue 22, Jason Rusch meets with Dr. Yamazake who believes that the Justice League is hoarding their special technologies and he wants his transporter ready as soon as possible because no one can trust the League anymore. At the Wounded Duck, Cal turns Billy Batson away because he is underage when Ronnie Raymond arrives to apologize for his previous bad behavior. In Las Vegas, Voodoo, Mercy and company find that breaking into a building was way too easy, which means to keep their guard up. At the same time, Justin hacks into Cadmus to see what they have on his partners. In New York, Terry McGinnis explains everything to Plastique including how the world will be wiped out in thirty years. She offers to help him just so she doesn’t end up as the creature she saw. In the Huron System, The Engineer explains to the S.H.A.D.E. agents that the Collector doesn’t know where to put them. When they ask who their captor, she shows them the Blood Moon where Brainiac is. That is when Ray Palmer and Black Adam arrive.

In issue #23, Ray Palmer and Black Adam help the S.H.A.D.E. agents in fighting off Brainiac's robots. Adam calls on the lighting to allow them to escape while reminding Ray that he promised to get Adam back to Earth. In Central Park, Madison Payne runs into Ronald Raymond, who offers her a cup of coffee to apologize for his recent bad behavior. Unknown to them, Tim, has been watching her from behind a tree. In Las Vegas, Voodoo and her company meet with Sgt. Rock, who admits that he sent people after them in order to get them to him. Mercy realizes Rock is working for  Faraday and he wants them to take out Fifty Sue. Thirty years from now, Michael Holt learns that Brother Eye has created someone to go back in time to find and hunt Terry: he has merged Bruce Wayne with the Joker.

In issue #24, The Engineer is returned to her old self by Hawkman but there are so many  robots it looks like they may tear the ship apart. On Cadmus Island, Scott Free has been able to remove the implant that had been controlling him and does the same for Fury. Scott now plans to find a way to remove Brother Eye's programming from the island. At Columbia University, Madison hears Ronnie’s tale of woe as he heads off to watch a football game. Tim Drake comes out of the shadows to apologize, which she is not willing to accept. Elsewhere, Dr. Yamazake is becoming suspicious that Jason is trying to sabotage his attempts to create a teleportation device. In Africa, the entity appears, killing Tommy and torturing Midge. Superman arrives to save Constantine’s life.

In issue #25, The Engineer discovers that the navigational system for the ship is destroyed. If they jump, they could end up anywhere in the Multiverse, but they do indeed jump. On Cadmus Island, Fifty Sue shows off her secret bunker. Deathstroke explains that Brother Eye still controls the teleportation system and King Faraday, unable to hide HIS super-human ability, teleports away and strands the others there. In Africa, Superman battles Brainiac in Africa. But with Brainiac’s defeat, Constantine tells Superman that all he has done is send the real Brainiac a gauge of his abilities and offers to take him to him. At Columbia University, Madison and Ronnie hear of a Tsunami warning for Samoa. Ronnie seeks out Jason, who refuses to become Firestorm, forcing Ronnie to leave the lab. But Doctor Yamazake was watching all of this by webcam and now knows that Ronnie and Jason are Firestorm. Now he is completely convinced that Jason has been sabotaging the experiments in the name of the Justice League.

Four more issues of futuristic goodness courtesy of Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen with art by Patrick Zircher, Aaron Lopresti, and Jesus Merino. I realize that all of this future stuff will probably reset following CONVERGENCE but, for now, I’m loving this alternate future something fierce!

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #3: Deadshot has been found alive and he is brought to the Russian general who orders his team to divert the rest of the Suicide Squad and deny the existence of the Rocket Red Brigade. Black Manta is too bust trying to keep Harley Quinn and Joker's Daughter from killing each other. Amanda Waller and Vic Sage call and Sage demands they don’t look for Deathstroke but track down the Rocket Red Brigade. Harley finally knocks out Joker's Daughter, leading Manta to decide that he and Harley should search for Deadshot. Sage orders Waller to set off the nanobomb in Manta's head for disobedience and she refuses, giving Manta Deadshot's location instead. Meanwhile, Deadshot is being tortured for refusing to give up the rest of the Squad’s locations. The man giving the orders: Deathstroke.

You have really gotta love Slade Wilson. One minute, he’s a rotten bastard and the next…he a rotten bastard for the bad guys!  Sean Ryan and Tom Derenick bang out another cool issue in the new series, which really should have just stayed the OLD SERIES with the numbers continuing but, we won’t go there. Anyway, I love this series and the continuing oddball cast of characters. And hey: we’re gonna get a movie out of this franchise, so everyone rejoice!

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #35: We begin with Jason by a badly burned Roy Harper’s bedside. From there, we go back to four days earlier when the pair discovered the remains of an intergalactic slave trader that Starfire was after. After cleaning up the mess and eliminating the evidence, they search for and find Kori, who appears in some sort of a trance. She awakens from it and the next morning observe her to make sure she is normal. Man-Bat contacts Jason to tell him that S.H.A.D.E. has come across evidence that exonerates her. Not long after, the team is in New Orleans searching for a terrorist only to find they have been set up. As the team battles, Jason discovers each of their enemies have devices attached to them that seems to contain Venom and considers using it to help get him through the battle. Kori leaves the battle, forcing Roy to find her. She admits that she is weak and needs to go away and, as she blasts off, the explosion from within her lights Roy on fire.

This title continues on it’s up and down, uneven ride. Scott Lobdell and Geraldo Borges(with inking by the legendary Paul Neary) presents one of the better issues in the run. There is a bit of confusion regarding Kori’s problem and what happened to the slaver. And there are a few plot holes too, like how it took them two issues of drama to get to the point where they are going after the terrorist in New Orleans. But, as a rule, this was a fun issue. Let’s put it this way: if it was the first issue I had ever read, I would be convinced to hang with it and move it to a proper spot on my read list. Nicely done!

RED LANTERN #35: Previously reviewed as part of the GODHEAD review

SECRET ORIGINS #6: In the first story, we see an youthful Princess Diana of Themyscira sparring with Aleka, who is surprised that a princess like Diana one day wishes to leave Paradise Island. Diana recalls how she had often been called clay, as an insult to her “birth”. But what she never knew was that Hippolyta had actually mated with Zeus and hid the truth to protect Diana from Zeus’ wife, Hera  Aleka became angry with Diana, wanting to know how she could turn her back on her sisters. That night, Diana received a visit from the goddess Athena, who explained that Diana’s journey from Paradise Island would be a struggle but she would support her. Meanwhile, Captain Steve Trevor found his plane going out of control and crashed on Paradise Island. Diana discovered him and brought him back to the Amazons. While she faced serious resistance from her mother and sisters, Athena reminded her of her faith in Diana.

In the second tale, Gary and Barbara Brand  tormented their son Boston with their constant fighting and bickering. Boston wished he could fly off to a magical land. But when he realized that would never happen, he attacked his parents and left, never to come back. Eventually, after much wandering, he the circus and became a skilled acrobat. But he also carried the anger he felt with his parents and became dependent on alcohol. He adopted the guise of Deadman, which seemed to fit his nature. Then one night, he was shot  and met Rama, who allowed him to live on as a spirit who could do good for others. He followed Rama’s directions until the Son of Morning painted her as more dangerous than she had seemed. At his parents’ grave, Brahma Dass, who offered him a chance to move on or stay on Earth to help those he could, visited him. Deadman decided to go back to Earth and, before he began his missions, forgive his parents.

In the final tale, we see a young Thaal Sinestro playing with blocks, which led to his interest in archaeology and ancient ruins. While on an exploration, he found a crashed spacecraft and a dying Prohl Gosgotha who gave Sinestro his ring. No sooner did that happen than a Weaponer of Qward, forcing Sinestro to put the ring on and transforming him into a Green Lantern, attacked him. When the battle was over, Prohl Gosgotha demanded that Sinestro return the ring, but he kept it for himself and traveled to Oa where he became what he believed was the greatest of all the Green Lanterns. He trained Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern, and they became best friends. But Sinestro’s lust for control led him to give his daughter up and use his powers to police Korugar. But the resistance of Korugar took his wife and his friends in the Corps called him tyrant. He was banished to the planet Qward, where he forged an alliance against the Guardians of the Universe and forged a yellow ring. Leaveing Qward, he fought with the Guardians and with the person he hated the most, Hal Jordan. Over time, he corrupted Hal with his yellow ring and formed his own yellow-based army. The Guardians destroyed Korugar before Sinestro made them pay.

This was a mixed bag of tales. The Wonder Woman piece, by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, art by Goran Sudzuka, followed the revamped origin we have had handed to us over the last three years but also added some new pieces, specifically the inclusion of Athena and Steve Trevor. The Deadman story by J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Stokes was the weakest of the three, spending too much time on the previously unknown issues with Boston Brand’s parents. My favorite tale was the Sinestro story by Cullen Bunn And Igor Lima. While it managed to tread over much of the story that we already knew, it did so in a new light and added a bit of history regarding his childhood and the discovery of his Green Lantern ring. Each month goes by and I wonder if this title is worth the five bucks we are being charge. But when I hit a two good tales vs. one fair one, I guess I can swallow that.

SINESTRO #6: Previously reviewed as part of the GODHEAD review

STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #3: G.I. Zombie has set a missile towards an animal hospital in Sutterville, Tennessee which is having disastrous results on the animals. A pair of cops at the animal hospital are attacked by a dog and one of the men behave as if he has acquired rabies. Jared now understands that this is a biological attack with a very short incubation period. He puts a call to Gravedigger, who is tracking the missile's trajectory now that he has busted the terrorists who fired it, with the bad news. A doctor at the hospital named Pam note that it appears the bitten man has gone into hibernation. Jared seeks out the mayor of town and tells him they need to quarantine the place. He heads towards the south bridge when infected people overrun him. Meanwhile, Carmen, still posing as “Tiffany”, continues to head west with one of the terrorist scientists and a virus. The scientist claims that the rocket contains a payload guaranteed to end life as they know it.

Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Scott Hampton continue to pepper this “war title” with more zombie action than you can shake a stick at! We have zombies, terrorists, more zombies, hot looking women and even more zombies! I’m sure there will be some necrophilia down the road in a tasteful, comic book kind of way. What else could I expect from this crazy creative team. After all: how cool was ALL STAR WESTERN?

SUPERMAN #35: Superman and Ulysses are still dealing with the Machinist, who caused Ulysses to commit murder by taking control of Neil's voluntary functions. Even thought the victim was already dead when Ulysses “killed” him, Superman warns him never to use his powers like that against someone ever again. They head to the North Atlantic, where the Machinist sits on a freighter waiting for his customer to arrive, and lift the ship out of the water. The Machinist sends his giant robotic crows to attack them, which the pair quickly defeat. Ulysses gets frustrated by Superman’s belief of not destroying all the weapons of the world but to stop the people selling them. Ulysses flies off and Superman gets caught in the Machinist’s self-destructing blast. Back at the Daily Planet, Ulysses' appears on every TV screen in the country, revealing his real name, place of birth, and origin story. He also reveals that he sees the Earth is full of hate and offers the opportunity for six million to join him in the Fourth Dimension.

You now: when this guy showed up I didn’t exactly like him or trust him, as he reminded me so much of a certain blonde haired, John Romita Jr. illustrated character known as The Sentry. Well, Geoff Johns and Romita are back at it again with a seemingly innocent superhero who may have more of an agenda than we first dreamed. While I am finding this series to be running a bit long and hoped that the Johns/Romita era would hit with a bang instead of a slow build, I still find it far more satisfying than the last creative team

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #12: After defeating Giganta at London's Wembley Stadium, Wonder Woman gets the surprise of Superman’s return and their kiss ends up on the jumbo screen. Several months ago, Clark gave Diana a Kryptonian flower from the Fortress of Solitude that needed to be fed with cooking oil. But with everything happening, it never got fed and now has transformed into a hungry monster which makes its way to a gas station and feeds on gas and oil. The creature makes its’ way into a reservoir that leads to the pipeline feeding most of the United Kingdom. Superman gives Diana attitude about not feeding the gift and look what has happened. She too returns the favor and realizes something is affecting both of them, causing them to act this way. She heads to Mount Olympus where she finds the conflict between the couple has been caused by Strife. Superman gets Swamp Thing to communicate with it and soon the flower returns to normal. In the end, they sit on the Cliffs of Dover where they admit that some of what they said they meant, despite Strife’s involvement.

I still haven’t figured out if I have any kind of good feelings about two of the most powerful beings in the universe being together in a romantic way. Sorry, I’m spent way to many years with Lois and chasing after Superman and then she and Clark being together at last. I love Charles Soule’s writing and I’m okay with Jack Hebert’s art. I just have a hard time with this soap opera involving the world’s mightiest heroes.

SWAMP THING ANNUAL #3: After defeating some monsters in the swamp, Capucine admits that they came for her. She passes out and is carried into the house where Guarav and Alec care for her. She explains that her thousand years are coming to an end. She asks him to tell her a story that will make her laugh. He tells of  his going into a movie theatre to see a movie and after five minutes, the police were called and the theatre was evacuated. But he did admit that the five minutes of the movie he saw was awful. She admits that she doesn’t want to continue her life, but wishes that he finds a way to keep Etrigan from taking it. Alec exchanges bodies with Capucine to trick Etrigan. The demon insists that Capucine is evil and always has been, relating the tale of many of her thousand years, including being known as the "The Murder Poet". He tells Alec that everything Capucine has ever done regarding Alec was to manipulate him. But Capucine, in Swamp Thing’s body, has figured out how to control plants and traps Etrigan within a tree. She also tells the demon that it was his dark magic that turned her into a killer and offers up a bargain. Returning to her body, and Alec to his, he offers to tell her another story. He opens a place for her within The Green and she can find peace with Brother Jonah there. He carries her over to the glade and drops her into Brother Jonah's arms.

Charles Soule gives us a wonderfully touching ending to the story of Capucine with the help of artists Javier Piña, Ryan Browne, Dave Bullock, Yanick Paquette. In the end, she changes her evil ways, avoids the everlasting touch of Etrigan and settles peacefully in the Green with Brother Jonah. A beautiful, touching story. Poor Alec: he’s lost her and Abby. Now what?

SWAMP THING #35: The Calculus begs Swamp Thing to open the wall of trees that is hiding The Wolf's remains. He agrees and finds that they are alone, as The Calculus has made all the people go away by issuing a fake news story about a Cat. 5 hurricane coming. The Calculus believe they can run The Green and don’t want him to give up his role as Avatar. He is tempted by the offer but demands The Calculus leave. Alec returns to the Grove where he asks Brother Jonah how new kingdoms are born, based on meeting someone who represents the kingdom of machines. Jonah responds that Alec must wipe them out at once or the only thing that will remain is dust and then returns to the Green to prepare for the inevitable war that is coming. Alec goes to the Arctic and discovers a fortress called Servus where it seems the machines are preparing to invade the Grove.

Charles Soules and Jesus Saiz continue on the road to the end of their final story arc and it seems that this war won’t end well. It’s another well-written, well-crafted tale from Soules who will totally be missing from the DC lineup when he competes all his work and does his writing exclusively for Marvel. Saiz’ art gets better with each and every issue and I can only hope that he will continue on this series once Soules is gone.

TEEN TITANS #3: Raven is dancing at a club in the Bowery when the singer in the band notices her and proceeds to call her out. From there, almost everyone in the club comes to her, some saved by her and others just inspired by her. Suddenly, the terrorist who was responsible for events in the first two issues arrives and begins to battle. Raven calls for help from her teammates, including Beast Boy and Bunker who just finished taking out a mugger in Battery Park. The rest of the team arrives and Cassie, upon learning that the terrorist is truly a robot, smashes it into millions of pieces.  Later, josiah Power from S.T.A.R. Labs arrives to investigate, unaware he is being watched by Manchester Black and…the previously mentioned terrorist who is no longer destroyed.  The team eat a late night snack while Cassie’s mom warns her that the streets are filled with roving gangs of girls dressed like Wonder Girl. One of those gangs confronts her mom as the team decides if they should help Red Robin investigate S.T.A.R. Labs. They should have joined him as the robot terrorist arrives and, knocking him out, prepares to eliminate him.

Will Pfeifer and Kenneth Rocafort continue their revamp of this book which should never have been cancelled in the first place. If they had just replaced the creative team, which they have done, and continued the numbering, all would be right with the world. While not anywhere near the classic Teen Titans that existed before the NEW 52, it is a far better book than the last run was. And luckily, this issue seems to downplay the whole social media connection that the first issue boasted. While not a great read, it has gotten better since issue #1, so they get a little more time from me.

TRINITY OF SIN #1: The Question, who really has no idea who he is after all these centuries, is about to have a deep conversation with his landlady when the landlady turns into a creature named Ya’Aka. Meanwhile, The Phantom Stranger and Terrance Thirteen are in Golden Gate Park battling a gigantic green ghost in Golden Gate Park. The Stranger learns that the ghost is a manifestation of a boy who was murdered and buried in this spot over thirty years ago. With his divine powers, he frees the boy and allows his spirit to go to Heaven. Suddenly, Thirteen is stabbed through the chest with a flaming sword by a female serpent creature named Zalkoat. Meanwhile, Pandora is enjoying the beaches of Southern India when a giant water monster named Sydenn attacks her. The three heroes manage to defeat or evade their demons and all end up on the beach, where the toll in lives is devastating. The Question leaves to mourn his landlady while The Stranger and Pandora attend to Thirteen’s body and decide to investigate a way to save his soul. The pair heads off into space to meet some birdlike creature that may be named Nimraa.

Wow! This is REALLY AWFUL! This is a worse read than the two previous TRINITY titles COMBINED! J.M. DeMatteis delivers a title that just wallows in emptiness. We still don’t kow who The Question is and frankly don’t believe this book will be around long enough to answer that for us. The Phantom Stranger is still a man on a mission who needs to grow a set of testicles. And Pandora? She goes off to the beach because her deceased mentor Marcus thought it would be good for her soul. The art by Yvel Guichet is the best part of the book, even if it looks an awfully lot like the art stylings that dominated TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA. DC: why oh why do your replace awful books with worse ones?

WONDER WOMAN #34: With Wonder Woman seeming to be dead, the First Born brings his war to Themyscira. Zola tries to find a place to hide herself and Zeke and runs into Hera, who refuses to help as now her immortality has been restored and Zola and Zeke are no longer her concern. The First Born  and his army become encased in stone at the hands as Milan appears and takes Orion and Artemis into a Boom Tube. Meanwhile, we learn that Diana IS alive and has a conversation with her predecessor Ares. Diana admits she cannot give up the fight as the vision fade and she sees that she has been speaking with Strife. Strife toasts her failure and Diana decides it is best she die and find peace at last. Strife will have none of that, drags Diana into the pool of blood, and then drops her at the stone feet of Hippolyta. Orion arrives and tries to heal Diana’s wounds, but the First Born has also arrived and interrupts that. Diana distracts him with the robot army of Hephaestus and Eros and begins to search for Zola. About to be attacked by Cassandra and the hyena warriors, Hera arrives, turning the Hyenas to crystal, and knocking Cassandra unconscious. Diana decides it may be time for the last born to take the throne of Olympus. Diana takes Zeke from Zola to place him on the throne. That is when Poseidon rises from the pool of blood.

And thus begins the penultimate chapter in the epic story that Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang has brought to us over the last three years. And this truly has been an epic that has polarized fans like never before. People who were polarized by J. Michael Strazinski are now wishing he was back on this title. Personally, anyone who has read my reviews from Day One know how much love I have for this book. I think that Azzarello is a great writer and have had much respect for his work, especially his 100 BULLETS work. But this is just on an entirely different level. And Cliff Chiang? Great stuff! One more issue to go and I will admit that I will be sorry to see this part of the ride end.

WONDER WOMAN #35: Poseidon has decided to claim the throne for himself in the First Born's absence. He demands Zeke be given to him and he causes Diana to drop Zeke. Zola begins to transform and she uses her talons to cut Poseidon, sending him back into the pool of blood. The First Born arrives, thrusting a spear into Hermes while the Minotaur knocks Diana unconscious. The First Born decides to throw Zeke into the void as Diana wakes. He orders the Minotaur to kill Diana off, but it remembers that she had shown it mercy in the labyrinth, causing the First Born to kill the Minotaur. Diana drops her bracelets to the ground, saying all she needs to defeat him is herself. Hermes teleports away Diana’s friends, saving them from being tossed into the void. She wraps him in the Lasso of Truth to show him the true meaning of love and compassion. Zola and Hermes carry Zeke up to the throne and he begins to with generate electricity. A bolt of lightning splits the earth where Diana and the First Born are fighting. He lands safely, but Diana barely holds on, begging him to give her his hand. If he saves her, they will be suffering forever. He does so, but she throws him in saying it is tough love and a lesson for him for the next seven thousand years of solitude. Diana returns to the throne to find that Zola is actually the goddess Athena. This was Zeus’ plan all along that would result in Diana becoming a God. Now, Zeus, in the form of Zeke, is back on the throne. Diana begs Athena not to eliminate the Zola persona, eventually she concedes, allowing Zola to remain human, and Athena returns to the form of an owl.

And thus the epic ends, not with a whimper but with a well crafted bang. I have nothing more to say about this. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang have created a series that will set a very high bar for the creative team to follow. This will be talked about and examined by comic scholars for years to come. Thank you for all the great memories!

WORLDS’ FINEST #27: As Lois Lane and the New Wonders fight for the survival of Earth 2, she tells the origins of Suprman and Batman. Jor-El tries to save Krypton by creating a gravity well that will restore their yellow sun. Unfortunately, he didn’t ignite the sun, he destabilized it which leads to the certain destruction of Krypton. As the El’s plan for their death, Intri of Apokolips arrives with an offer to save the world in exchange for taking the baby Kal-El to become a Lord of Apokolips. Jor-El turns her down and sends her away, ordering Lara to get Kara and Val so they can be placed in an experimental rocket before the planet explodes. Meanwhile, on Earth, Thomas Wayne has decided he no longer is going to work for Frankie Falcone. They met and Frankie explains how he wants to put pressure on the father of a very young Alan Scott and needs Thomas’ hospital badge to make that happen. Wayne refuses and beats up Falcone threatening to sent him to prison for decades if he ever touches his son.

With Power Girl and The Huntress on Earth 2 fighting to save their world, that leaves this book in search of characters to populate it. And so, Superman and Batman step in, just as they used to be in the old days. I found the story interesting, especially now learning that Jor-El caused the destruction of Krypton and that there is an early connection between the Waynes and Alan Scott. Paul Levitz and Jed Dougherty give us a well written, nicely drawn issue that leaves me wanting to see where the next chapter takes us.

MULTIVERSITY THE JUST #1 reviewed

MULTIVERSITY THE JUST #1: The book begins with Sister Miracle on the phone with her friend Megamorpho, searching for a way to get sad to kill the techno-virus in her system. Megamorpho tells her she is going to kill herself and leaps off the top of a tall Metropolis building, which makes Sister Miracle sad and kills the virus. Meanwhile, over in Gotham City, Alexis Luthor is reading the allegedly haunted comic book while Batman tries to show her the invaders from another universe below them. Eventually, Alexis seduces Batman, but he is forced to hide her in the closet when a younger Superman arrives seeking Batman’s help in solving the suicide of Megamorpho. Superman discovers Alexis and he and batman have words. If it weren’t for Alexis’ father, he would have his. Batman grumbles that maybe Megamorpho committed suicide because she was so bored. Alexis suggests that Batman and Superman admit that they are lovers. Batman receives a call from Sister Miracle, begging that he and Superman come to her party. The Atom comes out of her bloodstream where he had been fighting the techno virus. Batman asks to speak to him but The Atom is more concerned about if he is getting an invitation to the party.

Elsewhere, Green Lantern discusses the haunted comic with Megamorpho’s boyfriend Offspring and tells Green Arrow how comics have got much darker. At Kon-El's gallery opening, Alexis and Harlequin note that he has changed, becoming more like a Bizarro. They also note that his date is Green Arrow's twelve year old daughter. Later, the Justice League simulates one of its older battles when Alpha Centurion ends up with a broken arm. Steel discovers that the android that injured him was tampered with. Batman interviews Offspring and discovers Megamorpho had read Ultra Comics. Superman is interviewing Menta who found Grey Lady and the Gentry in Megamorpho's remains. He also learns that Megamorpho was between physical states when she died. Meanwhile, Green Arrow has dinner with his daughter Arrowette and finds that she wants to start a super-team with Menta called "The Just". She begs him to let her do it and he gives her five trick arrows to use. Batman says that only one of the comics from Megamorpho's has an address from their world; all the rest must be coming from parallel worlds and infects everyone who reads them. Superman continues to try and convince Batman that Alexis is dangerous, when one of the Superman Robots knocks Superman unconscious. Alexis reveals that she and Jakeem Thunder have taken control of the robots as revenge for not being invited to the party. Sister Miracle's party is a major success, even as Alexis' robot army is en route to trash the place. And invaders from another universe are coming with no robots to stop them.

This is just one weird issue from Grant Morrison and Ben Oliver. You have to love what Morrison does in these books and, if you don’t have a sense of humor and a sense of the various universes in the DC Multiverse, then you would never get what this series is all about. Hey-we’ve got Batman snogging (go look it up!) Lex Luthor’s daughter(and she’s bald too!). Green Lantern has anger issues and Kon-El is dating Green Arrow’s twelve old daughter. Yeah-Grant Morrison is bananas…and bananas is good!

NEW 52 Month 35, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #35: Superman returns to Earth after sending Brainiac into a black hole and encounters Supergirl, who lets him know that only 13,612 died during the recent crisis. They go to the Fortress of Solitude where he learns that Phantom Zone Projector imploded, taking the menagerie and Shay Veritas with it. Kandor is also missing and hopefully in the Phantom Zone. He goes to Smallville where Lana tells him that Brainiac killed her parents and Clark should have been there to save them. She then introduces him to John Henry Irons, who is her new boyfriend. Returning to Metropolis, Clark writes an article that questions Superman’s role. Soon Lois is chewing him out, saying he doesn’t understand Superman at all. Lois writes a piece saying the world may not need him Superman right now, but he may need them. Lastly, Lana stands at her parents' graves when arms burst out of the grave plots.

Greg Pak and Scott Kolins tie up the final loose ends from the DOOMSDAY Saga in a totally satisfying way. But then, there’s that whole thing with the dead rising from the grave in Smallville. What is up with that? If that can happen, maybe that means we can bring back Clark’s parents long enough to go on a cruise, contract a tropical disease and die again (go check that reference, new fans). Or not. Either way, this book continues to entertain.

AQUAMAN #35: Aquaman invites Dr. Shin to come to Atlantis to conduct a knowledge exchange along with Doctor Evans. Arriving in Atlantis, Aquaman takes the rebels who tried to kill Mera out of their prison cell and exiles them to a deep chasm in Antarctica where they can have their own kingdom. Returning to Atlantis, it seems that Dr. Evans and Dr. Shin have found a way to stop the violent seaquakes that have been affecting the undersea kingdom. Arthur goes to his mother’s tomb and opens her casket to find that she isn’t there.

Jeff Parker and Paul Pelletier continue to stir the plot in this title and seemingly working to retcon Arthur Curry’s life and origins. We have gone through the whole Mera thing were her origins retold and have seen the once quiet world of Atlantis torn apart with the betrayal of one of Arthur’s closest advisers. And now: it seems that Atlanna never really died. I can’t wait for next issue. If only the other AQUAMAN title was as good as this.

AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #6: Vostok-X is trying to convince the rest of the team that he is the real Vostok-X and not the clone. Aaron aggravates him enough that he leaves, still declaring he is the original. Ya’wara and Sayeh head to Tehran to visit Sayeh’s family as other members of The Others leave with the own agendas. A quiet, intimate moment between Mera and Arthur gets interrupted by Vostok, who tells them he will join the team. Meanwhile, Dominick and Aaron visit Gary Korec’s widow and lets her see him, even if only briefly. In new York, the senior Cole meets up with the KGBeast with unexpected and unpleasant results.

Dan Jurgens and Lan Medina continue to prove why this is the weaker of the two AQUAMAN titles. Mr. Jurgens: PLEASE stop writing like it’s 1987! I want characters that move me…not make me want to HAVE A MOVEMENT! UGH! I cannot STAND these characters! And to have Arthur and Mera decide to have an intimate moment and then have Cole pop in was just…creepy! I have said it before, but I’m pretty sure I mean it this time: finish the storyline and goodbye! Crappy characters + crappy reading experience= (-) MONEY IN MY POCKET!

ARKHAM MANOR #1: Arkham Asylum has been destroyed and the Mayor force the inmates into Wayne Manor. When word comes of a murder at the house, Batman arrives and makes his way to the victim’s cell. Harvey Bullock informs him this is the second murder at the Manor. Later, Bruce has a deceased homeless veteran's identity erased so he can be buried in a potter's field. Assuming his identity, Jack Shaw becomes an inmate at Arkham Manor.

For those of you who might be a little confused, the events here take place AFTER BATMAN ETERNAL #30. Gerry Duggan, who you might know from his work on DEADPOOL, HULK and UNCANNY AVENGERS slides into a chair at DC and crafts this interesting, Gothic kind of book based around the mysteries and goings on at the NEW home for the criminally insane in Gotham. The question is, when couple with the moody art of Shawn Crystal, does it work? Well for now, it’s a confusing mess where we all step in an find out that Arkham is gone…and then find out HOW two weeks later when BATMAN ETERNAL #30 came out. It’s a mystery tale with Batman in it-isn’t that what DETECTIVE COMICS is all about? For now, this one gets a thumbs in the middle rating as it'’ a bit early to tell. But I can say this: I never thought I'’ see Alfred getting mellow on a twenty year old Scotch.

BATGIRL #35: Barbara Gordon is awakened by her new roommates, Frankie and Liz, who inform her of the semi naked guy she was making out with last night and that he is still in the house waiting to see her. It appears, now that she has left Cherry Hill, she has been living a bit of a different life. Hungover, she heads to Chiroptera and checks her messages, finding her graduate research funding has been held up and her bank account is overdrawn. As she places her coffee order, she hears that someone’s tablet was stolen and decides the chase the thief in an alley. She beats up the perp and then proceeds to throw up into a nearby trash can. Back at her apartment, a surprised Barbara finds Dinah Drake sitting on her stairs, as she is looking for a place to lives following the fire from the night before. While she is concerned for her friend, she also knows that all of her equipment was hidden in Dinah's apartment and Dinah blames the fire on Babs, especially if it is super-villain related. In her apartment, Frankie is informed that Dinah will be staying a while. But it also seems that Barbara’s laptop is missing and so is Troy's phone. All of this goes back to dates set up using an app called Hooq. Frankie sets her up with a dating profile on Hooq, which leads to her being called by someone named Brad..
Barbara goes to work on a new Batgirl uniform before going out and taking down Brad,         who has been stealing devices for Riot Black. Riot Black is connected to an online website called The Black Book that leaks sensitive data about people. She confronts Riot Black at a Burnside club but he is tough to stop do to a flash drive in his head. She makes a deal: he gives up the data and she will give him her secret identity. As proof, she sends him a QR Code with a virus deletes all of data within the flash drive. Unfortunately, Barbara's schoolwork and files wiped clean. As if that weren’t bad enough, Frankie confesses that she slept with Troy after the party ended. This doesn’t bother Barbara as she thought Frankie was a lesbian. Suddenly, she gets a text message from someone claiming to know her secret identity.

Hey DC: what part of NICE WAY TO TOTALLY MAKE A MESS OUT OF A TITLE DO YOU NOT GET!? This is absolutely awful! Awful is too kind! It’s ABYSMAL! Do you all realize how much you have pissed off the comic community? Are you TRYING to KILL this title? Seriously! Babs is sleeping around and getting wasted? She has surrounded herself with a whole host of lame supporting characters and it appears she is going to be using Social Networking to do her work for her as opposed to the “classic” Batgirl, i.e. Oracle, who used her brains and her computers. This book is a complete mess! Thanks to Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and newcomer Babs Tarr for making it read like a book aimed at TWILIGHT teens and look like one designed for Tweens.

BATMAN #35: Alfred and Julia waken Bruce Wayne in his new base in one of the former Court of Owls hideouts. Wonder Woman crashes through the picture window and drags Bruce away but he uses a device he attaches to her head and breaks free. She tells him that she and the League are coming to kill him. He calls to Alfred and Julia to enact "Fenrir", which causes gas to be pumped through the sewers, allowing him to escape through the cloud and don a robotic Batsuit. Diana uses her sword, cuts off his hand and then runs him through with it. In actuality, he built the suit with the Bind of Veils built in, making her think she had killed him. The Flash is the next to attack, but a frictionless coating on the suit causes him to crash into a nearby building. Aquaman attacks and is defeated with a quick-hardening polymer. Julia warns him something big is coming, which turns out to be Superman, who damages the suit in the process. Demanding to know who did this to his friends, Superman responds that it's actually a funny story. He then knows that the Joker has returned.  In the backup,  five Arkham Manor inmates have escaped and doctors Mahreen Zaheer and Eric Border are wondering if they should be helping to find them. Mahreen has found they all had something in common and believes the Joker has freed them. Mahreen goes home and learns that the inmates are waiting for her. Ephram Snow claims the Joker is the devil who came to him twenty years ago. And then the Joker had told them all that they needed to gather an audience, of which Mahreen is part of. They need to return to the city and each needs to tell a story. Whoever tells the right story wins. Whoever tells the wrong story dies.

With the Bat Crew out of Wayne Manor, this leaves room for Arkham to move in(which we still are yet to see the reason why). And, although we haven’t seen him yet, we know that the big bad Joker is just around the cormer. Once again, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo present a Bat title worthy of some of the legendary runs in Batman’s history: Englehart and Rogers; Loeb and Sale; O'Neil and Adams; Finger and Sprang; Fox and Infantino; Haney and Aparo. Twists and turns, respect to the characters-this one has it all. In addition, we get a nice back-up by James Tynion IV and the always amazing Kelley Jones that apparently is going to tie in to this storyline by giving us some background. Looks like we’ve got a bunch of Jokerific action coming in the next few months!

BATMAN AND ROBIN #35: On Apokolips, Batman activates a cloaking device for his Hellbat Suit and rescues Lowlies about to be tossed into the pits. He grabs a Parademon and demands to know where he can find Glorious Godfrey. Meanwhile, Kalibak speaks at Darkseid's restoration chamber, explaining how he has gathered artifacts that will make his father heal faster and be stronger in the end. Batman gets to Godfrey's and throws him into one of the pits. At the same time, Kalibak uses the Chaos Shard and Damian's sarcophagus to destroy a nearby planet with his Chaos Cannon. Back on Earth and in the Batcave, the various member of the Bat Family arrive looking to help but can’t follow Batman as he took the Mother Box with him. Red Robin suggests using Cyborg and Alfred believes he has a plan. They also believe they should contact Batwing and Batwoman to fill in as Gotham’s defense in their absence. When Cyborg arrives, Batgirl explains they need him to help them shut down the holographic villain Batman used to distract Gotham’s protectors. When he plugs into the Bat Computer, an electrical shock knocks him out, allowing the Boom Tube in his suit to be activated. As they leap through, Cyborg awakes and jumps in, dragging Titus along with him.

I have nothing to say anymore about the work of Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason on this title. It is ALWAYS a GREAT READ and Gleason’s art ALWAYS LOOKS TREMENDOUS! Where this story will end is anyone’s guess except the creators and the editors. I cannot wait to ride the rest of this roller coaster.

BATMAN ETERNAL #26-30: In issue #26, Batman gets quickly patched up and plans on going back out into Gotham when Red Robin, Red Hood and Batgirl intervene. Batman tells them that Hush is the Mastermind behind all that has happened. Batman and Julia leave to visit Alfred at Gotham Mercy Hospital and Bruce tells her Tommy Elliot’s story, including how he killed his own parents. Meanwhile, Commissioner Bard declares martial law in Gotham City, announcing that a 9 o’clock curfew will be established. Stephanie Brown makes her way into the County Correctional Facility and visits her father. She goes to show him the post with her findings regarding Hush only to discover that her post has been over-written. Now it shows a hundred-million dollar bounty on her. Out in Gotham City, Batman’s allies take out the looter while Batman searches for Hush. But Alfred is missing as Doctor Thomas Elliot has had him transferred to Arkham Asylum and delivered into the hands of the Joker's Daughter.

In issue #27, Killer Croc continues his trek beneath Arkham to find Jade. He makes his way to the offices of Gotham Child Services and finds out, from Dr. Leslie Thompkins, that and demanding that Jade was delivered to her uncle, Drago Ibanescu. Jason Bard has a meeting with a very angry Batgirl, as she complains about her father still being in prison despite the evidence that proves he is innocent. Catwoman reveals to Batman that she told the Whisper gang knew about Ibanescu's drop and he warns her of the danger of playing the gangs against each other. Meanwhile, Ibanescu visits Ferryman with a peace offering: Jade. Batman almost gets into an accident with Flamingo's motorcycle but avoids it. The Spoiler informs him that he is so predictable he was able to save her without even being aware of it. Back at her apartment, Catwoman finds Jade waiting and apologizes for leading Ferryman here.

In issue #28, Starfire instructs Jason Todd insists that he stay in Gotham and say goodbye to Batgirl who is busy torturing Commissioner Bard. Red Hood tracks her down tells her this isn’t the kind of justice she delivers. He releases the rope and Batgirl grabs it, saving bard’s life even if it breaks his leg in the process. Later he says goodbye to her saying he could never be Dick Grayson. Meanwhile, Batman follows Flamingo, who has received an invitation Catwoman's murder, as she has been captured by Ferryman. As he prepares to crush Catwoman, Croc bursts in allowing her to distract him and break his legs. He tells Ibanescu to shoot Catwoman but he hits Jade instead. Batman bursts in to find Ibanescu and Jade dead, with both Catwoman and Croc devastated by the girls’ death. Later, at Blackgate Penitentiary, Calabrese receives a visit from his daughter, who tells him that Jade is dead. She then asks for his contacts so she can unite the families and take control herself.

In issue #29, we find that the Fear Toxin is tormenting Alfred while Deacon Blackfire is tormenting Jim Corrigan. Joker's Daughter finds a note sending her to Deacon Blackfire. She receives her orders from one of Blackfire's followers, who she then kills. Blackfire’s magic pulls the Spectre from Corrigan’s body. Batwing arrives in time to see a green light around Corrigan’s body, which explodes skywards. Batwing is running out of oxygen but has decrypted the Riddler's puzzle. He tells Julia to use the word "Enygma" as the keyword. When it decrypts, it reads: "Arkham is just a piece of the plan. If you can read this, you are smart enough to know your foe."

In issue #30, Batman sees the burst of energy explode from out of Arkham and is forced to send Batplane to intercept a 737 caught in the blast. He also watches from above as Arkham begins to crumble. Beneath Arkham, the Spectre bursts out of Corrigan’s chest, pulling Blackfire out of Maxie Zeus' body and crushes his spirit in his fist. The Spectre returns to Corrigan’s body and he and Batwing attempt an escape. But the building collapses with them and many others, including Alfred and Bane, still inside. Batman arrives and, suddenly surrounded by GCPD, dives into an open hole where he encounters The Joker's Daughter. She is wearing a vest of full of explosives and proceeds to activate the timer.

What can I say: this title is a non-stop thrill ride with cliffhangers straight out of the movie serials of the Thirties and Forties. This title, like all the other weekly’s, will end in April with CONVERGENCE. Until then, enjoy the roller coaster ride courtesy of Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins and Tim Seeley with art by R. M. Guera, Javier Garron, Meghan Hetrick,  Simon Coleby and Fernando Pasarin

BATMAN SUPERMAN #14: Kaiyo has removed Batman and Superman’s memories. Bruce has learned he is a wealthy playboy and is about to make the best of it. Catwoman has already been taking advantage of Superman's amnesia, leaving Lois to have to deal with Mr. Mangubat's drone robots. Batman arrives and then destroys the drones. Meanwhile, Superman sees Toymaster working on a video project involving the Man of Steel and is fascinated by it. Catwoman tells him that, despite seeing this, he still doesn’t truly understand the man who he was. Lois learns that Batman is also suffering from amnesia when an explosion knocks them over, leading to Lois being taken hostage by the Scarecrow. Batman tires to free the wounded, who are shot dead by Scarecrow. Bruce tells Lois to call an ambulance and heads back home. With Alfred fixing him. Bruce admits that he can't remember anything, even when he is told about how his parents died. Superman crashes through the roof of Gotham City Hall declaring that he is the law now.

Greg Pak and Diogenes Neves bring us the next chapter in this saga and I find it more confusing than the last. I understand the importance of the tie-in the the forthcoming war, but, as much as I love Pak’s work, this is not his best. I just don’t have a love of the way the characters have been twisted and it feels like more of an “Imaginary Story” than anything else. Help: please end this story soon!

BATWOMAN #35: Batwoman and her team are in outer space trying to defend a satellite from an attack by Morgan le Fay and her army of demons. Red Alice's protective helmet has been damaged and she has Ragman use his Suit of Souls to preserve her soul. Meanwhile the witch quickly defeats Clayface and Etrigan who affixes her magic stone, even as Batwoman shoves an electrified rod through her back. Batwoman grabs the stone and the team tries to make iot back to Earth before Le Fay can recover. Clayface wraps himself around them all to keep them from burning up as they re-enter the atmosphere while Ragman uses his cloak to provide a bit of magic to them. Here’s hoping they survive what’s next.

Wow! That was strange little issue with a bunch of stuff happening I didn’t quite expect. Batwoman in Space? Sounds like the start of a great new TV show to me! Marc Andreyko and Georges Jeanty give us a quirky tale with a character who is know for having quirky tales. I miss the romance between Kate and Maggie and the charging cast of characters here makes this seem like Suicide Squad II in action.

CATWOMAN #35: Selina Kyle has become the heir and now leader to the Calabrese Family. Now she travels in style with her Antonia as her bodyguard and her cousin Nick as her driver. She has a meeting with her subordinates from the other families and explains that this is how business was done 30 years ago and it needs to be done this way now. She also notices that Hasigawa family is not present and vows to handle it by herself. She offers a business proposal to them that is conveyed by Hasigawa daughter Eiko. Meanwhile, Detective Alvarez continues to try and build a case against Selina even though his Lieutenant insists he drop the case. Selina attends a gala at the art museum and later gets a visit from Batman who warns that she can't keep the families united. She asks him to leave and, when she re-enters, Ward tells her he heard what she said and is told not to make threats towards her. Meanwhile, Black Mask and his gang raid a limo only to be interrupted by a man who promises that he can sell the city back.

Welcome to the new direction for the always dangerous Catwoman and it has her coming out of her catsuit and stepping into a designer suit. And that means this title is going through a major upheaval. This was always about being a super heroine or a super villain or, at the very least, a thief with a heart of goal with a warm spot for Batman. Now, with the blessings of her true father, she is prepared to run the crime families of Gotham. Welcome to THE SOPRANOS MEET GOTHAM. Genevieve Valentine is the new author and you probably don’t know of her unless you have read her Crawford Award winning novel: MECHANIQUE: A TALE OF THE CIRCUS TRESULTI. Garry Brown is a new artist to me but his work is nice. Will this book succeed where it has in the past? Let’s see. For now, I am willing to give it a shot.

CONSTANTINE #18: John Constantine's doing some drinking on his birthday while the invasion from Apokolips occurs. Meanwhile, another John Constantine finds himself surrounded by Parademons and he realizes he’s not on the planet he thought he was. Calling Constantine  “Worldwalker”, Wotan explains how John has crossed onto Earth 2. John offers to use the Walls of the Soul's Home to get Wotan to our Earth, and in doing so, Wotan gets torn in half, as there are two Constantine’s existing here. He now knows he must find his double so he can get open and avoid the fate Wotan suffered.

Ray Fawkes and Jeremy Haun have dropped poor John Constantine onto Earth 2 and now we have two of them. Yeah, that probably isn’t good. I mean, if we have enough trouble from one Constantine, what kind of havoc can two of them cause? This is all part of the great Earth 2 war which is upcoming and looks to tumble over into our part of the Multiverse. All might be settled by the time CONVERGENCE happens…or it could all go bad quickly. Sit tight: I expect a bumpy ride.

DEATHSTROKE #1: Slade is offered a job by his middle-man Tiggs: go back to Russia and kill "Possum". His contact there is a woman named Angelica and we learn they have sexual history together. When he finds Possum sitting tied to a chair but then uses his mind to cause Slade to reveal a code that Possum wass looking for. He gets ready to cut Slade's head, but Deathstroke reverses it and shoves the handle through Possum's skull. Heavily wounded,  he manages to make his way to an old man named I-Ching. When he wakes, he finds that the old man he brought him back from the dead and is told that nowhere is safe. I-Ching disappears and Slade realizes things are no longer the same.

DC had a DEATHSTROKE comic before this (actually, in both the NEW 52 and the OLD DCU) and none of them really lit up the comic shelves. But this…this title has potential as Tony S. Daniel is handling both the writing and drawing of this ultra-violent take on Slade Wilson. So it looks amazing and it’s hot and sexy and has some great dialogue floating through it. I hope this will be a title Daniels stays with and doesn’t dump parts of the creative process to others. If he is allowed to handle what appears to be his vision, I expect it to awesome.

DETECTIVE COMICS #35: Alfred insists Bruce take a few days' vacation. Sitting in his private jet and learns that a rogue plane is on its’ way in to the airport and it smashes through the airport terminal killing and injuring most. Batman gains entrance and discovers that everyone on the plane is dead and there is less than thirty minutes to figure out what killed them. Getting inside the cockpit, he finds an old man dying, joining the rest of the plane where everyone on board is in a state of decay. It’s learned that the flight came from Frankfurt, giving them an 8 hour window to solve the crime. A Stanford-Educated NGO worker called Magnus Magnuson is claiming responsibility and says that opening the plane released a contagion. He also claims that the US needs to withdraw troops from the Middle East or the deaths will be in the millions.

Once again, DETECTIVE COMICS presents us with another creative team change. Benjamin Percy and John Paul Leon give us a mystery with a time frame. I’m not totally familiar with Percy’s work but I have long been a fan of John Paul Leon going back to his days with Milestone. His art style is very noir and dark and moody and what else would you couple with a mystery book? I can’t wait for the conclusion to this mystery.

EARTH 2 #27: Kara, Helena, and Val remember their individual childhood while the Wonders of the World in Geneva. As they find a group of creatures, an emergency door cuts the team in half and one group finds survivors. Batman tries to talk to Helena about being her family. She admits to having family but says it isn’t him. She also discovers he has been using Miraclo to enhance his strength. Meanwhile, Dr. Massaquoi tells Lois that Bedlam opened a portal and unleashed monsters that infected the staff. She also tells Kara and Val that they can create an explosion of energy akin to a neutron bomb, which would destroy the virus. Kara breaks through the door and she and Val attempt to build up the needed energy to create the blast. Upon explosion, Batman seals off the room, letting Kara and Val fly into space to burn off the radiation.

This issue comes before EARTH 2: WORLD’S END #1 and that’s a good thing because when that title hits, as you will see, it’s hitting extremely hard. The creative team of Marguerite Bennett and Tom Taylor with art by Andy Smith, Trevor Scott, Marcus To and Scott Hanna takes this book to the point where the plot points are coming together and the stuff is hitting the fan. If you haven’t gotten into this book now is the time, especially with all of the events coming down..

EARTH 2 WORLD’S END #1-4: Issue #1 begins with events before the original attack by Apokolips upon Earth 2. We see Alan Scott and Sam Zhou together along with some of the other players like Dick Grayson, Jay Garrick and Clark Kent. We also see the evil machinations of Terry Sloan who, after Sam published what he and Alan had been working on, revealed himself to truly be a traitor. In the 9th Dimension, Steppenwolf made plans for the impending invasion of Earth. Batman and Robin arrest James Olsen for treason, even as he tries to explain that Terry Sloan is responsible for opening the portal bringing Parademons to Earth 2. That moment allowed the Parademons to attack major cities and resulted in the deaths of Selena Wayne and Lois Kent. The heroes fight but in the end, the Trinity die and Supergirl and Robin end up being transported to our Earth. And Terry Sloan discovers that he can take his revenge on Sam Zhou. Five years later and it began again. Sam died in an orchestrated train crash and Green Lantern was born. Sloan kidnaps Mister Terrific from another world, sends Sandman to capture Queen Marella, and used the Meta Humans that he was now commanding to go off and capture the new Wonders. Steppenwolf gets killed by Brutaal, in a battle that cost Captain Atom his arm and killed Red Arrow, and destroyed the Project Beyond space ship, Meanwhile Bedlam took control of Miracle, Terrific and Sloan so he could create a Boom Tube as large as a planet. A new Suprman was born in the form of Val-Zod and the world Army and the new heroes came together to once agin fight for their world. Refugee camps were set up around thew world, including one in Chicago where Dick and Barbara Grayson lived with their family. Supergirl and Robin, now known as Power Girl and The Huntress, return to what is left of their home. Huntress meets the new Batman, who is her grandfather while Power Girl reunites with  her “momma”, Red Tornado. And then the Fire Pits explode all over the world, with K’Li of Apokolips arriving in Geneva to do battle.

In issue #2, the battle rages on while Apokolips begins to move closer to Earth and the heads of the World Army wait its’ arrival.  Green Lantern battles in Brazil, Hawkgirl and Doctor Fate go to London while Aquawoman heads to South Africa. Mr. Terrific attacks Barda and Fury’s ship and Bedlam becomes trapped with Mister Miracle inside of the horror of Terry Sloan’s mind.  In Geneva, K’Li battles the heroes and turns the dead humans into more Parademons. Her attacks also turn Lois, Power Girl and Huntress into her slaves and turns them loose on Batman and Val-Zod. With the heroes unconscious, K’Li prepares to turn them into her new slaves.

In issue #3, Val-Zod barely saves Batman from death and it takes Lois’ system rebooting to save the other heroes from their possessed state.. The Furies of Apokolips arrive around the world bringing pestilence, famine, and death. Meanwhile, the world leaders decide that it may be time to unleash the nukes to stop the invasion. Although they want to interrogate Mister Miracle, he informs them that Apokolips isn’t a planet, it is really a god. Things are going badly in the Chicago Refugee Camp and Dick Grayson finds himself fighting off looters. Jimmy Olsen connects with a device in the basement of where he is being kept while the authorities suggest it’s time to free Mister Miracle, Barda and Fury. With Green Lantern doing his best to hold back the monsters in Brazil, Aquawoman finds something horrible has happened in Atlantis.

In issue #4, The World Army convinces Fury, Barda and Mister Miracle to help them and in return, they will show Mister Miracle where his Mother Box is. They lead him to Jimmy Olsen who has bonded with the box somehow. Fury demands that the box purify her and, despite Miracle’s protests, allows it. She learns that her entire life was a lie; that Wonder Woman, her mother, was slain by Steppenwolf, her father. This changes her desires and now makes her want to be a part of the team against Apokolips. Meanwhile, Aquawoman warns the surface world that she is about to activate their ultimate weapon if that is what it takes to stop Apokolips and avenge her people. Green Lantern is about to go to Atlantis and help when he finds himself attacked by Grundy. In Chicago, Dick Grayson gives up his family’s supplies to save his family’s lives which angers her policewoman wife Barbara. And, in Geneva, the team led by Batman and Val-Zod prepare to descend into the firepits when Helena is kidnapped by Desaad.

And here we have four more exciting issues in this saga! The action keeps on coming courtesy of Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett and Mike Johnson with art from Eddy Barrows, Tyler Kirkham, Eduardo Pansica, Jorge Jiménez, Paolo Siqueira, Ardian Syaf, Eber Ferreira, Jan Duursema(yes…you read right!), Jonathan Glapion, Jorge Jimenez, Tyler Kirkham, Joe Weems, Robson Rocha and Paul Neary. With four times the action of the monthly EARTH 2 title(not to mention that issue of the monthly title) you certainly have your Earth 2 fill!

THE FLASH #35: The future Flash has made it back far enough to fix the Speed Force and he has grabbed Barry Allen and dragged him to the Utah salt flats. He explains that when the monorail crashed, it broke the Speed Force which allowed Daniel West to travel into the past and that is pat of the reason why Barry has been losing time. Future Flash has gone back in time to fix everything and is now prepared to fix the tear by killing the present Barry and releasing the energy that fill fix the Speed Force. Present day Barry races full speed at Future Barry. They are torn apart by Wally West: the Flash of the Future. As Future Barry tries to kill Present Barry, Wally intervenes and dies, releasing Speed Force energy that closes the rift. This also leaves Future Barry stranded in this time with no way home. A dinosaur…and a robot drone are chasing the Present Barry, wherever he may be.

Another spectacular issue from Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth that continues to redefine the characters in this title. We now have a future Barry stuck in the past, the Present Barry stuck somewhere that is NOT the present, and Wally West of the future is dead. This was a major, action filled issue that completely raised the bar for issues

GOTHAM ACADEMY #1: Olive Silverlock and Mia "Maps" Mizoguchi have been called Headmaster Hammer of Gotham Academy. To inform them that Olive has been assigned as the "sherpa" Maps' to help her get used to the school. During her first day at school she meets occultist Pomeline Fritch and sophomore Colton Rivera, who tells about the rumor that the north wing of the school has a ghost in it. Back in her room, Olive meets her roommate Lucy, who complains about the mess. This leads Olive to find Maps and patch things up, as there is a connection between the two as Olive dated Maps brother Kyle. The pair decides to map everything on campus from the position of the bell tower and head there. Unfortunately a wall where they are collapses and they fall from their position; a fall that takes them past a window in a room where Bruce Wayne is speaking, Bruce looks surprised and startled, as it seems he recognizes Olive. While being checked by a paramedic, she meets Wayne and hallucinates he is Batman. Back in her room, she and her roommate stay up all night taking care of each other, unaware they are being watched from a crack in the wall.

I absolutely don’t know what DC is trying to do with this title. Best that I can tell, they are trying to appeal to the potential Tween girl readers who may get into comics. It reads like a bad girl’s adventure in the vein of an updated Nancy Drew. And the art looks like a U.S. take on Manga by someone that doesn’t realize what it should look like. The title is by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl and I give it until the CONVERGENCE before it is gone. It’s not a lot of fun and just way to girly for the average reader.

GRAYSON #3: Spyral has been sent to collect the organs of a super named Paragon and they had recruited Barton Tare who had access to Paragon's eyes. But he got executed by a man named Christophe Tanner who had his ocular nerves to the barrels of his pistols. The assumption is that he wants to have Paragon's eyes transplanted. Meanwhile, Dick and Agent 8 target practice, where we learn that Dick doesn’t like using guns and that Agent 8 grew up in a place in Kansas that was smaller than Smallville. We also discover they have a sensual relationship. They go to Malaysia where Dick and Agent 8 attend to capture Tanner, who causes the helicopter Agent 8 is flying to crash. Despite Dick’s begging him to end the violence, Tanner insists that all he needs are the eyes. Agent 1 comes to Dick’s rescue and captures Tanner. Later, Dick has Batman do some research regarding Tanner and discovers that one of his allegedly deceased sons is enrolled at the school where they were apparently murdered. Dick heads to the school and finds Tanner on the roof spying on his boy. Dick convinces him to give up the eyes, which he does. That is when Agent 8  shoots Tanner and Tanner does the same with the result that both die. Meanwhile, Minos tells Matron he has discovered a hidden signal from within Spyral and assigns her to find the person responsible and unmask them.

Tim Seeley, Tom King and Mikel Janin gives us another weird issue. I cannot get used Dick Grayson Super Spy replacing Nightwing who replaced Robin The Boy Wonder. And I can’t quite figure out where DC wants to go with this. It’s a pretty bad read when the most interesting character is Mister Minos and you only get to see him for about 2 pages per issue. It’s not that the book is bad, it’s just a real confusing read. I like to use my brain when I read, but this title make my head hurt.

GREEN ARROW #35: Green Arrow is back and John Diggle is his bodyguard/partner as the rest of his team is either off training. At a meeting of the Queen Foundation, Oliver discovers that Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor want to join Queen Consolidated, LexCorp and WayneTech together and they could change the world. Oliver turns them down, refusing to pull his business out of the Glades. That night, Zehra tries to convince Oliver to reconsider the earlier offer from Wayne and Luthor, but he is too busy receiving messages from Diggle and leaves her alone at the restaurant. John warns Oliver not to enter the building where a hacker has been siphoning money from the hospital fund. Unfortunately the warning comes too late as Felicity Smoak introduces herself as the person hired to kill the Green Arrow. Elsewhere, Mr. King tortures someone to get information about Mia Dearden.

The new creative team of Andrew Kreisberg, Ben Sokolowski and Daneil Sampere begins the Emerald Archer’s new direction with lackluster results. We go from the innovative storytelling of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino to the television drama of Kreisberg and Sokolowski and the somewhat generic art of Sampere. I hope the next few issues will improve or I’ll be returning this to where it was prior to Lemire/Sorrentino: off my reading list.

GREEN LANTERN #35: Previously reviewed as part of the GODHEAD review

HARLEY QUINN ANNUAL #1: Harley and Queenie are sunning themselves when Harley gets a distress all from Poison Ivy who has been put into Arkham. Harley goes to Kennedy Airport, steals a parachute and then launches herself via the Scatapult into Gotham City, where she lands in a pizza place. She steals a car and crashes into Arkham, where she is escorted into her own padded cell. She burps at an orderly, blinding him and searches for Ivy, finding her making a formula for someone named Master Edgar. Harley bursts in, glad to know that Ivy is not being held captive - but her friend doesn't seem to recognize her. Harley smashes a jar of hallucinogenic gas, which affects them all. Ivy hallucinates of meeting Swamp Thing, who eventually becomes Harley and they start to burn down factories that are polluting the environment. Success at hand, they go swimming in a pool of nectar inside a giant flower. A giant bee approaches filled with pickup lines, so they drown him. Dr. Bliss hallucinates he is a prisoner at Arkham. Bliss escapes onto a beach until a giant Harley Quinn dressed in a Godzilla costume begins eating swimmers. Harley's dreams about her comic book creation Hurl Girl. Dylana warns about a gun that has been invented to turn Harley into an animal and the Joker turns her into a bird and Harley into a cat. Harley rips the Joker’s face and eats it and then eats him too, causing her to throw up a huge hairball. She makes it her sidekick and they become the super-hero team called Harley Cat and Hairball. Dr. Bash's hallucination sees him and Bliss as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, until Jack the Ripper, who is really Harley, murders Bliss. When the drugs wear off, they find themselves talking to giant floating egg on a plate. He is Edgar Fullerton Yeung, master of the cosmos. He eventually reveals that he needed Doctors Bash and Bliss to get Ivy to make a potion that would make people like him. Harley offers him an apartment in her building. Tony convinces him to join the freak show to pay his rent. With Edgar moved in, Harley and Ivy go to the roof and release a concentrated version of the gas that is sure to have an effect on Brooklyn.

Since Harley Quinn has become one of DC’s more popular characters, it is only likely to flood the market with special after special and try to make each on different. Well,  Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, along with John Timms, Stjepan Šejić, Joe Quinones, Ben Caldwell, and the legendary Kelley Jones, give us another fun filled issue. But this one has a twist: it features “Rub ‘N’ Smell” technology which results in two distinct versions, a domestic and international version; both of which were available as variant cover editions. Why the versions? Well, the “Rub ‘N’ Smell” means you rub your finger over certain s[pots and you get smells. You get the smell of rancid nachos, leather, pizza and, depending on the version, you either get “freshly cut grass” or “cannabisylocibe 7-A”. Don’t sniff it too much because you may end up hallucinating like Harley and company.

HARLEY QUINN #11: Madame Macabre’s son Mason returns and soon finds himself out helping Big Tony and Harley Quinn, who look down into a crater containing Power Girl. They bring her back to their apartment building. While she sleeps, Mason asks Harley out on a date, to which she agrees. Harley then decides to convince Power Girl that they are a superhero crime-fighting team and, when she awakens, is told her superhero name is The Bomb. They pair go shopping as Harley explains that they met Power Girl rescued her from a shark in Lake Michigan. They have lunch at a food court and Harley tells Power Girl that they would be rich except for Power Girl's appetite. Suddenly Sportsmaster and The Clock King appear and our heroes jump into action!

Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Chad Hardin give us twice the excitement this month! Actually, this was kind of a let down after the ANNUAL. It was nice to see Chad Hardin back behind the drawing board. And, of course, there are the usual literary hijinx from Conner and Palmiotti. Okay…so maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. I guess I should just be glad this isn’t a weekly or I would be suffering from Harley overdose.

INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #4: The Forever People come tumbling out a the Boom Tube and land in Ventura, California in the middle of a Dairy and Agricultural Farm owned by Wayne Industries. After a close encounter with a certain Bat Cow, they end up on a long bus ride back to Venice Beach, eventually arriving at a party. Once there, they run into Vykin’s girlfriend Azur Te, who admits that she was responsible for shutting down all the other Boom Tubes in the area. Mark and Vykin get into a brawl and it takes Serafina to break them up, before she wanders off and meets Doctor Skuba, giving him a cosmic cartridge to help change his life for the better. As things begin to heat up between team members, Guy Gardner arrives, giving them 60 seconds to leave the planet. Meanwhile, Himon has a discussion with The Highfather, telling him that the students are being such a success he doesn't want to pull them off of Earth. When Highfather leaves, Infinity Man arrives and threatens Himon, blaming him for trying to keep him from returning.

Dan Didio and Keith Giffen do great work on this book, even if the readers of the NEW 52 Universe don’t agree, as this is the lowest selling title in the line. That means I give it until the CONVERGENCE in April for it to disappear off the shelves. It’s a shame too, as I truly like this one. I especially like that the book opens with a scarecrow which looks exactly like Serafin from the ORIGINAL Forever People comic and that Bat Cow offers it to his black, female replacement in this world, Serafina. The book gives its’ share of nods and winks to the classic characters while pacing its’ own way. I will be sorry to see it go.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #34: Captain Cold wakes from a nightmare and prepares for his first full day as head of security for Luthor. While shaving, he gets a visit from Mirror Master and Snart tells his old friend he is getting ready to pull the biggest job of his life. Meanwhile, Lex blames Superman for attracting villains like Grodd to Metropolis. In Detroit, Shazam watches Cyborg get an upgrade before leaving to help in Metropolis. On the Watchtower, Flash examines the ring on Jessica Cruz' finger which feeds on fear. Using her will power, she forces the green energy back into the ring and declares that she doesn’t want the ring removed-she wants to learn HOW to use it. Meanwhile, Lex helps Wonder Woman bring supplies to a third-world country where he tells her his motivation is to build money and power. He is told the story of a girl in the village who offers him a flower and hugs her. Later, at Wayne Tower, Lex and Bruce finish the deal that will join their two companies together. Later, Bruce reports to Batman that Lex took their bait. At a press conference, Lex promises to tell how his role in the Justice League is the beginning of a new era. We also discover that he has made Owlman his ally in exchange for Superwoman's child.

Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins set the stones in place for Lex and Len to take on new roles as heroes to the Earth. Or do they? Lex cutting a deal with Owlman for Superwoman’s baby? Is that REALLY a good idea? And Jessica wanting to learn the power of the ring-is that also a BAD IDEA? Johns continues to make this one of the cooler reads each month and that all started with the FOREVER EVIL stories.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #35: Lex Luthor holds a press conference announcing his partnership with Bruce Wayne. Bruce joins in, telling how he wants to use his parents’ fortune to fight poverty and injustice. Inside, Bruce wants a tour of LexCorp and insists on seeing where Bizzaro was created and also Lex’s private lab. Inside, they meet Lex's sister Lena who fell ill and, despite Lex’ best efforts, is wheelchair bound for the rest of her life. Aquaman spots a man in armor who leaps off the ledge and explodes, catching Lena in the blast inside LexCorp. As the assassin heads towards Luthor, he heads for one of his Warsuits. One of the storage units breaks open releasing the Amazo Virus throughout Metropolis.

This issue does more to set up the next storyline than propel it forward. Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Ivan Reis set the plate for the next meal to be served on. Bruce has partnered with Lex to keep his identity safe and plans on watching him throughout it all. But now we have an assassin, probably set in motion by Luthor himself, who injures his sister Lena and releases something called the Amazo Virus. We all know who Amazo was but are we now introducing him through a virus that will affect the people of Metropolis? Wait until next month to find out.

DC's NEW 52: Godhead Act 1

GREEN LANTERN/NEW GODS GODHEAD #1. Act 1, Part 1 of the Godhead Saga. In the beginning, there was The Void and then there was life. First there were the Old Gods and then there were the New Gods. And over the centuries, a feud existed between Highfather of New Genesis and Darkseid of Apokolips. Highfather and Metron examine The Source Wall and realize that Kyle Rayner had breached it during the Relic Wars. They return to the rest of New Genesis to announce that, by combining all of the colors from the Lanterns rings, it creates White Light and that produces the Life Equation. So their goal is to gather a ring of each color and create the Life Equation. On New Korugar, one of the Yellow Lanterns is the first to fall, losing his fingers and his ring. On Okaara, Larfleeze quickly loses his Orange Lantern ring. On Zamaron, Lightray arrives and leaves almost as fast. On Nok, another New God arrives are takes a ring off of an Indigo Lantern. On Earth, the last of the Red Lanterns from when corrupted Earthlings still has her ring which she willing gives up after freeing some trapped sex slaves. Orion and Metron head to Mogo, taking Mogo and Saint Walker’s rings. With all the rings in one place, Highfather unleashes the power of the Life Equation on the planet Aydin but it only wounds and corrupts the inhabits, leading Highfather to have the everyone and everything destroyed. They need to find the White Lantern because he is thew weapon that will destroy Darkseid.

This is the opening chapter in a long epic that will redefine not only the Lanterns but the New Gods and the denizens of Apokolips. Brought to you by the multi-talented team of Van Jensen, Justin Jordan, Robert Venditti, Charles Soule and Cullen Bunn with art by Ethan Van Sciver, Martin Coccolo, Goran Sudzuka, Chriscross and Pete Woods, this has the making of being another classic Green Lantern tale. Either that or a disaster that will cause fans to have to read titles they normally wouldn’t read…fans like me. .

GREEN LANTERN #35: Act 1, Part 2 of the Godhead Saga. The integrity of Planet Mogo is shutting down and the 84.6 billion on Aydin are in a load of trouble. At the Source Wall, Highfather demands that Metron figure out what went wrong on Aydin and how to make use of the Lantern Rings and find the Life Equation. Metron begins hacking the Green Lantern’s servers through the Green Lantern Ring. That leads to a confrontation between the Green Lanterns and Orion, Metron and a small army from New Genesis, with the Lanterns taking quite the beating. Orion opens a Boom Tube and Hal is determined to follow them. That is until he sees the army awaiting them on New Genesis. He orders Kilowog to evacuate Mogo. Meanwhile, Sinestro prepares for visitors.

In Part 2, Robert Venditti and Billy Tan do a nice job of moving the story along. So, it looks like Mogo is dying and Hal Jordan, finally, seems to have grown a set of testicles. My biggest complaint about Hal Jordan is that he has been so terribly whiny that I wanted anyone back in the driver’s seat of the Corps…ANYONE besides Hal. But Hal finally seems to have mustered some intelligence and some needed leadership. Let’s see what happens next. In other words: this is probably the BEST GREEN LANTERN issue in a long time.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #35:  Act 1, Part 3 of the Godhead Saga. The Green Lantern Corps are investigating the planet Aydin that the New Gods tried to transform into Paradise but failed because they didn’t have the key to the Life Equation. The Corps gets attacked by the transformed inhabitants of Aydin and get rescued by Uggha of the New Gods, who demands they turn over their rings. The Corps refuses and that leads to a deadly battle with the New Gods. One of the Nox warriors arrives and transports them away from the battle. Meanwhile, Metron brings good news to Highfather that he has found the White Lantern and Highfather plans to save him from himself.

Okay, so here’s the reason I don’t read this book: it is a huge fight scene with a lot of dialogue. Oh, and we find out that Kyle lives, something most followers of the NEW 52 already new. Van Jensen’s story is action filled but could have been summed up in about three pages. And Bernard Chang’s art is a weak take on Ben Templesmith’s. Not a fan of this chapter at all.

GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #35: Act 1, Part 4 of the Godhead Saga.
The Guardians inform Kyle Rayner that he was the first to ever pass through the Source Wall and returned. They also admit that they allowed the Corps to think that Kyle was dead. He tries to fly off in anger but the Guardians hold him back. At one point he even believes that Carol is his dead girlfriend Alex. Highfather arrives and tells them his job has always been to protect the universe. Then he convinces Kyle and Carol to come with him to New Genesis to make the best use of the Life Equation he possesses.

Justin Jordan and Brad Walker provide one of the best chapters in this saga to date. Here we finally learn that this generation of Guardians are no better or trustworthy than the last group was. They have let the world think that Kyle was dead and claim it was to protect the Life Equation. “Meet the new boss…same as the old boss.” So Kyle and Carol (still can’t get used to her being with him instead of Hal) get ready to split when Highfather shows up, acting like the great savior. In actuality, he has his own agenda. This is like watching a reality show where the machinations of the players are more interesting than the actual show. Nice job, guys!

RED LANTERNS #35: Act 1, Part 5 of the Godhead Saga. Guy Gardner and Tora are getting some sun on the beach in Dubai before he suits up and handles a despot in Qurac by vomiting burning blood on Shahkavat’s face. Suddenly members of the The Wheel arrive via Boom Tube to take away Guy’s ring. Simon Baz arrives to save Guy’s life and fill him in on what has been happening regarding the New Gods. The pair get beat on by The Wheel before the trio head back to New genesis, leaving Guy confused and determined to continue the battle elsewhere.

I love Charles Soule’s writing and I have become a huge fan of J. Calafiore’s art, even more so after getting to mean him and see him in action. And this is a beautiful looking issue. But I found the plot dragging and wasn’t excited by it at all. Who is this guy in Qurac and why do I even care that he wants to be Black Adam? And it just so happens that these fighters from New Genesis arrive to get guy’s ring. Don’t they already HAVE a Red Ring? Yeah, I am a bit confused.

SINESTRO #6: Act 1, Part 6 of the Godhead Saga. Sinestro learns through Lyssa (along with the spy within Arkillo’s ring known as Despotellis) about the attacks by the New Gods that is decimating the other Lanterns in the universe. His daughter convinces him that they should go out and help the Green Lanterns and the Indigos; even Arkillo who Sinestro provides a new hand and a ring for. They launch an assault against the New Gods that are attacking the Indigos. Sinestro and some of his key players watch the battle as he prepares to “trim the fat” and initiates a self destruct protocol that kills most of the Sinestro Corps as well as Indigos and New Gods. Bekka remains alive and swears revenge.

Cullen Bunn just made Sinestro cross that line between anti-hero and villain by killing off most of his weaker teammates. Of course, we had to go through almost an entire issue of lame dialogue and some equally yawnable plot points to get there. On the plus side, as always, there IS the art of Dale Eaglesham. Come to think of it: that IS the plus side as the rest of this title is pretty bad.

The NEW 52: FUTURE'S END, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED: FUTURE’S END #1: Equinox has defeated a perverted animal trapper called Polargeist when she receives a call from the Martian Manhunter. En route, she stops in San Diego and visits Buddy Baker and his daughter Maxine. Dismissing Maxine, Buddy tells Equinox that he too got J'onn's message, but can’t go as he retired after Green Arrow was killed. She goes to the Justice League's headquarters and tells Cyborg and Vostok-X of J’onn’s message. There is a prison built on Mars to hold the most dangerous villains and that is where they need to go. Arriving there, Equinox learns from J'onn that a powerful telepath has set the villains free and are soon attacked by the freed inmates. Stormguard takes Dawnstar and Equinox to find J’onn, who has been captured by Grodd. Grodd explains that this wasn’t his plan, it was Captain Atom’s plan. This story continues in JUSTICE LEAGUE: FUTURE’S END #1.

Jeff Lemire and Jed Dougherty give us a great first part of a two-part tale filled with unexpected twists. While it started out rather slow with the whole Polargeist piece and the visiting with Buddy Baker. But once the League comes into play, with the addition of some new team members like Dawnstar(just how does she get into the League?) and the trip to Mars, it becomes a great comic story with an unexpected ending. I can’t wait to see how things turn out in Part 2.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: FUTURE’S END #1: It seems Captain Atom is blaming the Justice League for his turning to evil. The League believes he is responsible for the deaths of millions but he believes that what he did saved billions. He demands that he be set free or everyone on the planet will die and he destroys the prison in the process. Wildfire and all of the former members of Justice League United arrive to lend a hand as Equinox has managed to use her ice power to save all the prisoners. Captain Atom decides he will destroy himself and that the energy will kill everyone. Equinox distracts Captain Atom just long enough to allow J’onn to take over his mind and makes him believe he is Nathaniel Adam again. J’onn thanks Equinox for bringing the help and insists he will rebuild the prison.

What had so much promise to start with ended up being just an average comic story. Again, I understand that we need to experience the five years that lead up to this story, but I really wanted to know what Captain Atom did that caused the deaths of so many. Jeff Lemire and Jed Dougherty conclude this tale and find me wanting more. I still like the idea of seeing members of the Legion show up as members and ex-members of the various Leagues. So, for that alone, this ends up being an okay story that could have been a bit of a classic.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: FUTURE’S END #1: Zatanna has spent a long time trying to free the residents of the House of Mystery from the nothingness she put them into. While Zatanna and Etrigan have sex, Cassandra tries to find the future of each of the Justice League Dark members but only sees darkness. She does finally discover a man floating in the nothingness. After Etrigan retrieves the body and, surprised to find him alive, Zatanna goes into his subconscious to reveal his story. His name is Eric Maitland Augustine and he was a member of the Order of the Golden Age. He inherited a book that allowed him to open a doorway to other dimensions and eventually here in the Nameless. He finally awakens and they all spend the next two weeks finding their way to a dimensional portal that will set them free. Zatanna grabs Eric, the two of them enter the portal, and he attacks her with dark magic. She sees a giant stone head that explains that he is called Non and that Eric had actually died with the rest of the Order of the Golden Age. His body was absorbed to lure other visitors. Suddenly, the rest of Justice League Dark arrives and focus their magic at Non. Zatanna wonders why the others came back for her and Asa reminds her how she saved her from The Between. She orders Eric be killed to keep Non from returning.

J. M. DeMatteis, Len Wein and Andres Guinaldo give us a decent conclusion to this two part tale. The nice thing about it is that, with the exception of some key plot points, this could easily have dropped into current continuity. This was not the best of the FUTURE’S END tale and it certainly wasn’t the worst.

NEW 52 FUTURE’S END#17-21: In issue #17, John Constantine tells his companions, Midge and Tommy, that an entire village was murdered by someone or something seeking the same man they are seeking. There is a rumbling from under the ground and a geyser comes forth. Out steps a bearded Kal-El from with it. On Cadmus Island, Hawkgirl is about to be experimented on by Doctor Sook when the OMAC who broguht her here crushes his head. Elsewhere, Slade Wilson has Cole examine all the Earth 2 when the prisoners step out their cells and escape. Over on Vancouver Island, Emiko and Barda head towards a meeting with John Diggle. Emiko’s plan is to use a Queen Foundation owned freighter to get to Cadmus Island, kill Deathstroke and free the remaining Earth 2 refugees. In Metropolis, Lois Lane's watches Superman and Rampage battle.In the midst of it, he utters the word "Shazam!", bringing down the lightning and knocking Rampage out. Lois rushes to his side to find Superman gone and replaced by Billy Batson.

In issue #18, Constantine tries to convince Clark that they need Superman, tells them to go to the NEW Superman and finishes by saying he won’t be lectured to by a drunk. Constantine tells him that Brainiac is responsible. In Metropolis, Lois is crouched over Billy Batson before Rampage returns and throws him through the air. Luckily, Stormguard, who takes down Rampage and promises to get her the help she needs, catches him. Stormguard teleports Lois and Billy to the Justice League Satellite where he asks Lois not to report the story of who Superman is. Meanwhile, Emiko and Barda meet with John Diggle, who explains that this island they are on is the same one where Oliver became the Green Arrow. And that is when Oliver emerges from the jungle to greet them. On Cadmus Island, Faraday complains to the mysterious voice about the escape and soon realizes he needs to follow orders or many will die. Slade, Lana, and Cole Cash are hiding while Fifty Sue has gone with a list of demands " to see the wizard”, who is actually Brother Eye." At the same time, Power Girl is watching the three of them. Under Terrifitech building, Terry McGinnis and company plan their break-in.

In issue #19, Terry uses A.L.F.R.E.D. to track the Brother Eye satellite's orbit. He then trips the alarms and betrays Key and Coil. Plastique sneaks into the lab where her cyborg self is being kept. Terry finds her and, since the experience has shaken her, helps her escape. In Metropolis, Lois Lane decides to wait on publishing her story although Ty tells her she must. Billy arrives and explains that revealing to the world that Superman is not who they thought he is will destroy the meaning of the symbol. As he flies off, Lois makes her decision. Off in the Huron System, Ray Palmer is surprised when one of the Storm Lords appears on the remains of the Carrier and claims that Ray must lead Stormwatch. He explains that the rest of the team aren’t missing, but are at the mercy of Brainiac, who killed the last Stormwatch team. On Cadmus Island, Deathstroke and Lana are attacked by a possessed Power Girl. Fifty Sue reminds her that Deathstroke and Lana are under her protection and Power Girl leaves. Sue tells Slade that Brother Eye has possessed most of the Earth 2 prisoners and Cole. In New York City, Calvin closes up his bar and sees the newspaper headline where Lois has revealed that Shazam is now Superman.

In issue #20, Tim Drake breaks into the The Fast Lane only to find Lois waiting for him. He explains to her that he didn’t fake his own death. He was almost killed by a Paradmon when Red Arrow saved his life and paid for it with his life. That was when he gave up the world of tights. She tells him he needs to explain who he is to Madison Young. She shows him the box of items and he recognizes the arrow as the one that saved him. He guesses the map coordinates are for him, but he insists he is done with that life and leaves. Jumping ahead thirty years, Michael Holt learns that Brother Eye has opened Batman’s skull and learned how to travel through. It plans to have the Joker travel back in time and stop Terry McGinnis. Back on Cadmus Island, Fifty Sue, Slade, Cole, and Lana make their way to Faraday's office where they find him there waiting. He explains that he is also trapped by Brother Eye and Sue suggests they go to her secret bunker. At Terrifitech, Key and Coil get a visit from Mr. Terrific who tries to get them to tell him who they are working for. They reveal it to be Bruce Wayne. Finally, Tim confesses about who he really is and, feeling betrayed, Madison walks out on him.

In issue #21, Oliver welcomes Big Barda to his army. Red Arrow of Earth 2 explains that
Mister Miracle had put him in charge to make certain the refugees made it to Earth safely. Oliver explains how Earth Cards were issued to keep an eye on the refugees of Earth 2, who most blamed for the Apokolips war and how he had tried to keep Seattle Earth Card free. What he and Red Arrow discovered was that many of the Earth 2 heroes had been kidnapped by Deathstroke. They also discovered that Maxwell Payne had compromised defense codes days before the invasion. In doing so, Brother Eye transported the occupants thought dead by Barda, including Mister Miracle, away from the exploding ship. The Global Peace Agency wasn’t hunting the Earth 2 heroes, but Cadmus was. To work best, Oliver faked his own death and returned to his island where he built an army with the Outsiders. Barda agrees to join and help wipe out Cadmus.

So, now we all know that Oliver faked his own death, that Superman is really Billy Batson and that Lois Lane will do anything to make a headline. Never really trusted this version of that woman! Anyway, I find this another monster run of issues by Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire with art by Patrick Zircher, Georges Jeanty, Scot Eaton, Aaron Lopresti, and Cully Hamner. So many fans and critics have dropped this title, spit on this title and totally disrespected it. But, with the creative team at the helm that is in place, I can’t see DC totally doing this without allowing consequences to be put in place. Remember: rumor has all things related to a CRISIS happening about the time this mini-series is set to end. Let'’ see what happens!

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD: FUTURE’S END #1: A one armed Deadshot along with Black Manta, who has had his brain scrambled by the government, are rescued from Belle Reve by Amanda Waller. They find and free Harley Quinn who has been kept in isolation because of her use of Venom. With her team back together, she explains that she suspects the government is using cloning technology to create their own super army. They break into the compound and find a nursery full of babies that Amanda believes have had the Squad's personalities downloaded. They soon encounter a pair of teenage boys that look like the Joker and Harley attacks them, getting a face full of acid for her trouble. Black Manta gets stabbed and Harley has a bomb stuck to her. Amanda grabs Deadshot and they flee before Harley explodes. A Deathstroke arrives and begins shooting at Floyd and Amanda. In a duel with swords, Floyd is seriously wounded, but manages to turn the table on the clone and blow his face off. As he dies, Deadshot hears that Amanda succeeded in shutting the project down.

Sean Ryan and Andre Coelho give us a rather depressing end to the legendary Suicide Squad. Of course this story makes me think how all these FUTURE’S END tales are connected. If Harley was in prison, then how could she have ended up on an island with The Joker in her own one shot? Both stories are set five years in the future, so how do we explain that? Does the Harley Special come first and then, somehow, she juices on Venom, gets caught and this story occurs? Or did the editors at DC just forget things like…continuity? Yeah: that’s it!

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years in the future, police and S.W.A.T. in Central City have surrounded a building where Jason Todd is holed up. Todd manages to distract them by blowing up the building and escapes. Back in the day, Todd was teamed up with Roy and Kori and fighting against the bad guys. But Kori went back to her homeworld and Roy replaced Green Arrow in the Justice League. On their last meeting, Roy shot Jason and vowed to capture him if he continued to hunt “villains”. Jason’s current target is Morgan Edge, the former owner of Galaxy Broadcasting. After sending on ominous message to Edge, the Metropolis Police Department surrounds his building to protect him. Jason arrives with a well-armed blimp and takes out all of the police before finally confronting Edge. One week later, someone in Vostok Russia receives an ominous message in the form of a red hood.

Scott Lobdell and Scott Kolins give us a decent issue this time. Kolins art looks great, if you like his style of art, which I do. And Lobdell’s tale, while it is filled with a number of unexplained plot holes, stands up well. So how did Jason Todd become such a violent vigilante, killing police officers in the process of taking out villains? What went on over a five year period that caused Jason to decide who was the most guilty? Again, I would like to have had more answers, but it ended up being a much better story than I had expected.

RED LANTERNS: FUTURE’S END #1: Bleez and Guy Gardner, who is now a Blue Lantern, are out to purge the universe of all Red Lanterns. They reflect on their mission, as they bring survivors to Ysmault. Meanwhile, King Jack, the Red Lantern known as Rankorr, plans his final assault and begins a battle with Bleez and Guy. Ultimately, Bleez draws his ring from him, as she has with all of the other Red Lantern rings in the universe. The power nearly drives her insane but words of wisdom from Guy Gardner allows him to draw away all the rings and destroy them, allowing a normal Bleez and a normal Jack to be together forever.

A great tale from Charles Soule and J. Calafiore, who I had to honor to meet at this year’s Rhode Island Comic Con(and thanks to my daughter for buying a beautiful piece of Harley Quinn art from him). I expected this to be just a fill-in issue to get us to the next month, but this was fun. Gardner is touched and obviously converted by the Blue Lantern energy and everyone gets a happy ending out of it. Thanks for this, guys: I thoroughly enjoyed it!

SINESTRO: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years from now, Sinestro and the “worst sentients” in the universe are imprisoned in the penitentiary known as Tartaros. There was a time when he was being followed by those who saw his means as villainous and that forced he and Lyssa to flee New Korugar. In his prison cell, Lyssa visits him and soon he leads a breakout with a newly crafted ring. He and a handful of prisoners escape the planet and head into empty space. Once there, he retrieves Lyssa’s skull and brings it on board the ship, before killing all and landing on Necropolis-what was later renamed New Korugar. The Apex League arrives to apprehend him, as he notes that everything and everyone on the planet died because he wasn’t there to keep Parallax from breaking free and eating everyone. He smashes Kyssa’s skull and it yields a black ring. Sinestro now leads the Black Lanterns.

Cullen Bunn and Igor Lima turn in one of the best single Sinestro stories since the first issue of this series. Sinestro has developed into one of those villains that tend to walk a very strange line. He’s part evil conqueror and part anti-hero. But his book hasn’t really lived up to his reputation. This issue does, as he gets imprisoned, breaks out, ends up on his reconstructed and now dead homeworld and eventually gains a modicum of revenge by becoming a Black Lantern. All in all, a really good issue! They should all be like this one!

STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES: FUTURE’S END #1: In the future, a virus called "Black Ice" is infecting thousands including G.I. Zombie's partner, Carmen King. While a cure is still being created, he ends up being deployed to aircraft carrier that has been over run by virus infected zombies. While he attacks them, a helicopter fires a missile that cuts him in half and destroys the boat’s own missile system. G.I. Zombie puts his body back together as zombies attack Gotham City. The vaccine kills Carmen and then revives her. They end up going to Codsville and secure a crop-duster to deploy it. Jared and Carmen deploy the antivirus but gets shot at by an enemy chopper. Jared crashes into the enemy chopper and finds Gravedigger flying it. Jared demands to know why he is betraying his country and his told that the orders CAME from this country. Landing on the ground below, the two zombies battle, with Jared ripping off the head of his enemy and stuffing it in a bag. The antivirus is dropped as Jared promises to reconnect the head to the body so Gravedigger can stand trial for treason. In the end,  Jared and Carmen have dinner as she reveals that she is retiring from duty. They agree to get drunk and say goodbye.

Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Scott Hampton deliver a great, action filled, zombieriffic issue! This one has it all and even gives us a semi-romantic ending. I truly love the monthly title and this just has that same vibe. Unfortunately, this title is going to end up going the way of much of DC’s “low hanging fruit”-rotting on the vine and going away sooner than later, I’m afraid.

SUPERBOY: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years from now, Superboy and his friends Roxy, Rose and Guardian have been hunting down the last remaining Superboy clones. When the last three clones arrive, they all battle. After absorbing the other two, the last one battles the team and is defeated. Fireworks erupt and the foursome leaves happy.

Yeah…this is why I stopped reading this title. Frank J. Barbiere gives us a lackluster and confusing story not helped at all by Ben Caldwell’s art. In some panels, Superboy has a Don Johnson two day old beard and on the next page, he’s completely clean shaven. This is the worst thing I read all month, hands down.

SUPERGIRL: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years in the future, the Cyborg Superman and Supergirl, also now a cyborg, return to Earth. Dr. Veritas tries to talk to her, but Supergirl will have nothing of it. Then Captain Comet intervenes and tries to make her remember that they were once part of a team. And they were also lovers until the Cyborg Superman took her away and turned her into a cyborg. When he orders her to kill Captain Comet, she revolts, turning against him and removing her cyborg arm in the process. The rest of the Wanderers arrive as the Cyborg Superman departs, leaving Supergirl, now somewhat back to her old self, to reunite with her team and her lover.

This counts as the SECOND WORST issue I read this month. Tony Bedard and Emanuela Lupacchino fill this book with lame, poorly crafted characters and a sad little love story featuring more cardboard heroes. I got nothing else to say except…I want my three bucks back!

SUPERMAN: FUTURE’S END #1: Superman arrives at a fire and saves two children. Unfortunately, the police and firefighters do not thank him. He is vilified because he is not Kal-El. Later, Billy Batson arrives at Lois Lane’s apartment and tells her how he became Superman. During the war, he was betrayed by Black Adam and, just when Adam was about to kill him and steal the lightning, Superman arrived, sending Black Adam into the Phantom Zone. He then proceeds to explain that he has a mission to do alone, because “he” says so. While he and Lois talk, Ibac returns, forcing the two of them into battle. Defeating him at last, Shazam decides it’s time to walk away from the ruse and shed the Superman guise.

This was awesome! I really had some issues with Superman being revealed to be Billy Batson when it occurred in the pages of NEW 52 FUTURE’S END #17 and had even more issues when Lois turned around and shared the story with the world. But now getting the back story from Dan Jurgens, with some amazing art from Lee Weeks, I feel better about it. Seeing Black Adam betray the Earth for his own personal gains is typical and makes me want to see The Rock portray him even less than I did before. This was a wild read and it not only read great it looked AMAZING! Thanks guys!

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN: FUTURE’S END #1: In the second part of a story that began in WONDER WOMAN: FUTURE’S END #1, Wonder Woman believes that Superman may be possessed by Nemesis, although he claims otherwise, saying that it is she herself being controlled. He has her Lasso of Truth around his neck, so she realizes that she has been infected by Nemesis and is actually in Tartarus. Clark helps her find the exit, telling her that he is Clark from four years ago who was sent here by Diana's generals. As they arrive in Themyscira, she learns that sees Nemesis' army has taken everything, including the League. Ordering her sisters to hold the city for as long as they can, she and Clark go to Mount Olympus and beg Apollo to let them use the scrying pool. Diana became possessed because Nemesis had started the war by killing the Goddess of Peace. With no Peace, there could only be war. She enters the tomb of the Goddess of Peace where she will convince her spirit that she was always meant to be that Goddess.

Okay, I am truly confused. Nemesis started the war? Is this the same war with Apokolips that resulted in the destruction of Earth 2? Is this even the same universe? And how is it that Apollo is still on the throne of Mount Olympus? Does this ruin the story that Brian Azzarello is trying to wrap up. Again-totally confused. With that out of the way, let’s just say that Charles Soule’s story is touching and typical Soule and art by the legendary Bart Sears makes it that much better. Maybe I need to go back and read this AGAIN to make sure I know who is fighting who.

SWAMP THING: FUTURE’S END #1: Swamp Thing, ruler of the Green Kingdom, has spent the last five years preparing for his final battle and needs the help of the rulers of the other kingdoms. He visits the Grey, reminding the Avatar that if he brought a photo of a certain woman, the Avatar would do something for him in return. He agrees to join him and Alec goes to The Red, where the Avatar attacks him with a three-headed bear. Defeating the bear, he calls the Avatar an idiot and goes to the realm of the Divided, home to the bacteria of the universe. Alec presents the Avatar with the body of the bear as a gift and reminds here that her had promised her that he would help her expand her territory and, if she joins him, he will see that happens. In the realm of metal, the Processor quickly agrees to join him. He finally goes to the The Black, where he encounters the throne of Anton Arcane. Alec begs him to release his daughter-bride, Abigail, which he refuses to do. While Arcane plans to kill Alec, he tells him that he has brought the Swamp thing with him and he once possessed the White Lantern Ring, so Abigail is released. He plans on defeating The Rot and allowing the Grey, the Divided, and the Metal to take over for him. The light from the White Lantern Ring destroys Arcane and Abigail's body as Alec dies.

And thus the saga of this Swamp Thing comes to an end, at the hands of Charles Soule and Jesús Saíz. The long, rambling tale has a satisfying ending, although the whole trip to the various realms was a bit on the long side. In the end, we knew that Alec would have to battle Arcane. It was just interesting to see how Abby and the White Lantern Ring would result in his death. Overall, this is a great story and one of Soule’s best free-standing issues on this character.

TEEN TITANS: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years from now, Archimedes Grant is throwing a party at sea where laws do not apply to him. He is also trying to gain the influence of Senator Peter Strutz. He also has Earth 2’s Tempest in a glass tank and being chased by a shark. Suddenly he disappears, thanks to Klarion: the Earth 2 version who also makes a quick exit. Soon a female Kid Flash, joins him, also from Earth 2, and The Heretic, who wants in as part of this team to take down Grant. Two days later, Grant is hosting a party in New York City when the foursome arrives and engages Grant’s security team. Grant is soon escorted away by Alexia Santos, who battles with him. When she discovers he cloned a woolly mammoth only to kill it five years later and have it stuffed, Animal Girl knocks him through a wall. When all is said and done, Grant lives on through an Earth 2 immigration act named after him, thanks to the Senator. Unfortunately for the Senator, he receives a visit from the Teen Titans to discuss his future.

Will Pfeifer and Andy Smith present this tale of the new, new, NEW Teen Titans(I think that’s right, when you take into account this is the THIRD Teen Titans team since the NEW 52 debuted). And, with the exception of Heretic and possibly Animal Girl, they are Earth 2 refugees. Pfeifer’s story is fun if not a little confusing (the whole Teen Titans run by Earth 2’s Klarion makes me wonder if the Klarion in the forthcoming series is from Earth 2 or not) but Andy Smith’s art shines. At times, he crosses into that George Perez meets Phil Jimenez space and it really shows! Again, this was fun: probably more fun than the monthly title is!

TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA: FUTURE’S END #1: Pandora had figured out that the infamous box is actually a portal between worlds and it has taken her five years to put it back together and try to make it open for her. What comes out is what she once thought was the Seven Deadly Sins but are only versions of herself from another dimension. Each one has been responsible for the ending of their universes and now they attack Pandora. She brings all the others pieces of her back into herself so she can keep the Multiverse alive and subsequently explodes. This beckons a new day the Multiverse.

What Ray Fawkes has done here, at least what I BELIEVE he was doing here, is suggest that the infamous moment in FLASHPOINT was actually one of these alternate Pandoras trying to end another Multiverse in the hopes that the one that replaces it would be better. Let’s not forget that all those moments from the alternate FLASHPOINT timeline came together and only parts of it survived in the NEW 52, just like parts of the continuity from the OLD DCU survived here as well. Or…I could be totally reading into this when there is nothing to read into. All in all, this was a cool tale from Fawkes and artist Tom Derenick.

TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years from now, the Phantom Stranger pays the ferryman his last silver coin and is taken to the Rock of Eternity for his final judgment. There is a new council of seven to decide his fate: Trigon, Mister E, Neron, Eclipso, Sin Eater, Blight and Zauriel. Trigon plans on entering the Gates of Paradise but needs the Amulet of Origins to get in, which the Stranger possesses. Zauriel, now Trigon’s beloved, steals the  amulet but, before she can give it to Trigon, is sent to Heaven by The Presence, who prepares to deal punishment to the seven. He sets The Stranger free, bringing him back to the boat he used to reach the Rock of Eternity. The ferryman is revealed to be Elena: his “wife” from a previous life. She gives him back the final coin and the Amulet as The Presence returns and the boat begins to sink, sending The Stranger off to help a world that needs him.

Dan Didio, J. M. DeMatteis and Phil Winslade send The Stranger off to a title that no longer exists, as he joins Pandora and The Question on the new TRINITY OF SIN title launching next month. This was a fitting, if not somewhat predictable ending as the stacked deck of seven meant SOMETHING GOOD was going to happen and since that little dog has been running around this title for MOST of this title, I sort of expected the Divine Puppy would save the day. The high point of the book? Phil Winslade.

WONDER WOMAN: FUTURE’S END #1: Wonder Woman, God of War battle an entire enemy army on the fields of Korondor. Later, as she walks with her friend Hessia, she learns that the enemy has made its’ way through Swan Gate and she calls the council to plan a way to stop Nemesis. Drawing her sword and facing her men, the Army of the Dead, she asks why they fight for her. They respond that if they can help the living continue to live, their sacrifices are worth it. She channels her energy into a blast of energy to destroy Nemesis' army. And then she hears Superman’s voice and realizes he has been possessed by Nemesis.

As you already know, this story concludes in SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN FUTURE’S END #1. This first part, by Charles Soule and Rags Morales, is a nice set-up to that concluding chapter. We see Diana as the troubled God of War trying to make sense of everything that has happened. Soule’s writing continues to be at its’ best and it will surely suck for the NEW 52 Universe when he finally leaves here to his new exclusive home at Marvel. Until then, just enjoy his work and hope that the successors on his titles will be as good as he was.

WORLDS’ FINEST: FUTURE’S END #1: Five years in the future, we see Power Girl breaking into Cadmus Island. She steals a uniform from the laundry room and sneaks through the facility. Using her X-Ray vision, she discovers that Cadmus  is studying super-humans in the cruelest of ways.  Deathstroke, who quickly learns that conventional weapons like guns and knives are ineffective, attacks her and seems to be ready for a horrendous beating when Fifty Sue arrives. Karen’s protégé Tanya enters the scene but that battle is short lived and many innocents in the area are vaporized in the process. Collapsing, both are brought to a prison cell where Helena is also waiting. She now realizes that all hope is lost.

Or is it? If you have been reading recent issues of NEW 52 FUTURE’S END, you know that Power Girl has been corrupted by Brother Eye, as have many of the other heroes on Cadmus Island. Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen(who is credited as “advisor”) and Yildiray Cinar are responsible for this issue which only gets a thumbs up from me for illustrating, in a less than graphic way, how Cadmus “studies” it’s super-human captives. If this is studying five years from now, then the heroes of Earth 2 may be doomed.

MULTIVERSITY: SOCIETY OF SUPER HEROES CONQUERORS FROM THE COUNTER WORLD #1

Immortal Man has returned to New York City and proceeds to answer a distress call from the skyscraper of Doc Fate. Once inside, he is greeted by Lady Blackhawk and her Blackhawks Squadron. He is then introduced to 18 year old Al Pratt. He is The Atom and the only person to ever complete the Iron Munroe Bodypower course. He is also soon warned to stop reading a comic book that Fate claims is the most dangerous thing in the room. It seems that Doctor Fate has managed to get all worldwide conflict to end. He notes that a parallel Earth on the edge of Bleed Space is on a collision course with their Earth. They form the Society of Super-Heroes  and prepare to protect their Earth. On the other Earth, Vandal Savage learns from Felix Faust that the two Earths crossing paths only happens once every hundred thousand years. The cursed comic book has told him that they are all part of a Multiverse. Vandal Savage decides this allows him to conquer each one, leading him to conquer the United States of America. Five years pass and the battle between worlds rages. Green Lantern is dead and a creature called a Makara has burned The Atom. Doctor Fate tries to heal him as he shows him his Transmatter Cube and explains how the Monitor Race died and Nix Uotan became the protector of the Multiverse, making every super-hero his child.

Blockbuster bursts into the temple to try and kill The Atom. Al promises to hold the creature back while Fate continues to work on the Transmatter Cube. Al, uses the forbidden martial arts move known as the Deadly Atom Punch to kill Blockbuster. Vandal Savage battles the Immortal Man when the Blackhawk Squadron arrives to distract him long enough to continue to buy time for Doctor Fate. Faust and his Necro-Men break into the temple and Fate pistol whips him until he passes out. That is when Parallax attacks and eventually killed. Lady Blackhawk and Lady Shiva battle and Shiva is knocked into an alligator filled-infested swamp. He cuts then to pieces with her sword only to be shot to death by the Blackhawk Squadron. Meanwhile, Immortal Man and Vandal Savage, two enemies given eternal life by a meteorite, begin their dance of death. Green Lantern returns to destroy the entity of fear. He tells Al that using the Makara Plasma from Parallax will produce the energy they need to run the Transmatter Cube, which has the ability to bridge worlds. Fate believes that they can use the cub to contact others and recruit them to their cause. Vandal Savage attacks but is impaled on a spear Immortal Man has created. His death summons the god Niczhuotan and has caused the heroes of this world to become killers. This all led to a five-year war which also awakened Nix Uotan, the last remaining Monitor, who cannot be stopped by the Society of Super-Heroes. And hopefully, the heroes of the other worlds Uotan will go to can stop him.

Remember a great book by Rick Veitch called 1963? Well, picture that title with bits of the NEW 52 Universe thrown in and not as humorous and you have this book. Grant Morrison and Chris Sprouse have thrown characters into a blender and shot them out into a weird world with the 52 Universes. Morrison has dug into comicdom and twisted things together with bits from classic literature and world religions to turn out this bizarre tale which is designed to be connected with the rest of the series. You will find your head in a whirl if you try to make sense of this in the here and now. I believe each title needs to stand on their own and then it will all come together in the end. Will this effect the NEW 52 Universe? We’ll have to wait and see. Somehow, I believe it will.