ACTION COMICS #45: Clark has set up camp in Talladega, Alabama and is still trying to track down Wrath when Hiro Okamura shows up at the door of his cabin. With the location compromised, Clark sends the kid away and blows up the cabin. Back in Metropolis, the residents of Clark’s old neighborhood are trying to put their world back together. And Clark is now known as Archie Clayton and he’s a truck driver who manages to work his way into Lyfegene Corporation where Supremacists have been kidnapping people infected by Wrath. He frees most of the folks, but finds the black goo has corrupted Lee and now so is he.
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder give us another cool arc in the new life of Clark Kent. I’m not quite sure if I like Scott Kolins art on this title, but I guess I’ll learn to get used to it. The whole concept of DC books not being in a synced up continuity does have moments where I scratch my head, this being one of them.
ALL STAR SECTION EIGHT #5: Sidney wakes up to find a foul-mouthed Phantom Stranger and three very dead back-ups singers in the bar with him. They proceed to Heaven where an all-singing, all-dancing Etrigan greets them and proceeds to have a rap battle with the Phantom Stranger. Following that brief intermission, the Stranger introduces the deceased members of Section Eight, along with Hitman. They all pretty much blame Sixpack for their being dead and inform him that the old Dogwelder is in Hell. He and the Stranger end up back on Earth where he ends up in an alley cuddling with his own self. When he wakes, he’s back in the bar, Dogwelder’s family is on TV begging for him to come home and Superman is at the door telling Sixpack that it’s time to go.
With this penultimate issue, Garth Ennis and John McCrea totally take this book off the rails of sanity. Not that it was sane to begin with! This is one wild ride and, as I have said before, it should be in everyone’s library! It has been filled with tons of superhero guest stars, some really kinky stuff and now we let Etrigan and the Phantom Stranger rap together. Seriously-one of the funniest and funkiest books of the year!
AQUAMAN #45: Aquaman is wounded and finds himself on an alien world where he is attacked by alien creatures. Dispatching them, he comes across creatures and buildings from Thule. He collapses from his injuries, only to wake up in the care of the inhabitants of this world. Despite not being able to communicate with them, he learns that Thule has been out conquering worlds until they came here and these people fought back. Deciding that he now knows how to beat the Thulians, the alien Queen takes Arthur to a statue that belonged to the Thule people. It’s a statue of Earth before Atlantis sank and Aquaman is on top of on top it, like he is the ruler of the world.
Honestly, I don’t know where Cullen Bunn is taking this book. And Trevor McCarthy’s art is not my favorite, although this is probably his best issue to date. This was one of my favorite titles…no so much anymore.
BATGIRL #45: Barbara is helping Alysia get ready for her wedding when she is entrusted with the ring. She and Luke Fox are sharing a tender moment when Dick Grayson shows up, much to everyone’s disappointment. Babs and Dick head out onto the roof and he steals the ring, leading to a lengthy chase where they almost kiss. She also chews him out for the whole dying but not really being dead thing. She makes it back in time for the wedding and shares a wonderful date with Luke. Later, while she sleeps, a mysterious figure plots…
Okay, I’m a little confused. Didn’t we already see Dick and Barbara have this conversation, or at least a version of it, in the last issue of GRAYSON? So, I guess cintinuity IS less important than a good story. Only this isn’t a good story. Everything here good have been summed up in about half an issue and all the action involved the chase. The story by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher goes back to the complaint about the “Batgirling” of DC’s heroes. And Babs Tarr’s art is just so cartoonish. I want my smart and sexy Barbara Gordon back!
BATMAN #45: We find Jim Gordon, in his Batman costume, taking a major beating from some of Mr. Bloom’s Devil Pigs disciples when his Mechanized Batsuit comes to his rescue. Elsewhere, Bruce Wayne is taking a bunch of old Joker props, like the super large card and the giant T-Rex, and turning them into a playground at the Rec. Center. Duke visits his friend Daryl to have him do so investigating into one of Bloom’s seeds. As it turns out, Geri Powers forces Gordon to resign because of what went down with the Devil Pigs, but that doesn’t get a chance to happen publicly as Mr. Bloom shows up at the press conference.
Well, it’s nice to be back to the story at hand here. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue the story of Mr. Bloom and throw us the curveball that has Jim Gordon getting the axe. So, does he save the day and that leads to Powers reversing her decision or does he continue to fall on his sword and somehow Bruce comes back into the costume? We hear that DC wants to make changes to the DC You project and maybe that is one of them. We shall see. Until then, it is still THE BATMAN title to buy!
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #1-4: In issue #1, Grayson, Red Hood, and Red Robin tem up to help Dick complete a non Spyral related mission. Undercover at GSU’s Tower of Enlightenment Grand Opening, he recalls an early mission where he and Batman first tackled The Scarecrow. They were forced to battle Crane’s class of students in the process. In the present day, armed GSU students attack Dick, forcing him to escape as they tell him that Orphan is coming to kill him. But Poppy shoots at him and tells him that Mother says "Hello", before she reports to Orphan. He then gets attacked by Cassandra Cain, who hands him a USB stick while saying the word "Mother" to him repeatedly. In the Batcave, he sees the stick has a list of names that are Mother's Children, who are marked for execution. A hologram of Batman appears, explaining Mother is his greatest sin and that he had once shot a man and a woman because Mother told him too. Meanwhile, Jim Gordon has tracked down Bluebird to convince her to stop her superhero ways, but she immobilizes him and taunts him to catch her again. Back in her apartment, she is greeted by a ninja who says she must die as she is the key to everything Grayson cannot know about. He is The Orphan
In issue #2, The Orphan is beating on Harper when Cassandra comes to her rescue. Grayson talks with Matron, who says she knows nothing regarding Mother, before making his way to Harper’s apartment just as The Orphan is being blasted by a stun-gun shot. While The Orphan gets away, Grayson checks on Harper as the Spoiler arrives, and they both smell Fear Gas. In a flashback, Dick recalls an early encounter with Scarecrow and his Fear Gas. In present day, Red Robin arrives and learns he is on Mother’s hit list, as is Jason. Dick calls Jason, who currently has Cassandra at gunpoint.
In issue #3, Red Hood is beating on Cassandra until Dick, Tim, Harper and Stephanie arrive to stop him and explain it all. They take an injured Harper to the Batcave to repair her injuries while Dick hears from Spyral and learns that Mother is a human trafficker who builds “designer human beings”. This leads to a flashback where Robin reveals his fear is that he could never be the hero Batman wanted him to be. In the present, we learn that Poppy was receiving phone calls from Beacon Tower, where there is a gala for Bruce Wayne. And Bruce finds himself in the kitchen with a lot of people bearing hatchets.
In issue #4, Bruce is being attacked by a bunch of folks with axes when Dick Grayson, under the guise of Mr. Sparrow, comes to his rescue. That is also when an assist comes from the Robin Gang, who have been undercover as waiters and waitresses, and Batgirl, who has a brief conversation with Dick about their conversation in BATGIRL #45. Meanwhile, in the Batcave, Harper, Stephanie and Cassandra deal with their issues, which is mostly with the fact that Stephanie doesn’t trust Cassandra. Later, Dick goes to the family home of the Drakes while Tim calls Mother.
James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Tim Seeley, and Scott Orlando weave the beginnings of thenewest weekly Batman epic; one that brings together most of the Batman Family into an adventure with deep repercussions. Add in the art of Tony Daniel, Paul Pelletier, Scot Daniels, and Scot Eaton and you have what looks to be a cool little mystery with some nice twists and turns, even in the first four issues. I look forward to seeing how this whole thing will play out.
BATMAN BEYOND #5: As the transformed Justice League members attack Neo Gotham, the Jim Gordon Batsuit gets charged up and Tim Drake climbs inside. First up, he destroys John Stewart and goes into battle against Superman and Wonder Woman. The battle goes back and forth before Micron arrives and destroys Wonder Woman. Tim shoves Kryptonite down Superman’s throat, which allows Micron to destroy the former Man of Steel and save Neo Gotham.
I’m sorry: this book slowly starting to sink into an ocean of silliness and just leaving me with a feeling of totally not caring above this book. Dan Jurgens’ story just keeps plodding along. We have the replacement Batman climbing into Jim Gordon’s old suit and taking on the converted and perverted former members of the Justice League, only to be saved by this generation’s version of The Atom, Micron. The story holds no interest for me and I just find this to be a labor to read. And I’m also finding Bernard Chang’s art to no longer hold interest for me, as it is filled with unusual angles and strange proportions. This could be a perfect jumping off point for me.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #25: Batman is ordering his team to find Clark Kent and get him out of his city. But Superman is using one of the old Batman's gliders as he searches for the miniature sun stolen from Waynetech. He tracks down the Barbarians of the Dawn Command and engages them, only to be attacked by Vandal Savage, where he takes a serious beating. Before he can be finished, Batgirl comes to his rescue and gets him to the Batcave. Three days later, Superman and Batgirl are in Siberia where Savage is demanding the residents hurriedly mine six tons of uranium from so old and half-buried nuclear missiles. Luckily, Batgirl and Superman don’t have to do it alone, as Red Robin and Red Hood show up to help.
Despite having some rather unusual plot points in it, Greg Pak and Cliff Richards throw together a cool story with some awesome art. Batgirl looks hot and not like a teen girl as she does in her own title. I did laugh when these newly thawed barbarians are complaining about being hungry and craving burritos! Seek out the Monsters Variant cover by Michael Avon Oeming as it is a dynamite take on the ACTION #1 cover.
BAT-MITE #5: Bat-Mite teams up with the Inferior Five as they all prepare to face off against Gridlock, who has stolen the only known copy of the pilot episode of the classic television show GALAXY TREK. Bat-Mite joins the team, retools their personalities and their costumes and that results in the debut of the Superior Six. Gridlock escapes but they save the film canister, only to discover it is empty. The team begs Bat-Mite to change them back to what they once were and he obliges. In the end, three hooded figures decide
Thank you Dan Jurgens and Corin Howell for giving me a reunion with one of my favorite super teams of all time. I was six years old when I read their first appearances and followed them all the way through the 12 issues of their comic, watching them with such classic characters as the Cobweb Kid and Sub-Moron. This SO takes me back to my childhood with great memories of lying in a hammock in the summers and reading comics all day long.
BIZARRO #5: Right now, our quartet is locked up in Area 51 and charged with trying to break in. We go back three days and see that Agents Meadows Mahalo and Stuart “Chicken Stew” Paillard have offered our heroes $50,000 and an all-expenses-paid visit to Las Vegas to get them to break into Area 51. Once in Vegas, Bizarro proves a whiz at the Blackjack tables. Unfortunately, he answers a call from Jimmy’s publisher and learns of the plan to write a coffee-table book about their trip to Canada. They get inside Area 51 and start a riot so they can get their hands on the Army’s stockpile of captured alien weapons. Caught by General Lane, Jimmy connects him to his daughter Lois, who threatens to expose how he has aliens under lock and key. The aliens gets released with the weapons and head home. Colin also goes home and Chastity hooks up with Kilowog’s cousin and she leaves. In the end, Bizarro smashes Jimmy’s car and flies off.
Heath Corson and Gustavo Duarte give us the penultimate adventure of this Fantastic Four and, as this whole series has been, it’s a winner! From the Sculley and Mulder rip-off in the opening, to Killowog’s cousin, Lois Lane and all the rest, it is one long parody trip! And I remember saying this was a comic version of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS and I stand by that. It has been one wild and wacky road trip that is all but ready to end. Find the back issues or wait for the trade. This is a kick in the funny bone and I will miss it after next month.
BLACK CANARY #5: With another successful gig completed, Dinah and the band head discuss future plans and Maeve’s ulterior motives. Later that night, Dinah encounters the mysterious blonde ninja. The next day there is a record store signing and Byron’s mother and sister Shelley show up, as does Bo Maeve who disrupts the signing and challenges them to a Battle of the Bands. And at that battle, Bo uses her new powers.
This was an interesting issue by Brenden Fletcher and Pia Guerra that continues one plotline and sets up another one. The art still continues to be an issue with me as the whole “Batgirling” of the line stills bothers me. But I like where the story is going, even though this is far from the Black Canary who was romantically involved with Oliver Queen during the classic days of that archer’s title. And this issue was a good opportunity for the rest of the band to get fleshed out-nicely done! BTW: Byron and Shelley…GET IT!?
CATWOMAN #45: Eiko mourns her father’s death, even as Oliver Cobblepot and the Black Mask make an appearance at his funeral. Later, Selina, in costume, breaks into Eiko’s apartment to pay her respects, but that doesn’t go well. Cobblepot meets with Antonia, informing her of the latest developments with Black Mask and his men. Of course he is playing both sides, as he goes to meet with Black Mask with Catwoman in tow. She and Black Mask battle, she stabs him and leaves him to die. Cobblepot offers to save his life, but only if he gives up everything he has, which he agrees to. After a training session, Eiko is visited by Spoiler, and is informed that Eiko is throwing a party and killing all the families and their members.
Genevieve Valentine and David Messina continue to not only redefine the character of Selina Kyle/Catwoman, they also continue to redefine the landscape that is Gotham’s crime families. While I would really like to see Selina back in action full-time in the suit, the concept of the crime families, the two-faced actions of The Penguin, the dealings with Black Mask, Eiko and the rest, are truly fascinating and makes for some of the best crime fiction since the days of MS. TREE. While I’m still getting used to Selina in pantsuits, this is so recommended!
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #5: Constantine battles his ex-girlfriend Veronica, who is the monster that has been hanging around since issue #1. Georgie, despite not being very happy with Constantine at the moment, agrees to help. As she is ready to dispatch the creature, she discovers that she is Veronica and has second thoughts. But, knowing what is at stake, she burns the Soul Displacement book and kills Veronica in the process. As she and Constantine go there separate ways, she tells him she will never forgive him for this.
And I may not forgive the creative team of Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV and Scott Kowalchuk for making this Constantine even more unlikable than his last incarnation during JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK. The artwork is creepily simplistic, the plot took five issues to dig through it all and I’m just so tired of a plot that just did nothing for me. Next issue starts a new arc and I will give it a chance. But if it moves at the pace and with the enthusiasm as this one, I won’t finish the arc. Seriously DC: I had such hopes with Doyle and Tynion at the helm.
CYBORG #3: Cyborg has gathered whomever he can find in Detroit to help defend against the upcoming alien invasion by the Technosapiens, including poor Bobby. As the battle rages, the Metal Men arrive to lend a hand. The Justice League would be here, but they’re also busy fighting Technosapiens. At the same time, there is an invasion at STAR Labs, where the scientists find themselves losing. Just when things look their worst, the Tekbreakers arrive at STAR Labs to save the day. When Cyborg shows up there, he flips out as these are the people who killed him in the Preview story. The leader of the Tekbreakers is the Sarah Charles parallel world and she tells him that his father started the war that she is here to help stop.
Maybe I missed something but when did Batgirl become a member of the Justice League? That’s what I thought! But during the panel showing the Justice League battling Technosapiens, there she is-front and center. So I’m not sure if David F. Walker is to blame for writing is into his script or if with Ivan Reis and Eduardo Pansica are to blame for assuming she is part of the team. Either way, it’s a big boo-boo! Maybe this has something to do with the book being a month late. The story: well, that’s another story. It’s full of action on two fronts and I was thrilled to see the Metal Men showing up. Is it too much to ask for a series with them?
CYBORG #4: Picking up from last issue, we discover that the other Sarah Clarke has come from an Earth in a universe where Doctor Silas Stone was responsible for its’ destruction. Unable to let his wife die in peace, he ended up becoming Cyborg and led to the Technosapiens coming to Earth to try and take the technology with them. It seems the Tekbreakers have come here to find a way to stop the plague that is ravishing their world. The Technosapiens attack again, causing Cyborg, the Metal Men and the Tekbreakers to spring into action. That’s when the giant Technosapien attacks.
We get two issues in one month to make up for the missing issue last month. This time, David Walker is joined by Felipe Watanabe as the artist, as Ian Reis is only doing layouts. It’s another average issue that at least gives us the other Sarah Clarke’s back story, even if it wasn’t the greatest back story ever told. What I really wanted was more Metal Men but then I guess we’d have to changed the title of the book from CYBORG to METAL MEN now wouldn’t we?
DEATHSTROKE #11: Deathstroke, now with only one eye again and his traditional patch restored, finds what he first believes is his dead daughter Rose, but discovers to be someone disguised as Rose. Based on a clue he finds that points to Harley Quinn, he leads a one man assault onto Belle Reve. He finds Harley and Deadshot and, after a bit of a battle between the trio, Slade figures out that it wasn’t Harley who was responsible. He realizes to late that he has been set up and falls into a watery trap with Black Manta, proving payback is indeed a bitch!
Tony S. Daniel and James Bonny move on from the eye-plucking end to the last issue and fly headlong into something completely different. With Tyler Kirkham handling the art, this trio leads an all out assault onto Belle Reve for no other reason than to have our anti-hero find clues to getting his daughter back. My biggest gripe about this is that it all comes racing at us with no real resolution to the tale last issue. So…we just let Slade yank his eye out and that’s that? Weird. I would liked to have had some resolution to that piece and THEN slide into the first part of this story. Then NEXT issue could have been a longer assault and such. But what do I know: I just read and write about comics!
DETECTIVE COMICS #45: We begin at a cricket match in India where the crowd is attacked by a liquid that steals their eyes. Elsewhere, the Justice League interrupts a quiet night at Bruce Wayne’s apartment where they want to know if there is anything left of the old Bruce. Meanwhile, Jim Gordon’s Batman gets called into action because the rest of his flying team is being attacked. Luckily, the Justice League shows up to assist him, as he is not doing a very good job on his own. Batman tracks down the person responsible in the form of the Mad Hatter, who explains he was hired by someone The League recruits Gordon for the team and they all transport to a snow covered land with a very big skeleton.
Welcome to the first issue of the new team of Peter J. Tomasi and Marcio Takara and here are my initial thoughts. Tomasi writes a nice script, but it’s nothing amazing. I mean, it’s cool to see the Justice League show up, but are they that desperate to get the old Batman back? And then they show up while he is battling something attack the Bat Blimp that has been sent out by the Mad Hatter. The whole piece is a bit convoluted for me. Takara’s artwork doe not work at all for me. I just find it a little too stylized and too blocky. I especially hate the way the Batsuit looks! The best part of the book was the cliffhanger ending. Not a great start for a book that was showing great promise.
DOCTOR FATE #5: The deity Bastet, who was in Khalid's dead cat, has been reincarnated into the form of another identical black cat. She reiterates everything the first cat told him and then dies again, with the hope of being reborn again. With the helm back on his head again, Khalid goes about stopping petty crime and saving people among the continuing flood. He is also trying to attend school which again takes a back seat when he ends up at the hospital where is father is being menaced by Anubis. Getting him freed, Anubis tracks him down and offers to make a deal to restore his father’s eyesight. Khalid agrees to give Anubis the helm and Anubis does return the sight, but takes Khalid’s in the process.
I have yet to figure out why this series didn’t get the axe when DC decided to eliminate a whole slew of titles recently. This book by Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew is a total mess. It seems like this book is treading the same ground every single month without it moving forward. I mean, how many times can Khalid be told he needs to man up and become a hero? How many times can this damned cat die already? I’m sorry: this is NOT Paul Levitz’ finest hour. The book drags on, the art just looks like something from an Indy book (not a bad thing…just not appealing for a superhero title), and I really hate the cast!
DOOMED #5: Superman explains the Doomsday virus to Jayne, leading her to tell him about what happens to Reiser. Superman tracks him down and tries to discuss his condition, much to Reiser’s delight. But that all changes and Reiser transforms and punches Superman. Then the Alpha Centurion, who is actually possessing the body of Reiser’s roommate Roman, arrives and he and Reiser mix it up. Superman breaks it up and just in time as now the three of them are looking at a very big and ugly monster.
I really was not a fan of this book when it was introduced, but I have to admit that it was grown on me. Scott Lobdell is really good at writing troubled teenagers, even if they sound like they are still in the 1980’s. Therefore, his characterization of Reiser is very much like a young Peter Parker. Okay…it’s not an original idea, but it works. The fact that we have thrown in a ton of guest stars sure doesn’t hurt either. Javier Fernandez’ art has also grown on me and gotten better with each issue. Since next issue spells the end for this series, maybe Reiser can find his way into the Teen Titans.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #5: The heroes are trying to save Neotropolis from the falling Overwatch-One.While Flash tries his hardest to use his muscles, we flashback to a year ago when Flash spent weeks running across the planet to try to make the world better for its’ newest inhabitants. This made him a celebrity with the people on the planet which allowed him to become the life of the party across the planet. It also meant he would crash and burn and it took Jimmy Olsen to help him out. A year later and Flash makes the save. However, Jimmy Olsen feels betrayed and plans on killing Flash along with the other heroes.
You know: you make Jimmy Olsen a God and look what happens. As the saying goes, Absolute power corrupts absolutely. This has been the best issue in the series so far, but that isn’t saying much. I liked the EARTH 2 series before CONVERGENCE but this one, by Daniel H. Wilson and Jorge Jimenez, is just annoying. I don’t care for the art and I find Wilson’s story boring. I want action not a soap opera and between the drunk Flash and the drama in previous issues between the new Superman and Power Girl, it’s enough to have this book get adapted for Daytime television.
FLASH #45: With the Flash and the entire Central City Police Department stuck inside the dome, tensions are running high inside and out. Captain Frye threatens to shoot the Flash until Singh steps in to save him. Wally has a plan, straps the magnesium engine block to one of the armored police vehicles, and drives it into the dome, which cuts a hole in the dome. Flash gets everyone out of the dome before the Central City Police station disintegrates, leading to Frye chewing out Flash and threatening that they will meet again. Meanwhile, Henry Allen has finished the weaponized power glove and Zoom uses it to drain Magali’s powers and make them his own. And then, he plans on eliminating the rest of his crew and stealing their powers, making him a god.
Not a bad issue, even with some of the forced plot points, such as the magnesium engine block which was such a big deal last issue…nothing like making that way too obvious a plot device. So, once again we get an action filled issue thanks to Robert Venditti and Van Jensen. The art this month is a bit all over the place as it’s by Brett Booth, Vicente Cifuentes and Ale Garza, and you can tell where one arrives and one leaves off, making for a rather disjointed reading experience.
GOTHAM ACADEMY #11: Trying to piece together the mysteries from the last few issues involving Olive’s mother, Maps and Olive go searching the file room, only to run into Red Robin. He tells the story behind Calamity burning down part of the Narrows before she was ultimately stopped and arrested. Apparently there have been generations of Silverlocks masquerading as Calamity. Batman discovered that Calamity had a daughter and made plans to make sure she wouldn’t follow in her mother’s footsteps by having her end up in Gotham Academy. They are then forced to fight the “new” Calamity, who drops a part of a key. Later, they discover this key is an old puzzle key to Arkham Asylum.
Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl absolutely do a killer job on this series. I love it! It’s Harry Potter adventures in the Batman Universe. I mean, there are no magicians but there are a lot of spooky things going on. This is just a fun series for all ages, despite the Teen Rating.
GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #10: Covered in gore after last month’s explosive conclusion, Corrigan and Drake flee the station and head off on a road trip where he reveals his death and the Spectre’s origin. This results in a car chase that ends with the Spectre coming free and the car heading off a bridge and into the water below, seemingly killing both Corrigan and Drake. Meanwhile, Doctor Tarr investigates supernatural happenings at the site of Sister Justine’s death. And…what is with the creature arriving in the final panel?
Under a beautiful Bill Sienkiewiez cover, we have the insanely wild penultimate issue of this title. Ray Fawkes writes it with all the flash and flair of the first nine issues. This has been one creepy head trip book and I’m sad to see it go, especially because the Spectre, despite limited appearances in this book, has been his old destructive self. By the way: WE NEED A SPECTRE BOOK that hearkens back to the justice dealing days of the Fleisher/Aparo run. Juan Ferreyra’s art is creepy and beautiful and has been a perfect fit for this series. Go find the first issues or wait for a trade. You need to have this in your collection as, despite its’ occasional flaws, it is one of the better horror themed titles DC has published in some time.
GRAYSON #13: Now that he is back in Spyral’s employ, Grayson is being physically checked out to make certain he didn’t bring back anything that could be detrimental to the group. Once cleared, he is sent on a mission with Agent 1, which includes infiltrating a heist by Tiger Shark. The ship being attacked belongs to the father of a student at St. Hadrian's School for Girls and it doesn’t take long for the pair to defeat the bad guys. Later, Dick contacts "Alvin Draper" ...better known as Tim Drake. Tim reveals that the mysterious Agent Zero is Luka Netz and that she has managed to appear in almost every photo ever taken of Batman in action, going all the way back to Year Zero. This leads to a lead in Berlin, while Director Bertinelli and Doctor Netz meet with some of the most clandestine groups in the world. In the end, Midnighter has arranged to have Ladytron get involved, leading to a battle between her, Dick and Agent 1.
This is fast becoming my favorite of the Batman Family titles. Tim Seeley, Tom King and Mikel Janin just keep filling this book with great writing, clever lines of dialogue (yes…Spandau IS known for a ballet, Ladytron!) and some amazing looking art. What makes this such a great book is that it totally embraces the spy concept as you never really know who is on what side. Just when you think Bertinelli is one of the good guys, she pulls a stunt like this issue and you wonder. And just what is the connection with Doctor Netz and Luka?
GREEN ARROW ANNUAL #1: A bunch of thugs are going around and beating up people who have contracted a disease known as Lukos. In the old days, people who were infected with Lukos became wolflike and were not only feared but used by warring nations. A werewolf biker gang rounds up those infected folks and plan on passing the disease to everyone at the Midnight Halloween Parade. All-out war breaks out between the bikers, the thugs, Green Arrow and Emiko. In the end, the war ends with a few casualties…one of whom is Oliver Queen who has been bitten in the attacks. This could be a problem down the road.
Okay…so we have a very long tale the can be summed up very quickly: dumb. Ben Percy and Szymon Kudranski give us a great looking book that is filled with dumb stuff. We have a bunch of bigots who want to eliminate the Lycans(let’s call it as it is) and that leads to the werewolf people deciding to turn everyone into werewolves. Somewhere in the middle of that, Oliver and Emiko get involved and help to save the day. This truly was a waste of five bucks, with the exception of the artwork. It’s a shame too, because I have found the current creative team to be weaving a rather different and usually interesting story.
GREEN ARROW #45: Oliver and Tarantula are escaping from the fight they were in with the Skeletons. We flashback to events that happened four months ago when Ollie was in Alaska, as seen in the preview tale. The Skeletons destroyed a totem containing an ancient bear skull and kill a security guard in the process. Back in the present, Ollie and Tarantula head to El Paso so they can search for George. They are attacked by a swarm of moths, leading them to take refuge in a destroyed gas station. They find the interior filled with Mayan symbols painted in the blood of a dead man they find inside. Tarantula tells Oliver the symbols mean the darkness is spreading.
Benjamin Percy manages to lay two eggs in the same month. Granted, the Annual should have been released last month, but that joins this one as two really lame Green Arrow stories. I mean, here’s Green Arrow and Tarantula and they’re running away from the bad guys. I know these Skeletons are bad news but really…Green Arrow running from a fight. The story is a bit on the confusing side and I don’t buy the compression of time that gets our heroes from Seattle to El Paso. I would expect a lot more exposition on that road trip. One the good side, Patrick Fincher’s art is great!
GREEN LANTERN #45: We begin with Hall fighting Black Hand and then move to a flashback where he has Darlene plotting a flight path. He bids goodbye to everyone and heads off and meets up with Black hand, who is totally bummed that he can’t reanimate anyone anymore but can turn them into rock. Once Hal reveals himself to Black Hand, Hand flips out and, of course, the two battle each other. Hand tries to turn Hal to stone but fails as Hal knocks him out. Hal decides it is time to stop playing games and he needs to finish Hand once and for all.
I find this book works the best when Hal Jordan, looking like The Spectre, takes Center Stage. When we let the supporting cast play a bigger role, it drags. Here is the example: the first half of the book, up until Hal meets up with Black Hand, is just boring. Too much talk and not enough action. Once Hal and Hand meet-FIREWORKS! Still, it’s a nice effort from Robert Venditti and Billy Tan. Do yourself a favor and seek out the Monsters of the Month variant by Neal Adams.
GREEN LANTERN: LOST ARMY #5: John Stewart and the Lanterns fight their way out of their prison, but lose Jruk in the process. Just when things look bleak, Relic and Krona arrive to save the day. As they head out, they are able to track down Mogo and discover that Mogo is being attacked and is in pain.
Please make this end! Cullen Bunn and Jesus Saiz give us a great story with a bunch of characters I could really care less about. I mean, I love Guy Gardner and he was one of the major highlights of the RED LANTERNS book. But I never cared for John Stewart, just like I never saw Kyle Rayner as a valid Lantern. So, we combine all of these Lanterns I don’t care about, throw in a once upon a time bad guy or two and…is it any wonder why this book never caught on and gets the axe next month? Oh wait: there is a NEW Green Lantern book coming in January that picks up where this left off? Oh help me!
HARLEY QUINN #21: Harley and Deadshot brawl for a bit before they patch up their differences and Harley goes back to searching for Sparrow. Teaming up with Nick Stanley and his Batmobile, she heads off to Sparrow’s establishment. At the same time, some thugs have the same thing in mind and it’s up to Harley to save them all. In the end, Harley gets Sparrow, Sparrow’s mom arrives and pays the money and is told how Sparrow needs treatment for her addiction. Nick tries to convince her to do a pilot or two for some television shows but she wants someone to make her a cartoon character. After drinks with Deadshot, Harley heads to Beverly Hills for some shopping.
Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti conclude their mini-epic with more guns and glory than past issues. This was a little more serious, complete with the minor anti-drug preaching at the end. I did like the little touches, like the references to television shows and such. This was not as silly as most issues and, while it’s not the psychotic Harley we seen in SUICIDE SQUAD, it’s close. And John Timms’ art isn’t Chard Hardin’s, but it too is close. Overall, this was a better issue than most.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #45: Darkseid is dead and the Justice League are slowly becoming Gods. Flash has become the God of Death, as he has been infused with the spirit of the Black Racer. Superman is with Luthor on Apokolips and has become the God of Strength. Batman, sitting in the Mobius Chair, has become the God of Knowledge and plans to take his power to Gotham. Shazam is now the God of Gods and it seems like the spirit of Darkseid is controlling him. Meanwhile, Luthor convinces the former slaves of Apokolips that he is the chosen one spoken about in their writings and they make him the God of Apokolips.
Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul continue to roll along with this monster storyline. It seems that everyone is becoming a god now that Darkseid is dead. And, in something that I’m sure will be revealed in more detail in the series of one-shots connected to this story, we start to see the whole idea of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Of course, if you believe that Darkseid is truly dead, then you haven’t been reading comics very long! I do like the twist of having Luthor reveal his sneaky self and becoming the God of Apokolips. Nicely played!
Friday, November 6, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
ALL NEW MARVEL-the first titles
ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT MARVEL POINT ONE #1: This sampler title gives some bits and pieces from many of the new "All New All Different " titles including AGENTS OF SHIELD, CARNAGE, DAREDEVIL, ALL NEW INHUMANS, and ROCKET RACOON AND GROOT, all wrapped around a framing story highlighting CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS. Creators involved include the writing talents of Al Ewing, Gerry Conway, Skottie Young, Marc Guggenheim, and Charles Soule and Paco Medina, Mike Perkins, Filipe Andrade, Germán Peralta, Stefano Caselli and Ron Garney handling the art chores.
Okay…so this is a mixed bag of stuff here. Some of it, like Daredevil and Carnage, look real interesting while others like Rocket Raccoon and Contest of Champions itself, seem like they won’t exactly be a ton of fun. Since this is basically the first exposure to these titles and they are in small snippets, it’s kind of hard to truly get a feel for them. So, I’ll give them all a one shot anyway.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1: Even as a commercial from Parker Industry plays, Spider Man and Mockingbird ride in his Spider Mobile as they chase the member of the new Zodiac. After apprehending them, they return to Parker Industries where he changes back to Peter Parker and reveals the details of The Uncle Ben Foundation to the world at a major press conference. He also reveals his Spider man underwear as his zipper was down during the press conference. Jetting to San Francisco, he attends the wedding of Max Modell and his partner Hector, revealing that he has arranged for the Parker Institute of Technology to be renamed Horizon University as a wedding gift. Other members of Zodiac crash the wedding and do battle with Spider Man, currently portrayed by former Prowler Hobie Brown. To save lives, Peter gives them the webware they have come for and allows them to leave. He chastises Sajani for having been in league with Black cat and warns her about even considering it again. She heads to London where we see Anna Maria and her reworked Living Brain-who has Otto Octavius’ brain.
In the second story, Spider Man 2099 gets involved in a bank robbery and ends up being offered a job by Spider Man. The third story involved Silk breaking up a theft by the Goblin nation. She retrieves a stolen safety deposit box and returns it to Black Cat. The fourth story finds a very pregnant having second thoughts about being a parent and talks to her friend Captain Marvel for advise. The fifth story is set in 1602 and features the Web Warriors encountering the Sinister Sextet. The final tale features Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider Man battling The Ox. He is taken to a Super Max Prison beneath Rykers Island: a prison run by Regent.
What a way to kick off this title! First, we get a thirty-two page main story by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camunicoli that explodes with beauty and energy. I do have some questions about what and how, especially since we haven’t gotten all of the story from SECRET WARS. But Peter’s empire is now seemingly like Stark Industries, Doc Ock is inside the Living Brain, Spidey has got the former Prowler acting as his double and Mac Modell gets married. I didn’t even know he was GAY! Then we throw in five more short tales, with four of them acting as jumping on points for the new Spider Series and feature the work of Peter David, Will Sliney, Robbie Thompson, Stacey Lee, Dennis Hopeless, Javier Rodriguez, Mike Costa, David Baldeon, Christos Gage and Paco Diaz. This is a HUGE sixty-eight page issue that has a little bit of something for everyone and is actually worth the SIX BUCKS they charged for it!
ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1: Angela, formerly Asgard’s Assassin, is now the Queen of Hel and Sera, who is dead, is her Royal Consort. Eight months ago, Angela conquered Hel and dethroned Hela and now she may be executed. But right now, Sera is pissed at Angela for actions in the past.
This is just a confusing mess for me. Marguerite Bennett weaves her magic and I don’t have a clue about what is happening here. Part of that is because I didn’t read the previous title; part of it is that we’re eight months away from the destruction of the old Marvel Universe and still don’t know how we got to where we are in THIS UNIVERSE! And part of it is the confusing relationship between Angela and her lover Sera. We have two artists this issue as Kim Jacinto handles the main story and Stephanie Hans handles what is billed as the “substory”. Okay…so you mean the flashback? Either way, I won’t be running through this Hel again.
THE ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1: Eight months ago, Scott Lang had moved his business down to Miami and was starving for clients. Today, his team composed of Grizzly and Machinesmith, is booming. Their boss is Ms. Morgenstern, who was once known as Miss Patriot back in the Fifities. Today, she runs a retirement community for costumed folks. We also have the back-story of how Lang’s daughter had her heart taken away by Darren Cross of Cross Technologies. That’s when the Power Broker comes in with his new Hench App. and sends Whirlwind to dispatch Ant-Man. Luckily for Lang this is only a test and Power Broker cancels the hit. So…what does all of this have to do with Scott being back in jail?
So I’m the first to admit that I have no idea what is going on here, as I didn’t read the previous run of this book. I did read the issue that set things up with Lang and his boos, so I kind of have that to work with. I like Nick Spencer’s writing style and his dialogue and cast of characters is a blast. I also happen to like Ramon Rosanas’ artwork. This was a fun read and I may very well keep reading this. There is a reason why I am sampling all the #1 issues because of titles like this one that I was positive I wouldn’t be reading on a regular basis.
AVENGERS #0: At Oracle Inc., the Squadron Supreme looks in on the various Avengers teams. In "Eidetic", the Vision visits the Scarlet Witch and purges his memory of their time together. Captain Marvel and Alpha Flight have an adventure in space in the "In the Beginning" tale. "Everything is New" introduces the Roberto Da Costa led Avengers Idea Mechanics and also Reed Richards-the Supreme One who is also known as The Maker. "The Night That Hell Froze Over" has Deadpool working for Steve Rogers and shows us that Rogue is on life support after being exposed to the Terrigan Mists. "The Opposite of Kicking" features Ms. America as she joins The Ultimates, made up of Captain Marvel, Spectrum, The Blue Marvel and Black Panther.
So this is how Marvel jams their ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT Avengers titles at us. With a story by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk that intertwines with the rest of the tales, we get a glimpse at THE NEW AVENGERS, THE VISION, A-FORCE, UNCANNY AVENGERS and THE ULTIMATES. Those stories are by the creative teams of Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar, G. Willow Wilson and Victor Ibanez, Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval, Gerry Duggan and Ryan Stegman, Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort. Of this batch, the only one that really makes me sit up and take notice is the one with the LEAST amount of exposition: SQUADRON SUPREME. The rest of the tales just don’t work for me, especially A-FORCE. What’s the deal with Alpha Flight? REALLY? Sure, we’re getting over fifty pages here for six bucks, but nothing as butt-kicking as AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #1: We begin with an appearance by The Outlaw (the British Punisher) who gets teleported to a strange world where he helps Iron Man and Gamora kill Venom, Joe Fixit and Devil Dinosaur. After their win, they are teleported to an unknown place where they meet The Collector, The Maestro and Guillotine. Here, they are told that they are part of the Contest Of Champions, they have taken control of the heroes’ lives, and the Collector welcomes them to! Meanwhile, in South Korea, White Fox finds out that one of her super-agents has been killed and vows revenge. In the second story, we see the history of the many people known as Guillotine and see her plucked from her time and place.
So, some time back, Marvel introduced an online game called CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS. This is not so much of a spin-off from that book, but they spent time hyping after the second story. Al Ewing and Paco Medina handle the first story and Ewing and Thomas Labourot handle the second one. Neither one made me jump up and down, although I was interested when they dropped Outlaw into the book! Sorry, I won’t be visiting issue #2.
DOCTOR STRANGE #1: Starting with a brief history lesson, Doctor Strange jumps right into battle with a mystical creature. Unfortunately, he is having problems remembering the spells. He manages to pull it together long enough to save the Soul-Eaters that were possessing a young boy, even if he was kissing a Free Rover. After that, and after dispatching an inter-dimensional Psyche-Leach, he steps into The Bar With No Doors, where he shares drinks with Doctor Voodoo, Shaman and The Scarlet Witch. He also deals with insults and taunts from Monako, the Prince of Magic. In the end, a young woman with a nasty batch of creatures living in her head, pays him a visit. In the backup story, we meet the Imperator and the Empirikul as they try to eliminate all traces of magic.
This book has a bunch of pros and cons. Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo give us a real unique take on the Sorcerer Supreme, complete with him having a really strange outer body experience with some dialogue that seems more fitting for Tony Stark than Stephen Strange. Bachalo’s artwork is his usual quirky work and I’m good with that. The backup, by Aaron and Kevin Nowlan, will eventually make sense, I’m sure. But for now, it’s just a page filler.Bottom line: I’ll give this another issue or two anyway to see where it is going. And that’s saying a lot as I haven’t been a fan of the last few attempts to make this character work in his own series.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1: We begin in the Negative Zone, where Annihilus and the Queen of the Brood discuss how to divide the galaxy when they conquer it. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Milky Way, the Guardians of the Galaxy, The Thing, Groot, Venom, Rocket Racoon, Drax and Kitty Pryde Star Lord, battle the Chitauri Empire. On the Planet Spartix, Peter Quill is dealing with being a diplomat. A short time later, the Guardians land on Spartix, as does a defeated Gamora and Hala, who is looking to destroy Peter.
I’ll be totally up front and say that I wasn’t reading the last run of this title because I still have issues with this NOT being MY Guardians. Plus, the whole MEGA MOVIE thing that Marvel ran with in the form of a comic pissed me off. But this book is ALMOST enough to get me reading it. Brian Michael Bendis writes a fun, simple, and highly entertaining tale and the art of Valerio Schiti is great! Again, I may actually keep this title in my list, even if it is only to figure out how Ben Grimm ends up on this team.
HOWLING COMMANDOS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1: Dum Dum Duggan is dead, but he continues to live because of a seemingly unending supply of LMD’s to transfer his conscious into. Maria Hill creates a team of Howling Commandos made up of a zombified Jasper Sitwell, Manphibian, Vampire by Night, Teen Abomination, Orrgo, Man-Thing and Hit-Monkey. Out in the Atlantic, the S.S. Chaney is under attack by it’s own crew that has been turned into monsters by a cursed idol. Luckily Duggan and his team have arrived to battle them and defeat them. Unfortunately, a zombified Jasper Sitwell blows up Duggan, forcing him to resurrect in a new body.
And yes, this book is as weird as I thought it would be. The team of Frank J. Barbiere and Brent Schoonover have taken the monsters of the Marvel Universe and teamed them up with two classic S.H.I.E.L.D. members, albeit in a new form, and brought them together as S.T.A.K.E. The writing is interesting while the art is trying to look like something out of the Seventies. Picture Don Heck, Mike Ploog and Frank Robbins coming together as one, although Schoonover can’t pull that off. While I like seeing these characters in action, I’m still on the fence about the title. It has potential, but it needs more than just what we have been given here.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1: In his lab/workshop, Tony Stark creates a new version of his armor that merges all of his different modes into one. Meanwhile, someone who once worked for A.I.M. delivers a briefcase to Madame Masque, who kills him afterwards. Later, she leads an attack on Stark Tower in Japan, causing Tony to leave his date with Dr. Amara Perera, who once created a cure for the mutant gene. That takes him to Latveria where he finds a very handsome and undamaged Victor Von Doom waiting for him in what used to be his castle.
Thank you Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez for bringing back a Tony Stark who isn’t a total dick! Granted, I liked the weird places the SUPERIOR IRON MAN series took our hero, but his descent into a total dickhead was just hard to watch. So, we have to assume that whatever happened during SECRET WARS has changed him. For all we know, this is the OTHER TONY STARK. Either way, we have a fun filled first issue with the return of Victor Von Doom AND Whitney Frost. I will most definitely be back for more of this book!
KARNAK #1: Karnak has managed to escape from the afterlife to find that the world he once knew isn’t what it once was. He is no longer the advisor to the throne of New Attilan. Instead, he he has become the Magister of the Tower of Wisdom, where he is attempting to teach all who come to him. He goes off to try and rescue a young boy affected by the Terrigen Mists and that leads him to Berlin where he uses his great power to teach responsibility.
I have to say this was one of my most anticipated new Marvel titles and it doesn’t disappoint. You have the writing, the always-enigmatic writing, of the great Warren Ellis and that is reason alone to buy this book. But couple with that with the moody art of Gerardo Zaffino and this book is a dream. This is not your regular superhero title: this takes the concept of the lone wolf hero and spins it around. Karnak was always a loyal member of the original Inhumans. But now, he is truly on his own and blowing down doors. This is my favorite new Marvel release so far!
NEW AVENGERS #1: The team, composed of Wiccan, White Tiger, Power Man, Songbird, Hulkiling, Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe are on their way to France where men and women have been tuned into crystal-headed creatures. Whewn they arrive, they get into a battle, unaware that they are being watched on Nanocams by The Maker: Reed Richards. Meanwhile, Roberto DaCosta, current leader of A.I.M., meets with Dum Dum Duggan who introduces DaCosta to the S.H.I.E.L.D. mandated addition to the New Avengers: Hawkeye…the Clint Barton Hawkeye.
Yeah…NO! Even the apparent addition of the Ultimate Reed Richards as the villain to this series won’t get me to but this book again. It’s a team filled with C List heroes and run by a guy who used to be a New Mutant. Al Ewing’s story did nothing to drag me in to find out more about this team and Gerardo Sandoval’s quirky painted art came off as someone’s version of a bad Rob Leifeld copy. Nope…no coming back for this one.
SAM WILSON CAPTAIN AMERICA #1: Steve Rogers replacement gets booted from S.H.I.E.L.D., sets up a special hotline and goes off on his own. With the help of his latest love interest Misty Knoight and D Man, he fights injustice and the Sons of the Serpent. That is up until Steve Rogers arrives and orders him to stand down.
I hate Sam Wilson as Captain America way more than I ever did hate Bucky Barnes as Captain America and that’s a whole lot! I could barely get through this issue as it wallowed in it’s own foolishness. Wilson is still filled with that militant attitude he had back in the Seventies and I kept waiting for him to stand up and shout “Black lives matter!” Nick Spencer delivers a true stinker here and the art of Daniel Acuna can’t even begin to save it.
SPIDER-GWEN #1: Gwen is off to work on her first day at the Dollar Dog to find out the place had been trashed the night before by The Lizard. But that’s impossible because Peter Parker was The Lizard and he’s dead. She figures out that Professor Curtis Connors has used his experiments to turn other people into lizard creatures and goes after them. Captain America saves Spider Woman just when things look bad. Meanwhile, Captain Stacey meets with Jean DeWolfe to discuss how he is going to solves the murder of Peter Parker, even is his boss Frank Castle doesn’t want it to be that way.
Yes, I realize this is the darling of the comic industry now, but I still don’t like the character or the book. It has nothing to do with Jason Latour’s writing or Robbi Rodriguez’ art. It has to do that the character I knew and loved died in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #121 and no alternate version, retconned version, cloned version will make me feel otherwise. I understand this is part of another Earth, or at least it was before the universes ended, but I can really do without it. The whole thing feels like a bad issue of WHAT IF. If you were a fan before SECRET WARS, then go out and buy this.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1: Miguel O’Hara, displaced hero from another time and place, is competing on the reality show NINJA USA, much to the dismay of his boss Peter Parker. Miguel, however, gets very happy when he discovers that his team has managed to shut down funding for the Alchemax Prison. He leaves his team and meets with his Lyrate life-form approximation holographic assistant named Lyla. Opening a sealed door, Miguel steps into 2099 to find out that that time is still destroyed, meaning that Alchemax isn’t responsible for it. The folks at Alchemax, inclusing former super villain The Scorprion, meet with someone from the Department of Internal Security to discuss alternatives to the now cancelled prison. Later, during a dinner date with Tempest in which she reveals she is pregnant, a car crashes into the restaurant as part of a terrorist assault. Unfortunately, it looks as though Tempest may be dead, meaning Miguel will have anew mission.
I could tell you everything I know about Miguel O’Hara in about 45 seconds. I wasn’t a huge fan of the book or the 2099 series and basically thought DOOM 2099 was the best book, mostly because of Pat Broderick’s art. And I know that Miguel is stranded here following the events in both the SpiderVerse drama and SECRET WARS and, as we learned in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, is working for Peter Parker and Parker Industries. What is cool about this book is that his creator Peter David is writing the series, so I can tell you that makes it that much better than it should be. Will Sliney’s art is okay, but why does it seem that much of the ALL-NEW, ALL DIFFERENT MARVEL wants to look like Image did, circa 1992. This title should succeed, as all of the Spider Man books are hot right now. Will I buy it? Probably not, but only because my late is pretty full and there’s just two many Spider books for me now.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #1: The Uncanny team members, Steve Rogers, Deadpool, Doctor Voodoo, Synapse, Rogue and Johnny Storm, are battling a new Super Adaptoid that, unfortunately for him, tries to take Deadpool’s powers and dies. In the aftermath, Spider Man quits, which leads to Rogers calling a news conference to give the world a warm feeling about his team. Afterwards, Johnny tries to convince Spider man to say, but fails. The team then heads to their secret lair in an old theater and Rogue takes medicine to counter-act her exposure to the Terrigen Mists. Meanwhile, Pietro and Synapse go world hopping on a date, before summoning the team to battle creatures in Boston.
It’s Gerry Duggan and Ryan Stegman and a totally different Avengers team Anyway, the story is just okay, as I don’t fault Duggan for not liking the book. My issues are with the characters of an OLD Steve Rogers and just any book with Deadpool in it. And who is Synapse? Stegman’s art is a bit on the outside of my tastes in a superhero title and that just adds to my dislike of this title.
UNCANNY INHUMANS #1: Reader, Black Bolt and Triton are visiting the Attilan of thirty thousand years ago when Kang the Conqueror arrives. This leads them to October of 1961 where all hell breaks loose, causing the trio to time jump back into the present day. Meanwhile, Madusa meets with Hank McCoy to discuss the current situation regarding the influx of new Inhumans. Then she meets with her latest paramour, Johnny Storm. Unfortunately, her husband is watching it happen. In the back-up story, Agent Frank McGee helps the Inhumans rescue a girl from her captors in Morocco. And Gorgon calls his cousin Crystal to inquire about his son. And why is Gorgon confined to a wheelchair?
Okay…I’m hooked! First off, it’s Charles Soule and Steve McNiven. How can you go wrong there? And right off the bat, we drop in Kang the Conqueror AND a little infidelity in the form of Madusa and Johnny Storm getting busy! Wow! And then we get a taste of a future story from Soule and Brandon Peterson which only manages to give us a tease of something coming…hopefully soon! This book is amazing, as it has old and new characters, twists and turns and just out and out rocks! Add this to your list because even though it looks like the Inhumans movie is getting pushed back, they will be in the front of the Marvel Universe for some time to come.
Okay…so this is a mixed bag of stuff here. Some of it, like Daredevil and Carnage, look real interesting while others like Rocket Raccoon and Contest of Champions itself, seem like they won’t exactly be a ton of fun. Since this is basically the first exposure to these titles and they are in small snippets, it’s kind of hard to truly get a feel for them. So, I’ll give them all a one shot anyway.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1: Even as a commercial from Parker Industry plays, Spider Man and Mockingbird ride in his Spider Mobile as they chase the member of the new Zodiac. After apprehending them, they return to Parker Industries where he changes back to Peter Parker and reveals the details of The Uncle Ben Foundation to the world at a major press conference. He also reveals his Spider man underwear as his zipper was down during the press conference. Jetting to San Francisco, he attends the wedding of Max Modell and his partner Hector, revealing that he has arranged for the Parker Institute of Technology to be renamed Horizon University as a wedding gift. Other members of Zodiac crash the wedding and do battle with Spider Man, currently portrayed by former Prowler Hobie Brown. To save lives, Peter gives them the webware they have come for and allows them to leave. He chastises Sajani for having been in league with Black cat and warns her about even considering it again. She heads to London where we see Anna Maria and her reworked Living Brain-who has Otto Octavius’ brain.
In the second story, Spider Man 2099 gets involved in a bank robbery and ends up being offered a job by Spider Man. The third story involved Silk breaking up a theft by the Goblin nation. She retrieves a stolen safety deposit box and returns it to Black Cat. The fourth story finds a very pregnant having second thoughts about being a parent and talks to her friend Captain Marvel for advise. The fifth story is set in 1602 and features the Web Warriors encountering the Sinister Sextet. The final tale features Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider Man battling The Ox. He is taken to a Super Max Prison beneath Rykers Island: a prison run by Regent.
What a way to kick off this title! First, we get a thirty-two page main story by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camunicoli that explodes with beauty and energy. I do have some questions about what and how, especially since we haven’t gotten all of the story from SECRET WARS. But Peter’s empire is now seemingly like Stark Industries, Doc Ock is inside the Living Brain, Spidey has got the former Prowler acting as his double and Mac Modell gets married. I didn’t even know he was GAY! Then we throw in five more short tales, with four of them acting as jumping on points for the new Spider Series and feature the work of Peter David, Will Sliney, Robbie Thompson, Stacey Lee, Dennis Hopeless, Javier Rodriguez, Mike Costa, David Baldeon, Christos Gage and Paco Diaz. This is a HUGE sixty-eight page issue that has a little bit of something for everyone and is actually worth the SIX BUCKS they charged for it!
ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1: Angela, formerly Asgard’s Assassin, is now the Queen of Hel and Sera, who is dead, is her Royal Consort. Eight months ago, Angela conquered Hel and dethroned Hela and now she may be executed. But right now, Sera is pissed at Angela for actions in the past.
This is just a confusing mess for me. Marguerite Bennett weaves her magic and I don’t have a clue about what is happening here. Part of that is because I didn’t read the previous title; part of it is that we’re eight months away from the destruction of the old Marvel Universe and still don’t know how we got to where we are in THIS UNIVERSE! And part of it is the confusing relationship between Angela and her lover Sera. We have two artists this issue as Kim Jacinto handles the main story and Stephanie Hans handles what is billed as the “substory”. Okay…so you mean the flashback? Either way, I won’t be running through this Hel again.
THE ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1: Eight months ago, Scott Lang had moved his business down to Miami and was starving for clients. Today, his team composed of Grizzly and Machinesmith, is booming. Their boss is Ms. Morgenstern, who was once known as Miss Patriot back in the Fifities. Today, she runs a retirement community for costumed folks. We also have the back-story of how Lang’s daughter had her heart taken away by Darren Cross of Cross Technologies. That’s when the Power Broker comes in with his new Hench App. and sends Whirlwind to dispatch Ant-Man. Luckily for Lang this is only a test and Power Broker cancels the hit. So…what does all of this have to do with Scott being back in jail?
So I’m the first to admit that I have no idea what is going on here, as I didn’t read the previous run of this book. I did read the issue that set things up with Lang and his boos, so I kind of have that to work with. I like Nick Spencer’s writing style and his dialogue and cast of characters is a blast. I also happen to like Ramon Rosanas’ artwork. This was a fun read and I may very well keep reading this. There is a reason why I am sampling all the #1 issues because of titles like this one that I was positive I wouldn’t be reading on a regular basis.
AVENGERS #0: At Oracle Inc., the Squadron Supreme looks in on the various Avengers teams. In "Eidetic", the Vision visits the Scarlet Witch and purges his memory of their time together. Captain Marvel and Alpha Flight have an adventure in space in the "In the Beginning" tale. "Everything is New" introduces the Roberto Da Costa led Avengers Idea Mechanics and also Reed Richards-the Supreme One who is also known as The Maker. "The Night That Hell Froze Over" has Deadpool working for Steve Rogers and shows us that Rogue is on life support after being exposed to the Terrigan Mists. "The Opposite of Kicking" features Ms. America as she joins The Ultimates, made up of Captain Marvel, Spectrum, The Blue Marvel and Black Panther.
So this is how Marvel jams their ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT Avengers titles at us. With a story by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk that intertwines with the rest of the tales, we get a glimpse at THE NEW AVENGERS, THE VISION, A-FORCE, UNCANNY AVENGERS and THE ULTIMATES. Those stories are by the creative teams of Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar, G. Willow Wilson and Victor Ibanez, Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval, Gerry Duggan and Ryan Stegman, Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort. Of this batch, the only one that really makes me sit up and take notice is the one with the LEAST amount of exposition: SQUADRON SUPREME. The rest of the tales just don’t work for me, especially A-FORCE. What’s the deal with Alpha Flight? REALLY? Sure, we’re getting over fifty pages here for six bucks, but nothing as butt-kicking as AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #1: We begin with an appearance by The Outlaw (the British Punisher) who gets teleported to a strange world where he helps Iron Man and Gamora kill Venom, Joe Fixit and Devil Dinosaur. After their win, they are teleported to an unknown place where they meet The Collector, The Maestro and Guillotine. Here, they are told that they are part of the Contest Of Champions, they have taken control of the heroes’ lives, and the Collector welcomes them to! Meanwhile, in South Korea, White Fox finds out that one of her super-agents has been killed and vows revenge. In the second story, we see the history of the many people known as Guillotine and see her plucked from her time and place.
So, some time back, Marvel introduced an online game called CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS. This is not so much of a spin-off from that book, but they spent time hyping after the second story. Al Ewing and Paco Medina handle the first story and Ewing and Thomas Labourot handle the second one. Neither one made me jump up and down, although I was interested when they dropped Outlaw into the book! Sorry, I won’t be visiting issue #2.
DOCTOR STRANGE #1: Starting with a brief history lesson, Doctor Strange jumps right into battle with a mystical creature. Unfortunately, he is having problems remembering the spells. He manages to pull it together long enough to save the Soul-Eaters that were possessing a young boy, even if he was kissing a Free Rover. After that, and after dispatching an inter-dimensional Psyche-Leach, he steps into The Bar With No Doors, where he shares drinks with Doctor Voodoo, Shaman and The Scarlet Witch. He also deals with insults and taunts from Monako, the Prince of Magic. In the end, a young woman with a nasty batch of creatures living in her head, pays him a visit. In the backup story, we meet the Imperator and the Empirikul as they try to eliminate all traces of magic.
This book has a bunch of pros and cons. Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo give us a real unique take on the Sorcerer Supreme, complete with him having a really strange outer body experience with some dialogue that seems more fitting for Tony Stark than Stephen Strange. Bachalo’s artwork is his usual quirky work and I’m good with that. The backup, by Aaron and Kevin Nowlan, will eventually make sense, I’m sure. But for now, it’s just a page filler.Bottom line: I’ll give this another issue or two anyway to see where it is going. And that’s saying a lot as I haven’t been a fan of the last few attempts to make this character work in his own series.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1: We begin in the Negative Zone, where Annihilus and the Queen of the Brood discuss how to divide the galaxy when they conquer it. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Milky Way, the Guardians of the Galaxy, The Thing, Groot, Venom, Rocket Racoon, Drax and Kitty Pryde Star Lord, battle the Chitauri Empire. On the Planet Spartix, Peter Quill is dealing with being a diplomat. A short time later, the Guardians land on Spartix, as does a defeated Gamora and Hala, who is looking to destroy Peter.
I’ll be totally up front and say that I wasn’t reading the last run of this title because I still have issues with this NOT being MY Guardians. Plus, the whole MEGA MOVIE thing that Marvel ran with in the form of a comic pissed me off. But this book is ALMOST enough to get me reading it. Brian Michael Bendis writes a fun, simple, and highly entertaining tale and the art of Valerio Schiti is great! Again, I may actually keep this title in my list, even if it is only to figure out how Ben Grimm ends up on this team.
HOWLING COMMANDOS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1: Dum Dum Duggan is dead, but he continues to live because of a seemingly unending supply of LMD’s to transfer his conscious into. Maria Hill creates a team of Howling Commandos made up of a zombified Jasper Sitwell, Manphibian, Vampire by Night, Teen Abomination, Orrgo, Man-Thing and Hit-Monkey. Out in the Atlantic, the S.S. Chaney is under attack by it’s own crew that has been turned into monsters by a cursed idol. Luckily Duggan and his team have arrived to battle them and defeat them. Unfortunately, a zombified Jasper Sitwell blows up Duggan, forcing him to resurrect in a new body.
And yes, this book is as weird as I thought it would be. The team of Frank J. Barbiere and Brent Schoonover have taken the monsters of the Marvel Universe and teamed them up with two classic S.H.I.E.L.D. members, albeit in a new form, and brought them together as S.T.A.K.E. The writing is interesting while the art is trying to look like something out of the Seventies. Picture Don Heck, Mike Ploog and Frank Robbins coming together as one, although Schoonover can’t pull that off. While I like seeing these characters in action, I’m still on the fence about the title. It has potential, but it needs more than just what we have been given here.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1: In his lab/workshop, Tony Stark creates a new version of his armor that merges all of his different modes into one. Meanwhile, someone who once worked for A.I.M. delivers a briefcase to Madame Masque, who kills him afterwards. Later, she leads an attack on Stark Tower in Japan, causing Tony to leave his date with Dr. Amara Perera, who once created a cure for the mutant gene. That takes him to Latveria where he finds a very handsome and undamaged Victor Von Doom waiting for him in what used to be his castle.
Thank you Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez for bringing back a Tony Stark who isn’t a total dick! Granted, I liked the weird places the SUPERIOR IRON MAN series took our hero, but his descent into a total dickhead was just hard to watch. So, we have to assume that whatever happened during SECRET WARS has changed him. For all we know, this is the OTHER TONY STARK. Either way, we have a fun filled first issue with the return of Victor Von Doom AND Whitney Frost. I will most definitely be back for more of this book!
KARNAK #1: Karnak has managed to escape from the afterlife to find that the world he once knew isn’t what it once was. He is no longer the advisor to the throne of New Attilan. Instead, he he has become the Magister of the Tower of Wisdom, where he is attempting to teach all who come to him. He goes off to try and rescue a young boy affected by the Terrigen Mists and that leads him to Berlin where he uses his great power to teach responsibility.
I have to say this was one of my most anticipated new Marvel titles and it doesn’t disappoint. You have the writing, the always-enigmatic writing, of the great Warren Ellis and that is reason alone to buy this book. But couple with that with the moody art of Gerardo Zaffino and this book is a dream. This is not your regular superhero title: this takes the concept of the lone wolf hero and spins it around. Karnak was always a loyal member of the original Inhumans. But now, he is truly on his own and blowing down doors. This is my favorite new Marvel release so far!
NEW AVENGERS #1: The team, composed of Wiccan, White Tiger, Power Man, Songbird, Hulkiling, Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe are on their way to France where men and women have been tuned into crystal-headed creatures. Whewn they arrive, they get into a battle, unaware that they are being watched on Nanocams by The Maker: Reed Richards. Meanwhile, Roberto DaCosta, current leader of A.I.M., meets with Dum Dum Duggan who introduces DaCosta to the S.H.I.E.L.D. mandated addition to the New Avengers: Hawkeye…the Clint Barton Hawkeye.
Yeah…NO! Even the apparent addition of the Ultimate Reed Richards as the villain to this series won’t get me to but this book again. It’s a team filled with C List heroes and run by a guy who used to be a New Mutant. Al Ewing’s story did nothing to drag me in to find out more about this team and Gerardo Sandoval’s quirky painted art came off as someone’s version of a bad Rob Leifeld copy. Nope…no coming back for this one.
SAM WILSON CAPTAIN AMERICA #1: Steve Rogers replacement gets booted from S.H.I.E.L.D., sets up a special hotline and goes off on his own. With the help of his latest love interest Misty Knoight and D Man, he fights injustice and the Sons of the Serpent. That is up until Steve Rogers arrives and orders him to stand down.
I hate Sam Wilson as Captain America way more than I ever did hate Bucky Barnes as Captain America and that’s a whole lot! I could barely get through this issue as it wallowed in it’s own foolishness. Wilson is still filled with that militant attitude he had back in the Seventies and I kept waiting for him to stand up and shout “Black lives matter!” Nick Spencer delivers a true stinker here and the art of Daniel Acuna can’t even begin to save it.
SPIDER-GWEN #1: Gwen is off to work on her first day at the Dollar Dog to find out the place had been trashed the night before by The Lizard. But that’s impossible because Peter Parker was The Lizard and he’s dead. She figures out that Professor Curtis Connors has used his experiments to turn other people into lizard creatures and goes after them. Captain America saves Spider Woman just when things look bad. Meanwhile, Captain Stacey meets with Jean DeWolfe to discuss how he is going to solves the murder of Peter Parker, even is his boss Frank Castle doesn’t want it to be that way.
Yes, I realize this is the darling of the comic industry now, but I still don’t like the character or the book. It has nothing to do with Jason Latour’s writing or Robbi Rodriguez’ art. It has to do that the character I knew and loved died in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #121 and no alternate version, retconned version, cloned version will make me feel otherwise. I understand this is part of another Earth, or at least it was before the universes ended, but I can really do without it. The whole thing feels like a bad issue of WHAT IF. If you were a fan before SECRET WARS, then go out and buy this.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1: Miguel O’Hara, displaced hero from another time and place, is competing on the reality show NINJA USA, much to the dismay of his boss Peter Parker. Miguel, however, gets very happy when he discovers that his team has managed to shut down funding for the Alchemax Prison. He leaves his team and meets with his Lyrate life-form approximation holographic assistant named Lyla. Opening a sealed door, Miguel steps into 2099 to find out that that time is still destroyed, meaning that Alchemax isn’t responsible for it. The folks at Alchemax, inclusing former super villain The Scorprion, meet with someone from the Department of Internal Security to discuss alternatives to the now cancelled prison. Later, during a dinner date with Tempest in which she reveals she is pregnant, a car crashes into the restaurant as part of a terrorist assault. Unfortunately, it looks as though Tempest may be dead, meaning Miguel will have anew mission.
I could tell you everything I know about Miguel O’Hara in about 45 seconds. I wasn’t a huge fan of the book or the 2099 series and basically thought DOOM 2099 was the best book, mostly because of Pat Broderick’s art. And I know that Miguel is stranded here following the events in both the SpiderVerse drama and SECRET WARS and, as we learned in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, is working for Peter Parker and Parker Industries. What is cool about this book is that his creator Peter David is writing the series, so I can tell you that makes it that much better than it should be. Will Sliney’s art is okay, but why does it seem that much of the ALL-NEW, ALL DIFFERENT MARVEL wants to look like Image did, circa 1992. This title should succeed, as all of the Spider Man books are hot right now. Will I buy it? Probably not, but only because my late is pretty full and there’s just two many Spider books for me now.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #1: The Uncanny team members, Steve Rogers, Deadpool, Doctor Voodoo, Synapse, Rogue and Johnny Storm, are battling a new Super Adaptoid that, unfortunately for him, tries to take Deadpool’s powers and dies. In the aftermath, Spider Man quits, which leads to Rogers calling a news conference to give the world a warm feeling about his team. Afterwards, Johnny tries to convince Spider man to say, but fails. The team then heads to their secret lair in an old theater and Rogue takes medicine to counter-act her exposure to the Terrigen Mists. Meanwhile, Pietro and Synapse go world hopping on a date, before summoning the team to battle creatures in Boston.
It’s Gerry Duggan and Ryan Stegman and a totally different Avengers team Anyway, the story is just okay, as I don’t fault Duggan for not liking the book. My issues are with the characters of an OLD Steve Rogers and just any book with Deadpool in it. And who is Synapse? Stegman’s art is a bit on the outside of my tastes in a superhero title and that just adds to my dislike of this title.
UNCANNY INHUMANS #1: Reader, Black Bolt and Triton are visiting the Attilan of thirty thousand years ago when Kang the Conqueror arrives. This leads them to October of 1961 where all hell breaks loose, causing the trio to time jump back into the present day. Meanwhile, Madusa meets with Hank McCoy to discuss the current situation regarding the influx of new Inhumans. Then she meets with her latest paramour, Johnny Storm. Unfortunately, her husband is watching it happen. In the back-up story, Agent Frank McGee helps the Inhumans rescue a girl from her captors in Morocco. And Gorgon calls his cousin Crystal to inquire about his son. And why is Gorgon confined to a wheelchair?
Okay…I’m hooked! First off, it’s Charles Soule and Steve McNiven. How can you go wrong there? And right off the bat, we drop in Kang the Conqueror AND a little infidelity in the form of Madusa and Johnny Storm getting busy! Wow! And then we get a taste of a future story from Soule and Brandon Peterson which only manages to give us a tease of something coming…hopefully soon! This book is amazing, as it has old and new characters, twists and turns and just out and out rocks! Add this to your list because even though it looks like the Inhumans movie is getting pushed back, they will be in the front of the Marvel Universe for some time to come.
Monday, October 5, 2015
DC YOU Month 4, Part 2
JUSTICE LEAGUE #44: Green Lantern and Batman, still under the influence of the Mobius chair, travel to Earth-3 (home of the Crime Syndicate) to see the devastation left behind by the Anti-Monitor. This leads them to travel to Qward where they discover the place where the Mobius chair was forged and that the person who is the Anti-Monitor is Mobius. On Apokolips, Superman and Lex Luthor spar. On our Earth, Anti-Monitor and Darkseid duke it out as Grail blinds Kalibak and the Justice League gets involved. Power Ring tries to stop everything, but it may have killed her in the process. That’s when the Black Racer shows up, meaning someone will die. The Anti-Monitor gets the Black Racer to possess. The Flash and then blasts Darkseid with the Anti-Life Equation. The Black Racer is here because Darkseid is dead.
Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok have managed to take this book to a whole new place. The art is truly stunning and this story is amazing! This could truly be Geoff Johns’ finest hour as a writer. And to have the nerve to make Batman more of an ass than he already is, to make the Big Blue Boy Scout into a real jerk, and to kill off Darkseid is about as bold as you can imagine. Although I often don’t go this far and give credit where I should, I have to give a major shout out to Brad Anderson whose color work really makes this book come to life. This is a major masterpiece in the making.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #4: This time around, we get a flashback to a story that takes place between JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 and JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 with The Flash on the planet Nirvana engaging in a training exercise concocted by Ariel/Lois Lois. In the process, she runs into Mirror Master and the pair are stuck in an avalanche and have to rely on each other to stay alive, especially when attacked by Piranha-Bears. This leads to Mirror Master bailing on Teri, who has to get back to Camelot Nine by herself.
Okay, so what we have here is a filler issue. I didn’t find the story by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen that appealing, except we get Mirror Master and he almost spills the beans about Ariel being Lois. Scott Kolins’ art is nice and really great to see. Other than that, this issue was a waste of three bucks. And I hate saying that, because I love this series so much!
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #13: It’s France in 1940 and Sgt. Rock and Easy Company run into a well dressed man by the name of Vandal Savage. Savage invites the Germans in to have a drink as they secure the town of Arracourt. Rock says he will kill Savage if they ever meet on the battlefield. Today, Animal Man forcibly recruits Savage onto the team, which also now includes Batgirl, Robotman, Steel, Equinox, Stargirl, and Alanna Strange. With the help of Adam Strange, or what he has become, they are assigned to try and shutdown the phenomenon known as the Breakers. They end up back in present day in Arracourt where troops from Word War I and World War II are doing battle. The team jumps in and, unfortunately for him, Robotman steps on a trip wire and becomes entrapped in a gel that short circuits his system. Stargirl gets caught in a aerial blast and is saved by Enemy Ace. Out of nowhere, the butt end of a rifle hits Savage in the head. It’s Rock and Easy Company, here to deliver on a promise.
Okay, so I will forgive Jeff Parker for having Sgt. Rock and Easy Company help the French against the Germans…FOUR YEARS BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY DID!!! Let’s not forget, we didn’t enter the war until after December 7, 1941. That having been said, it was great to not only see Rock and Easy BUT The Hammer of Hell too! And, if I was going to have someone draw these classic characters and it wasn’t Joe Kubert or Bill Tucci, I’d want it to be Paul Pelletier. Logic not withstanding, this was a great issue to drool over. Enjoy it now, as this title is gone with issue #16.
LOBO #10: Lobo has been given the task of eliminating all the Lanterns across the DC Universe and he is currently making his way towards killing Indigo-1. He shows up with a bag filled with fingers and rings and saves her from a rogue Indigo intent on killing her. The rings try to possess him, leading him to chew off a finger to prevent it. Having failed, he heads back to Sinestro to give him the rings he has collected and to receive his next assignment: the Red Lanterns. He faces off against Bleez and Rankorr, slaying Rankorr in the process and taking his ring. Unfortunately, he is going to have to face Atrocitus before this is all done.
Since the first issue, I have been dying for Lobo to have a little bit of the fire of the OLD LOBO. Finally, I can say that he does. He may still look like a Metrosexual, but he finally has developed a set of stones. Chewing off his own fingers? Gotta love it! Killing Rankorr? Never thought I would see that. Thank you to Cullen Bunn, Frank Barbiere and Robson Rocha for giving me a Lobo I can actually like. Too bad, now that he has developed some spunk, the title ends with issue #13. This is part of the SINESTRO RISING crossover and can only hope that we can some of this fire on Bunn’s SINESTRO.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #4: Starting with a flashback involving Agent Wessel, we immediately jump to the Indian Ocean where J'onn rescues Pearl from some well-disguised White Martians. Actually, he only warns her as she does all the work fighting them. It seems that she too has powers and J’onn just appears to advise her of this. She ends up getting tossed off the ship she is on and Aquaman saves her. Meanwhile, Agent Wessel, Mr. Biscuits, Alicia and Leo are trying to get away from the giant White Martian with little success. In the process, Wessel is stabbed by the creature and the ambulance they are in crashes and explodes. Actually, it’s all in Wessel’s mind and he uses his mind to bring the Man-Eater back to what it really was-three white Martians. Later, the Martian moon Phobos appears to grow teeth and heads towards Earth.
All I can say is WOW! Rob Williams has written an amazing story that is just mind-blowing with every page. Meanwhile, Eddy Barrows is cranking out some of the best work of his career. I was hesitant about this title when it was announced and not completely blown away by the preview tale. But this book is now one of my favorite titles since the DC You relaunch.
MIDNIGHTER #4: In Moscow, we have young rich people paying money to torture and kill vampires. This totally does not sit well with either Midnighter or Grayson, who end up questioning some guys in a steam room. Before long, the boys are at the underground hellhole and dispatch the perps is quick fashion. At the same time, Dick figures out that the vampires were regular humans who had been treated with the cells of Martians to turn them into vampires. They also have been booby-trapped and disintegrate as soon as Dick and Midnighter try to cure them. In the end, the pair get to drinking while the scene in Russia m may be changing in short order.
Steve Orlando and Stephen Mooney give us a much better issue than the last few, but this still isn’t the Midnighter I know and love. This issue is most focused on the mission than the personal life, so that’s a step in the right direction. I would like to see more of this plot, especially how the bad guys got their hands on Martian cells and figured out that injecting humans with them would make us into vampires. This is still not the book we all hoped for, but this was an improvement over the last few issues. It’s Midnighter: give us action!
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #12: Most of our team is in rough shape as the issue begins. Reverse Flash is collapsing in the desert, Parasite is being experimented on and Harley Quinn is locked up with a bunch of children. Manta is getting the tour of the facilities when he is shown a Time Bomb that the League plans to use on their enemies. Later, he meets with Deadshot and informs him that he believes in what the League is doing and doesn’t plan on leaving or stopping them. While Reverse Flash hears part of a communication from Belle Reve that leaves him feeling betrayed, Harley arranges to have the children help her break out. Meanwhile, Manta meets with the leader and explains the Task Force X plan to him.
The good news is you don’t have to wait a whole month to find out what happens as it continues into the NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1 and that synopsis is next. Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones turn in another good issue that sets up an ending, in more ways than one. I mean, poor Reverse-Flash is fighting for his life in the desert and he gets part of a communication from Belle Reve where he hears that they think he’s been a total bust from the beginning. Parasite is being tortured while Manta is being the typical villain and betraying the team. Things can’t get much worse…or can they.
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1: Continuing from NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #12, Boomerang is in a water filling death trap, surrounded by League loyal and other already drowned prisoners. This is what happens when you don’t follow the rules. Meanwhile, Reverse Flash finds Harley, who is totally depressed that she killed all these League soldiers in front of the kids. Black Manta is Saladin, who plans on using the bomb in his neck trick to make him a martyr for Saladin’s cause. Deadshot tries to save Boomerang, but his skills aren’t what they used to be and he kills a League soldier instead of freeing Boomerang. That’s okay though as Reverse Flash has arrived and taken care of that. As the team makes a final assault on the League, Manta realizes he’s been played and kills Saladin. Unfortunately, the madman’s last act is to activate the time bomb. As the team clears out of town, Reverse Flash realizes that innocent children will be killed and he goes back and grabs the bomb. He dumps it in the ocean but is caught in the blast and pays the ultimate price. In the end, Waller is ordered to go off in the field from now on with team missions and the Pearl Group arrives in what is left of the League’s compound to find a future weapon in the fight against Task Force X.
What a great conclusion to this story arc from Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones. Now THIS is what paying five bucks for an Annual is all about! We get a killer story, literally and say farewell to Reverse Flash…for now, I’m sure. So, since we’re probably not totally clear, even though this series is probably out of continuity, this Reverse-Flash is PROBABLY Daniel West and not the Eobard Thawne from THE FLASH comic or TV show. Anyway, he pays the price for his heroism and not a total surprise as that what the Suicide Squad has always been about: someone eventually dies! This is a wild series and Ryan and Briones are totally kicking the crap out of some of the more recent versions of the book. Well done!
OMEGA MEN #4: Kyle Rayner and Princess Kalista talk about their lives. In the end, the two have a moment and she asks him to save them all.
One long filler issue by Tom King and guest artist Toby Cypress. It’s nice to have a recap of Rayner’s life and adventures and the same with Kalista. This book was scheduled to bite the dust in two issues, but now it has a reprieve and will go 12 issues. But I’m still not sure how the plot threads are getting wrapped up, but a fill-in issue at this point seems a waste. DC should just have bumped it off the schedule for a month and play catch up. If this was your first issue, you wouldn’t be coming back for another.
PREZ #4: In the year 2037, the United States answer to the immigration problem is to kill anyone who tries to enter the country illegally. That means using armored sentries and that means that President Beth needs to change things, especially after a sentry kills a young soccer player. In the meantime, a new model sentry named the War Beast is introduced. As a test, a handful of Muslims are released from prison and the sentry performs admirably. By the end, the sentry is loose and who knows what will happen next.
This issue takes a major turn to the dark side. The immigration issue is a major talking point in this country as we enter into the Presidential Election season and this issue hits the nail right on the head regarding it. Where one would expect Mark Russell and guest artist Dominike Stanton to make a big joke out of it, they play the whole thing straight, complete with the killing of imprisoned Muslims and a small boy. Meanwhile, the politicians point fingers at who is really to blame, as they refuse to take ownership of it. All in all, I like this book better when it is being its’ funniest best, but the dark tone of this issue truly brings home to folly that is the climate in America.
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #4: We begin at the end as Red Hood and Arsenal encounter the new Batman. Flashing back six hours, we discover that our heroes have come to Gotham to track down Underbelly. Jason has a flashback moment of his own when the waitress in the diner they are in recognizes him from their youth. Meanwhile, Roy visits with Croc in a sewer underneath of an A.A. meeting. Meanwhile, Palette wakes up from seeming death back in issue #1 to team up with Suzie Su, who we also thought was dead from the previous series. In the end, we are back at the beginning, with our boys fighting Jim Gordon's Batman. And that is when Underbelly shows up and decides to kill three for the price of one.
The good part of this book? We get to see a nice moment with Roy and Croc. The worst part of the book? We have a killer cover that hypes the BRAWL WITH BATMAN, which accounts for a whopping five pages. In between the opening teaser and the finale, we get a lot of dramedy and a really silly flashback that I see as an excuse to put the classic Batman and some of his Rogue’s Gallery into the book. Scott Lobdell wrote it, Denis Medri and I, unfortunaely, bought it.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #4: We begin with a flashback to Damian’s younger days, when one of Ra’s al Ghul’s servants accidentally spies Ra's pouring blood over himself and Damian, rather than granting the man freedom, has him blinded. Back in the present day, Robin and Ducard are returning canopic jars to a tomb in Egypt and get interrupted by Deathstroke, who has tracked Maya here and wants to settle a debt. Robin’s answers to that, after a multi-page fight sequence, is to pay Slade 5 million dollars to leave her alone. In the end, they return the jars to the base of the tomb and find a huge Lazarus Pit. Can Ra’s and Talias be far behind.
Another solo effort from Patrick Gleason. Another great story, although I am tiring of this being the adventures of Robin and Ducard. And Goliath too. It looks tremendous and reads beautifully, with nice character touches by Gleason. Unfortunately, at times, it seems a bit directionless.
SECRET SIX #6: So The Riddler has captured our team but Strix can totally excel at beating people up and takes The Riddler and his crew down. That’s when Sue Dibney steps in and threatens to blow everyone up. This allows The Riddler to take control again, as Sue tells Ralph that she has no idea who he is, for which he blames himself. Ralph hulks up and begins attacking the team while Ventriloquist’s puppet attacks The Riddler during the distraction. Lori, possessing the powers of Black Orchid gets involved but Sue blows up the dock, seemingly killing her and The Riddler, while the team escapes. But…Lori passes out, claiming that The Spectre is calling to her. And then she stops breathing…
I so love this book. While I still haven’t figured exactly where Gail Simone is going with it, it’s a mind-blowing experience. All of this, everything that has happened thus far, all goes back to a diamond he wanted to give to Sue Dibney? Wow! I didn’t see that coming. And the joke in the end is that the dummy stole the diamond and then loses it! The art by Tom Derenick is amazing as he once again proves himself to be one of the most underrated guys in the business. This book is a neat roller coaster ride that needs to be on everyone’s pull list.
SINESTRO #15: On the desert Planet Arklu, Saint Walker encounters Lobo, who knocks him out and tells the people of the planet that their life is going to get worse before it gets better. Then a yellow Lantern ring comes down and tries to turn the bounty hunter into a Yellow Lantern, but he cuts off his finger instead. He brings Saint Walker to Sinestro, telling how much he dislikes the drafting attempt. Sinestro wants Saint Walker so he can use his powers to influence the Sinestro Corps with his ability to provide hope. Walker refuses but Sinestro shows Manhunters on Planet Arklu, where they are giving the people crates of food and water. Saint Walker approves of what Sinestro is doing, which then leads to Sinestro bringing out his science team to experiment on him.
Well, that was an incredibly dark ending to this story. Cullen Bunn, with this issue and LOBO this month, has come up with some of his best writing in recent memory. And Ethan Van Sciver art looks awesome! Van Sciver will be at the upcoming Rhode Island Comicon and I hope he’ll be available to do a Sinestro sketch for me! With the first two chapters of SINESTRO RISING in the books, I cannot wait for more. Our favorite anti-hero has showed both his sides in this issue and this is finally the book I have been waiting for.
STARFIRE #4: We begin with Atlee and Kori battling the Chida monster and Atlee comes up with the solution and throws the Chida out into the ocean. She then explains that she grew up inside the Earth in a place called Strata, where all of her people are. When she came here, she saw Power Girl and they became besties. Now she, Kori and Stella are besties, hanging out in the pool while Sol drools. In the end, bounty hunter Soren Hook arrives and it looks like Kori is his next hired target.
The best thing about this book is STILL the art of Emanuela Lupacchino. Although I have to give some credit to Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti for bringing Atlee out of Pre-New 52 continuity and drop her here. Besides that, Kori is still the annoying ditz who has no clue about anything. Heck, Atlee has to come up with a solution to the monster problem. So, if you break up with your superhero boyfriend(s), does that cause your brain to shrink, because that continues to be the case here.
SUPERMAN #44: In the final chapter of TRUTH, Superman takes on The Royal Flush Gang, who are camped outside of his apartment. Later, there’s a hostage situation at the Daily Planet. Live Wire, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Atomic Skull and Shockwave are holding Steve Lombard and others hostage. In the end, it seems this guy whose wife got killed during the Titano incident a couple of months back hired them to get back at Superman. In the ensuing battle, a stray bullet hits Perry White in the shoulder. Later, Clark hits the road as he no longer has a job and his friends no longer want to be around him. And Hordr_Root has a new body and joins up with Wrath, Vandal Savage and Mr. Bend.
Well, this was kind of a letdown. What was a great story just kind of fizzled at the end by having this poorly orchestrated hostage drama be the center of the issue. Gene Luen Yang and John Romita Jr. have contributed great things to this mythos in just four issues, but this wasn’t one of them. The art looked rushed in spots, even with Klaus Janson inking it. And the story was just so anti-climactic. I expected a big battle, which kind of came LAST issue. So from here, Clark begins that Great American Road Trip with a new look, diminished powers and no money. Welcome to Earth!
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #21: The issue begins with Firestorm being attacks for his power source. This moves us to Diana quizzing Lois, who she has wrapped up in her Lasso of Truth. Superman arrives, busting through the wall, and is not happy with what he sees. He gets the others freed and discovers that a bunch of villains he and Wonder Woman are being held here too as this is a rehabilitation research center for super criminals. Then these shadow monsters arrive, taking the villains inside of the giant black hole they turn into to make their escape Saying that the ladies in his life betrayed him, he transports himself to the Watchtower. In the end, Mr. Bend, who we last saw observing Firestorm, gets fired by the President and goes off to meet up with Vandal Savage and company.
If you haven’t been reading the TRUTH storylines in the other Superman titles, then this is a big confusing mess to you. However, for those of us who HAVE been following along, this was a nice payoff. First, we get Firestorm, who we haven’t seen in a while. Then we have the continuing falling apart of the Clark/Lois/Diana triangle. It all ends up with Vandal Savage continuing to gather his forces and make life a mess for Superman. Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke do an awesome job again and, despite the soap opera drama with these characters, I had a ball with it! But…who is Mr. Bend REALLY?
WE ARE ROBIN #4: The book opens following Troy Walker's death last issue where everyone is bummed out. No one more so than a Robin named Riko. She eventually suits up and battles some kids who light fires on rooftops to gain the attention of superheroes. Batgirl shows up, lends a hand and gives her permission to keep doing what she does.
While I get what Lee Bermejo was trying to do here, by actually giving us a little depth to one of these faceless want-to-be heroes, but I felt it all kind of fell flat. Although the scenes involving Riko and her mom were nicely portrayed. James Harvey does a guest artist turn and his work is nice, but totally out of the style that we have grown accustomed to during the last three issues. Bermejo’s cover was a Home Run and makes me so wish he would draw at least one issue in this series before DC decides to cancel it.
WONDER WOMAN #44: Wonder Woman awakes from being shot at the end of the last issue and heads off to heal up. Hera pops into her bathroom mirror to tell her that the death of the Fates is very bad. Then Hephaestus pops in to say that the arrow is a God Killer and was made on his forge, but he didn’t make it. Over in London, Donna Troy beats up some girl’s pimp and they become besties, with her taking Donna underground and getting her new duds. Back on Olympus, Diana confronts Strife and in pops Aegeus who insists that he will become the God of War.
Well, David Finsh is back at the drawing board again for his wife Meredith and that’s nice to see. The book still rambles on for a bit and the fact that we take 11 pages from the main story and give it to Donna Troy, plus the 2 page origin given to Aegeus means we don’t have a lot of space for the star of the book. She spends most of this issue being talked at by her god family peeping on her through her bathroom mirror. Go seek out the 75th Anniversary Green Lantern cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson.
Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok have managed to take this book to a whole new place. The art is truly stunning and this story is amazing! This could truly be Geoff Johns’ finest hour as a writer. And to have the nerve to make Batman more of an ass than he already is, to make the Big Blue Boy Scout into a real jerk, and to kill off Darkseid is about as bold as you can imagine. Although I often don’t go this far and give credit where I should, I have to give a major shout out to Brad Anderson whose color work really makes this book come to life. This is a major masterpiece in the making.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #4: This time around, we get a flashback to a story that takes place between JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 and JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 with The Flash on the planet Nirvana engaging in a training exercise concocted by Ariel/Lois Lois. In the process, she runs into Mirror Master and the pair are stuck in an avalanche and have to rely on each other to stay alive, especially when attacked by Piranha-Bears. This leads to Mirror Master bailing on Teri, who has to get back to Camelot Nine by herself.
Okay, so what we have here is a filler issue. I didn’t find the story by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen that appealing, except we get Mirror Master and he almost spills the beans about Ariel being Lois. Scott Kolins’ art is nice and really great to see. Other than that, this issue was a waste of three bucks. And I hate saying that, because I love this series so much!
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #13: It’s France in 1940 and Sgt. Rock and Easy Company run into a well dressed man by the name of Vandal Savage. Savage invites the Germans in to have a drink as they secure the town of Arracourt. Rock says he will kill Savage if they ever meet on the battlefield. Today, Animal Man forcibly recruits Savage onto the team, which also now includes Batgirl, Robotman, Steel, Equinox, Stargirl, and Alanna Strange. With the help of Adam Strange, or what he has become, they are assigned to try and shutdown the phenomenon known as the Breakers. They end up back in present day in Arracourt where troops from Word War I and World War II are doing battle. The team jumps in and, unfortunately for him, Robotman steps on a trip wire and becomes entrapped in a gel that short circuits his system. Stargirl gets caught in a aerial blast and is saved by Enemy Ace. Out of nowhere, the butt end of a rifle hits Savage in the head. It’s Rock and Easy Company, here to deliver on a promise.
Okay, so I will forgive Jeff Parker for having Sgt. Rock and Easy Company help the French against the Germans…FOUR YEARS BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY DID!!! Let’s not forget, we didn’t enter the war until after December 7, 1941. That having been said, it was great to not only see Rock and Easy BUT The Hammer of Hell too! And, if I was going to have someone draw these classic characters and it wasn’t Joe Kubert or Bill Tucci, I’d want it to be Paul Pelletier. Logic not withstanding, this was a great issue to drool over. Enjoy it now, as this title is gone with issue #16.
LOBO #10: Lobo has been given the task of eliminating all the Lanterns across the DC Universe and he is currently making his way towards killing Indigo-1. He shows up with a bag filled with fingers and rings and saves her from a rogue Indigo intent on killing her. The rings try to possess him, leading him to chew off a finger to prevent it. Having failed, he heads back to Sinestro to give him the rings he has collected and to receive his next assignment: the Red Lanterns. He faces off against Bleez and Rankorr, slaying Rankorr in the process and taking his ring. Unfortunately, he is going to have to face Atrocitus before this is all done.
Since the first issue, I have been dying for Lobo to have a little bit of the fire of the OLD LOBO. Finally, I can say that he does. He may still look like a Metrosexual, but he finally has developed a set of stones. Chewing off his own fingers? Gotta love it! Killing Rankorr? Never thought I would see that. Thank you to Cullen Bunn, Frank Barbiere and Robson Rocha for giving me a Lobo I can actually like. Too bad, now that he has developed some spunk, the title ends with issue #13. This is part of the SINESTRO RISING crossover and can only hope that we can some of this fire on Bunn’s SINESTRO.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #4: Starting with a flashback involving Agent Wessel, we immediately jump to the Indian Ocean where J'onn rescues Pearl from some well-disguised White Martians. Actually, he only warns her as she does all the work fighting them. It seems that she too has powers and J’onn just appears to advise her of this. She ends up getting tossed off the ship she is on and Aquaman saves her. Meanwhile, Agent Wessel, Mr. Biscuits, Alicia and Leo are trying to get away from the giant White Martian with little success. In the process, Wessel is stabbed by the creature and the ambulance they are in crashes and explodes. Actually, it’s all in Wessel’s mind and he uses his mind to bring the Man-Eater back to what it really was-three white Martians. Later, the Martian moon Phobos appears to grow teeth and heads towards Earth.
All I can say is WOW! Rob Williams has written an amazing story that is just mind-blowing with every page. Meanwhile, Eddy Barrows is cranking out some of the best work of his career. I was hesitant about this title when it was announced and not completely blown away by the preview tale. But this book is now one of my favorite titles since the DC You relaunch.
MIDNIGHTER #4: In Moscow, we have young rich people paying money to torture and kill vampires. This totally does not sit well with either Midnighter or Grayson, who end up questioning some guys in a steam room. Before long, the boys are at the underground hellhole and dispatch the perps is quick fashion. At the same time, Dick figures out that the vampires were regular humans who had been treated with the cells of Martians to turn them into vampires. They also have been booby-trapped and disintegrate as soon as Dick and Midnighter try to cure them. In the end, the pair get to drinking while the scene in Russia m may be changing in short order.
Steve Orlando and Stephen Mooney give us a much better issue than the last few, but this still isn’t the Midnighter I know and love. This issue is most focused on the mission than the personal life, so that’s a step in the right direction. I would like to see more of this plot, especially how the bad guys got their hands on Martian cells and figured out that injecting humans with them would make us into vampires. This is still not the book we all hoped for, but this was an improvement over the last few issues. It’s Midnighter: give us action!
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #12: Most of our team is in rough shape as the issue begins. Reverse Flash is collapsing in the desert, Parasite is being experimented on and Harley Quinn is locked up with a bunch of children. Manta is getting the tour of the facilities when he is shown a Time Bomb that the League plans to use on their enemies. Later, he meets with Deadshot and informs him that he believes in what the League is doing and doesn’t plan on leaving or stopping them. While Reverse Flash hears part of a communication from Belle Reve that leaves him feeling betrayed, Harley arranges to have the children help her break out. Meanwhile, Manta meets with the leader and explains the Task Force X plan to him.
The good news is you don’t have to wait a whole month to find out what happens as it continues into the NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1 and that synopsis is next. Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones turn in another good issue that sets up an ending, in more ways than one. I mean, poor Reverse-Flash is fighting for his life in the desert and he gets part of a communication from Belle Reve where he hears that they think he’s been a total bust from the beginning. Parasite is being tortured while Manta is being the typical villain and betraying the team. Things can’t get much worse…or can they.
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL #1: Continuing from NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #12, Boomerang is in a water filling death trap, surrounded by League loyal and other already drowned prisoners. This is what happens when you don’t follow the rules. Meanwhile, Reverse Flash finds Harley, who is totally depressed that she killed all these League soldiers in front of the kids. Black Manta is Saladin, who plans on using the bomb in his neck trick to make him a martyr for Saladin’s cause. Deadshot tries to save Boomerang, but his skills aren’t what they used to be and he kills a League soldier instead of freeing Boomerang. That’s okay though as Reverse Flash has arrived and taken care of that. As the team makes a final assault on the League, Manta realizes he’s been played and kills Saladin. Unfortunately, the madman’s last act is to activate the time bomb. As the team clears out of town, Reverse Flash realizes that innocent children will be killed and he goes back and grabs the bomb. He dumps it in the ocean but is caught in the blast and pays the ultimate price. In the end, Waller is ordered to go off in the field from now on with team missions and the Pearl Group arrives in what is left of the League’s compound to find a future weapon in the fight against Task Force X.
What a great conclusion to this story arc from Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones. Now THIS is what paying five bucks for an Annual is all about! We get a killer story, literally and say farewell to Reverse Flash…for now, I’m sure. So, since we’re probably not totally clear, even though this series is probably out of continuity, this Reverse-Flash is PROBABLY Daniel West and not the Eobard Thawne from THE FLASH comic or TV show. Anyway, he pays the price for his heroism and not a total surprise as that what the Suicide Squad has always been about: someone eventually dies! This is a wild series and Ryan and Briones are totally kicking the crap out of some of the more recent versions of the book. Well done!
OMEGA MEN #4: Kyle Rayner and Princess Kalista talk about their lives. In the end, the two have a moment and she asks him to save them all.
One long filler issue by Tom King and guest artist Toby Cypress. It’s nice to have a recap of Rayner’s life and adventures and the same with Kalista. This book was scheduled to bite the dust in two issues, but now it has a reprieve and will go 12 issues. But I’m still not sure how the plot threads are getting wrapped up, but a fill-in issue at this point seems a waste. DC should just have bumped it off the schedule for a month and play catch up. If this was your first issue, you wouldn’t be coming back for another.
PREZ #4: In the year 2037, the United States answer to the immigration problem is to kill anyone who tries to enter the country illegally. That means using armored sentries and that means that President Beth needs to change things, especially after a sentry kills a young soccer player. In the meantime, a new model sentry named the War Beast is introduced. As a test, a handful of Muslims are released from prison and the sentry performs admirably. By the end, the sentry is loose and who knows what will happen next.
This issue takes a major turn to the dark side. The immigration issue is a major talking point in this country as we enter into the Presidential Election season and this issue hits the nail right on the head regarding it. Where one would expect Mark Russell and guest artist Dominike Stanton to make a big joke out of it, they play the whole thing straight, complete with the killing of imprisoned Muslims and a small boy. Meanwhile, the politicians point fingers at who is really to blame, as they refuse to take ownership of it. All in all, I like this book better when it is being its’ funniest best, but the dark tone of this issue truly brings home to folly that is the climate in America.
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #4: We begin at the end as Red Hood and Arsenal encounter the new Batman. Flashing back six hours, we discover that our heroes have come to Gotham to track down Underbelly. Jason has a flashback moment of his own when the waitress in the diner they are in recognizes him from their youth. Meanwhile, Roy visits with Croc in a sewer underneath of an A.A. meeting. Meanwhile, Palette wakes up from seeming death back in issue #1 to team up with Suzie Su, who we also thought was dead from the previous series. In the end, we are back at the beginning, with our boys fighting Jim Gordon's Batman. And that is when Underbelly shows up and decides to kill three for the price of one.
The good part of this book? We get to see a nice moment with Roy and Croc. The worst part of the book? We have a killer cover that hypes the BRAWL WITH BATMAN, which accounts for a whopping five pages. In between the opening teaser and the finale, we get a lot of dramedy and a really silly flashback that I see as an excuse to put the classic Batman and some of his Rogue’s Gallery into the book. Scott Lobdell wrote it, Denis Medri and I, unfortunaely, bought it.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #4: We begin with a flashback to Damian’s younger days, when one of Ra’s al Ghul’s servants accidentally spies Ra's pouring blood over himself and Damian, rather than granting the man freedom, has him blinded. Back in the present day, Robin and Ducard are returning canopic jars to a tomb in Egypt and get interrupted by Deathstroke, who has tracked Maya here and wants to settle a debt. Robin’s answers to that, after a multi-page fight sequence, is to pay Slade 5 million dollars to leave her alone. In the end, they return the jars to the base of the tomb and find a huge Lazarus Pit. Can Ra’s and Talias be far behind.
Another solo effort from Patrick Gleason. Another great story, although I am tiring of this being the adventures of Robin and Ducard. And Goliath too. It looks tremendous and reads beautifully, with nice character touches by Gleason. Unfortunately, at times, it seems a bit directionless.
SECRET SIX #6: So The Riddler has captured our team but Strix can totally excel at beating people up and takes The Riddler and his crew down. That’s when Sue Dibney steps in and threatens to blow everyone up. This allows The Riddler to take control again, as Sue tells Ralph that she has no idea who he is, for which he blames himself. Ralph hulks up and begins attacking the team while Ventriloquist’s puppet attacks The Riddler during the distraction. Lori, possessing the powers of Black Orchid gets involved but Sue blows up the dock, seemingly killing her and The Riddler, while the team escapes. But…Lori passes out, claiming that The Spectre is calling to her. And then she stops breathing…
I so love this book. While I still haven’t figured exactly where Gail Simone is going with it, it’s a mind-blowing experience. All of this, everything that has happened thus far, all goes back to a diamond he wanted to give to Sue Dibney? Wow! I didn’t see that coming. And the joke in the end is that the dummy stole the diamond and then loses it! The art by Tom Derenick is amazing as he once again proves himself to be one of the most underrated guys in the business. This book is a neat roller coaster ride that needs to be on everyone’s pull list.
SINESTRO #15: On the desert Planet Arklu, Saint Walker encounters Lobo, who knocks him out and tells the people of the planet that their life is going to get worse before it gets better. Then a yellow Lantern ring comes down and tries to turn the bounty hunter into a Yellow Lantern, but he cuts off his finger instead. He brings Saint Walker to Sinestro, telling how much he dislikes the drafting attempt. Sinestro wants Saint Walker so he can use his powers to influence the Sinestro Corps with his ability to provide hope. Walker refuses but Sinestro shows Manhunters on Planet Arklu, where they are giving the people crates of food and water. Saint Walker approves of what Sinestro is doing, which then leads to Sinestro bringing out his science team to experiment on him.
Well, that was an incredibly dark ending to this story. Cullen Bunn, with this issue and LOBO this month, has come up with some of his best writing in recent memory. And Ethan Van Sciver art looks awesome! Van Sciver will be at the upcoming Rhode Island Comicon and I hope he’ll be available to do a Sinestro sketch for me! With the first two chapters of SINESTRO RISING in the books, I cannot wait for more. Our favorite anti-hero has showed both his sides in this issue and this is finally the book I have been waiting for.
STARFIRE #4: We begin with Atlee and Kori battling the Chida monster and Atlee comes up with the solution and throws the Chida out into the ocean. She then explains that she grew up inside the Earth in a place called Strata, where all of her people are. When she came here, she saw Power Girl and they became besties. Now she, Kori and Stella are besties, hanging out in the pool while Sol drools. In the end, bounty hunter Soren Hook arrives and it looks like Kori is his next hired target.
The best thing about this book is STILL the art of Emanuela Lupacchino. Although I have to give some credit to Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti for bringing Atlee out of Pre-New 52 continuity and drop her here. Besides that, Kori is still the annoying ditz who has no clue about anything. Heck, Atlee has to come up with a solution to the monster problem. So, if you break up with your superhero boyfriend(s), does that cause your brain to shrink, because that continues to be the case here.
SUPERMAN #44: In the final chapter of TRUTH, Superman takes on The Royal Flush Gang, who are camped outside of his apartment. Later, there’s a hostage situation at the Daily Planet. Live Wire, Killer Croc, Killer Frost, Atomic Skull and Shockwave are holding Steve Lombard and others hostage. In the end, it seems this guy whose wife got killed during the Titano incident a couple of months back hired them to get back at Superman. In the ensuing battle, a stray bullet hits Perry White in the shoulder. Later, Clark hits the road as he no longer has a job and his friends no longer want to be around him. And Hordr_Root has a new body and joins up with Wrath, Vandal Savage and Mr. Bend.
Well, this was kind of a letdown. What was a great story just kind of fizzled at the end by having this poorly orchestrated hostage drama be the center of the issue. Gene Luen Yang and John Romita Jr. have contributed great things to this mythos in just four issues, but this wasn’t one of them. The art looked rushed in spots, even with Klaus Janson inking it. And the story was just so anti-climactic. I expected a big battle, which kind of came LAST issue. So from here, Clark begins that Great American Road Trip with a new look, diminished powers and no money. Welcome to Earth!
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #21: The issue begins with Firestorm being attacks for his power source. This moves us to Diana quizzing Lois, who she has wrapped up in her Lasso of Truth. Superman arrives, busting through the wall, and is not happy with what he sees. He gets the others freed and discovers that a bunch of villains he and Wonder Woman are being held here too as this is a rehabilitation research center for super criminals. Then these shadow monsters arrive, taking the villains inside of the giant black hole they turn into to make their escape Saying that the ladies in his life betrayed him, he transports himself to the Watchtower. In the end, Mr. Bend, who we last saw observing Firestorm, gets fired by the President and goes off to meet up with Vandal Savage and company.
If you haven’t been reading the TRUTH storylines in the other Superman titles, then this is a big confusing mess to you. However, for those of us who HAVE been following along, this was a nice payoff. First, we get Firestorm, who we haven’t seen in a while. Then we have the continuing falling apart of the Clark/Lois/Diana triangle. It all ends up with Vandal Savage continuing to gather his forces and make life a mess for Superman. Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke do an awesome job again and, despite the soap opera drama with these characters, I had a ball with it! But…who is Mr. Bend REALLY?
WE ARE ROBIN #4: The book opens following Troy Walker's death last issue where everyone is bummed out. No one more so than a Robin named Riko. She eventually suits up and battles some kids who light fires on rooftops to gain the attention of superheroes. Batgirl shows up, lends a hand and gives her permission to keep doing what she does.
While I get what Lee Bermejo was trying to do here, by actually giving us a little depth to one of these faceless want-to-be heroes, but I felt it all kind of fell flat. Although the scenes involving Riko and her mom were nicely portrayed. James Harvey does a guest artist turn and his work is nice, but totally out of the style that we have grown accustomed to during the last three issues. Bermejo’s cover was a Home Run and makes me so wish he would draw at least one issue in this series before DC decides to cancel it.
WONDER WOMAN #44: Wonder Woman awakes from being shot at the end of the last issue and heads off to heal up. Hera pops into her bathroom mirror to tell her that the death of the Fates is very bad. Then Hephaestus pops in to say that the arrow is a God Killer and was made on his forge, but he didn’t make it. Over in London, Donna Troy beats up some girl’s pimp and they become besties, with her taking Donna underground and getting her new duds. Back on Olympus, Diana confronts Strife and in pops Aegeus who insists that he will become the God of War.
Well, David Finsh is back at the drawing board again for his wife Meredith and that’s nice to see. The book still rambles on for a bit and the fact that we take 11 pages from the main story and give it to Donna Troy, plus the 2 page origin given to Aegeus means we don’t have a lot of space for the star of the book. She spends most of this issue being talked at by her god family peeping on her through her bathroom mirror. Go seek out the 75th Anniversary Green Lantern cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson.
DC YOU Month 4, Part 1
ACTION COMICS #44: Superman is battling the Shadow Monsters, including the Mayor, who is actually Wrath. This leads to him immediately battling Wrath, who is feeding off his rage and that is making her stronger. The Shadow monsters infect Lee, but she uses that power to save people who have also been infected. As Superman seemingly defeats Wrath, who disappears after flying into a parked car, Lee harnesses that power and continues to save people, telling Superman that she feels right with the Shadow inside her. In the end, Wrath frees a creature waiting two thousand years to come back. A mystery indeed!
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder wrap of this piece of the TRUTH storyline in pretty disappointing fashion. It seemed way too rushed, spending too much time concentrating on Lee’s story and not enough on Clark’s. Kuder provides the art for most of the book while Howard Porter gives us the epilogue piece. And just who is this mysterious individual? It all seems like a rush to get to the mysterious visitor at the end of the book. This is my least favorite issue of the Pak/Kuder run thus far.
ALL STAR SECTION EIGHT #4: Wonnder Woman shows up and chastises Section Eight but then Baytor whacks her in the head with a big hammer which scrambles her brain and suddenly causes her to want to join the team. Soon she has managed to make herself the Maid of Honor in a wedding between Bueno Excellente and Ms. Guts. During the post wedding reception, Baytor accidentally hits her again with the hammer, which scrambles her brains back again. She storms out, but not before calling SixPack Sidney, leading him to wonder who Sidney is. A mystery indeed!
Garth Ennis, John McCrea. A killer book that is completely off the normal grid! Just go buy it before the mini-series ends!
AQUAMAN #44: Aquaman teleports into Mera's sleeping chambers so he can explain what is going on with his fascination with the other people and try to make up. This leads to them kissing and REALLY making up. The next morning, he feels guilty and she turns into Mera’s sister Siren. She refuses to reveal where Mera is and he won’t get an answer anytime soon as Atlantean guards burst in and force him to teleport away. Unfortunately for him, he has teleported to an alien world.
Is Cullen Bunn DC’s answer to Gerry Duggan, since it seems like he is writing a butt ton of books for the company. And most of them aren’t that good. This book has gotten so sluggish since CONVERGENCE and I hate the current story arc. I don’t want Aquaman on a distant planet or helping save Thule. I want him duking it out with Black Manta and Arthur’s collection of Rogues like Fisherman…if he is still around. Alec Morgan’s art is okay…I guess. It’s kind of hard to tell when you have Art Thibert and Jesus Merino finishing it for him.
BATGIRL #44: The Velvet Tiger is battling Batgirl and causes her utility belt to misfire. That leads her back to home base where Qadir and Luke figure out that Gilcom CEO Lani Gilbert is really Velvet Tiger. She heads off to visit Jeremy, who has been helping her all along to save his career. Back at Velvet Tiger’s lair, Batgirl tries to save Jo, but it takes Alysia to do that and it takes a remote control Bat cycle to take out Velvet Tiger and get Batgirl to safety. Later, Barbara finds out that Luke offered Frankie a job but she turned it down because she was in the middle of a career change. The pair also exchange their first kiss and Barbara invites him to Alysia and Jo’s wedding. Finally, Frankie is messing around with a cybernetic link that allows her to control things.
As we all know by now, I am not a fan of this title in the least, but it is improving. Bengal is the artist this issue and I like the style much better than Babs Tarr. It’s just a much cleaner look. Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher continue to treat Batgirl/Barbara like a teenager and I still find that disturbing. We went from shot by Joker, crippled, helping the Bat Family as Oracle, no longer crippled, running Birds of Prey and now this? Talk about taking continuity and throwing it out the window. However, the writing here seems much more focused than past issues. Maybe there is hope after all.
BATMAN #44: Set in a time just after Zero Year, Batman finds the body of a fifteen year old boy and connects him to The Penguin. The boy is Peter Duggio, who once went to Bruce Wayne for help, as his father became ill during Zero Year, and the Four Fives took over the area of town where he lives. Peter went to the Penguin and offered to run his business through his family’s bodega. But The Penguin gave it back to the Four Fives. Peter then met with Mr. Bloom and was given a drink that gave him crazy super powers. He tried to stop the Four Fives from setting his family business on fire, but is too late. He does get shot by a policeman, but manages to flee, eventually transforming into a Man Bat. He dies because the serum wore off and he fell to the earth.
Can you say fill-in issue? DC charges us FIVE BUCKS for this beautifully drawn issue, which is only beautiful provided you like Jock’s art. But this overly long, wandering story by Scott Snyder and Brian Azzarello that bounces from the recent past to the semi recent present is just a mess. It’s the Bruce Wayne Batman, we get Mr. Bloom for two panels and the whole story leaves me feeling cheated. We all want Bruce back in the suit, but this is not called whetting our appetite. All this does is make me feel ripped off.
BATMAN ANNUAL #4: Bruce Wayne and Julie Madison go over to the Wayne Mansion to sign papers, as Powers International’s Geri Powers is being nice enough to give poor Bruce his home back. All of the patients have been taken out of the place, but it seems that Clayface made clay models of Riddler, Mr. Freeze and himself. So the models went away, but the real villains are here. Of course Bruce, with his amnesia, has no idea who these crooks are. Alfred manages to get Bruce to safety through the underground tunnels but it isn’t long before they catch him and begin the “What are you, Bruce Wayne” game. It seems The Riddler found the files where Bruce had admitted himself into Arkham and now wants Bruce to admit that he is crazy. But Bruce activates a security measure that Alfred had told him about and takes out the bad guys.
So we get a five-dollar BATMAN ANNUAL and have no appearances by either Batman? Thank you James Tynion IV and Roge Antonio for making me feel like I wasted five bucks! I remember when an Annual was a BIG DEAL. It was a special story or concluded a story arc, like this month’s NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL. This was just an excuse to take Bruce’ move back into the mansion into a five-dollar romp.
BATMAN BEYOND #4: The invasion has begun and it’s Tim Drake’s fault as his suit took the Veil offline. Micron is not happy about these developments and splits, leaving Tim on his own. The Jokerz join in the battle as Brother Eye continues to send his monsters against Tim who gets help from Micron’s return. Meanwhile, Inque teams up with Barbara Gordon as she hates Brother Eye as he has her daughter Deanna under his control. With Tim surrounded by Brother Eye’s transformed creatures, Barbara shows up in the Batmobile and saves Back in the Bat Cave, Barbara presents him with Batman 1.0: Jim Gordon's Bat Suit.
We get another interesting issue here, although I am slowly getting tired of where this book is headed. Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang tell an interesting story, but that story is getting a bit tired. It is starting to look like Tim Drake has just been totally ruining things in the DC Universe. He couldn’t stop brother Eye and now he’s responsible for a full-blown invasion. The cool twist this issue was revealing that Jim Gordon's Bat Suit survived the last 35 years. Despite the plodding of this issue, I am looking forward to how Tim handles "The Suit.”
BATMAN SUPERMAN #24: Aquaman and Superman are brawling while Batman and Lucius try to stop the artificial sun from exploding. In the midst of all this, Ukar's troops are heading for the oil rig that holds that sun. Gordon launches the container holding the sun into the sky and the Dawn Command arrives and steals it away from everyone. Aquaman gets Ukar to realize he needs to stop trusting people while Batman tells Superman to stay out of Gotham City. In the epilogue, Clark meets with Bruce Wayne while Wrath meets with the mystery man from ACTION COMICS: Vandal Savage.
Greg Pak, along with Ardian Syaf, Yildiray Cinar and Howard Porter, gives us another piece of the puzzle that seems to show that good old Vandal Savage is back to cause mayhem. After all, we haven’t seen him since DEMON KNIGHTS got cancelled, with the exception of a version of him appearing in Morrison’s THE SOCIETY OF SUPERHEROES. I have to admit though, I was glad to get the main story ended, as it was starting to drag on. Once Aquaman got involved, I knew it would be a little bumpy. I DO LIKE seeing that Jim Gordon is not seeing eye to eye with Clark and the whole Bruce/Clark meeting was cool. But, if Batman and Superman can’t co-exist, does that mean we need to change the title of the book?
BAT-MITE #4: Bat-Mite is trying his best, but is completely trashing Weed and Reagan’s apartment, completely ruining Reagan’s family photo album in the process. Skeets and Booster Gold arrive and ask for Bat-Mite’s help in saving the future from Gridlock. In the process, Bat-Mite decides that Booster needs to be dark and gritty and has him create a new costume and a new persona in the form of Black Gold. Bat-Mite transports them to Gridlock's "Vault of Timelessness", where he keeps all his goodies from his childhood preserved forever. During the battle between our heroes and Gridlock, Gridlock’s precious treasures are ruined. Gridlock flees, Booster Gold rises from the ashes of Black Gold, and Reagan’s photo album gets restored thanks to time travel.
While I have been absolutely loving this series, this issue was nowhere near as good as the previous three. Dan Jurgens and Corin Howell do a good job, but it loses steam about halfway through the issue. It was almost like Jurgens just couldn’t figure out where he wanted his punchlines to go and the whole bit solution for the photo album was predictable from the moment Booster shower up. I’m hoping issue #5 will bring this book back to it’s winning style and lead to a nice conclusion for issue #6.
BIZZARO #4: Our happy-go-lucky trio is in Branson, Missouri where Chastity is still tracking down bad guys. But there’s a time for work and a time for fun, so Jimmy and Bizzaro take in a magic show starring Zatanna, who proceeds to send Bizzaro around the DC Universe, whether he likes it or not. Travelling through the Rock of Eternity, Gemworld, The House of Mystery, Hades, the Parliament of Trees, Skartaris, he eventually returns, only to have he and Jimmy swap personalities. That also means swapping body types as Jimmy now looks like and sounds like Bizzaro while Bizzaro is now intelligent and human. With both of them now seeing how the other half has to live, they are transformed back to their old selves. And just in time too as Agents Mahalo and Paillard from ARGUS arrive asking for their help. They need them to break into Area 51.
What a long strange trip to Canada this is. Heath Corson and Gustavo Duarte give us another wild issue, complete with trips to the corners of the DCU. Wait: didn’t Warlord DIE during CONVERGENCE? Wasn’t Amethyst scarred during FUTURE’S END? Oh…that’s right: stories are written out of continuity now. That’s cool: I can dig it! By the way: Darwyn Cooke are listed as a guest artist but all I can see is part of one panel, which is the portrait of Zatanna. It is IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE as Cooke’s work. But I don’t see it anywhere else, so calling him a “guest artist” is a bit misleading. Other than that, we have another great issue as we raced towards the final issue with #6.
BLACK CANARY #4: Bo Maeve and Ditto are on the road. Bo tells how she went from watching MTV to growing up and forming the band Alas Insane. After having creative difference, she walks away from her gig, only to be replaced to Dinah Drake, which explains her dislike of our hero. Bo lit the theater on fire and that forced Dinah to use her powers to put it out. Back in present day, Bo turns Ditto over to Amanda Waller, but a masked, blonde ninja puts a stop to that, allowing Ditto to escape. Ditto ends up at the motel Dinah is holed up at and there is a happy reunion. Meanwhile, Bo is injected with special mixture that gives her Dinah’s screaming ability.
Here’s my problem with comics these days: guest artists. Pia Guerra steps in for Annie Wu this month. So, it’s not just this book, it’s a LOT of books at many companies. Whatever happened to the days when the legends of our business were drawing a literal handful of books or more each month? That gripe aside, this issue is cool and love what Brenden Fletcher is ding with it. I like the origin story for Bo and the way that Amanda Waller comes rolling into the story, but who is the mysterious ninja? And where does this tale go from here? I’m guessing D.D. is putting the band back together. Should be an interesting rest of the road trip!
CATWOMAN #44: Picking up from last issue, Selina visits Croc who has been taking care of the injured Eiko. She gets her home and Selina and Croc have a long talk about her. Later, she is continuing to train Stephanie Brown and Eiko admits that she and Selina had a fight and they need to talk stuff over. Finishing their training, Stephanie runs into Selina and chews her out for dumping her, even as Catwoman is tells her she needs her help. Afterwards, Antonia and Ward have a dinner meeting with Selina where Antonia tells Selina she has been meeting with Penguin and Selina tells her that she wants Antonia to run the family, which will allow her to go back to being Catwoman on a regular basis. In the end, Black Mask assaults Hasigawa’s place and executes him.
Okay, so it looks like Genevieve Valentine is setting things up for Frank Tieri to run with as the next writer by bringing many plot threads to an abrupt end. With the death of Hasigawa, Eiko can now focus on revenge, Anthonia can focus on the family business, and Selina can go back to trying to find her long lost boyfriend. Maybe this will be more of a costume book again instead of the female version of THE GODFATHER. David Messina’s art gets better all the time and this is one of his best outings yet.
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #4: With most of the issue set in the past, we see a really drunk Constantine dealing with the great tentacled monster that we find out is really Veronica.
Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV throw a really convoluted and confusing issue our way. Set in both the past and the present, we see how John’s group descends into the world of bad magic. The fact that the great monster is really his ex-lover was a nice little twist and I’m sure that secret will be revealed next issue. The art by Vanesa Del Rey and Chris Visions was okay, but this book continues to try to find its’ palce in the DC Universe.
DEATHSTROKE #10: The battle against Lapetus continues as the god has decided that Themyscira isn’t the only goal, now he wants to take down Olympus too. After a fierce battle, Deathstroke slays the enemy but is told by Hephaestus that this was all set in place by Apollo. But the slaying of a Titan calls for a blood sacrifice, so Slade plucks out his right eye.
Tony S. Daniel and James Bonney, with art by Tyler Kirkham, brings this long-winded epic to an end. I say long-winded because it ran through a bunch of issues AND an annual and, in the end, Deathstroke slays the god and has to pluck out his eye to make amends. Honestly, that is a bit over the top but also a good way to get our hero(?) back to his cyclopean vision. This would have been so much better if Daniels had been drawing it too, but I guess I can settle for Kirkham. The overall issue is like most of the issues in the series: run of the mill.
DETECTIVE COMICS #44: Bullock is trying to reach Yip who is sitting with Falcone in his limo and getting paid for her work. When he drops her off, she calls Bullock, begging him to pick up his phone. Batman is battling the Joker Bot, which ends up trashing the car that Bullock, Montoya AND Yip are in. Harvey gets Montoya out and then sets fire to the car, presumably with Yip in it. Bullock and Montoya head to the circus where we find that the targets are actually police officers who are not in bed with the Falcones. With the help of his team, Batman takes out the Joker Bot, defeating the Joker's Daughter in the process and with plenty of time to spare to get to the circus and take down the assassins. Later, Yip meets with Bullock where he tells her that she is officially listed as dying in the line of duty, even though Gordon and Montoya are aware of it.
This issue marks the end of Brian Buccellato’s run on the title and it felt like more of a whimper than a bang. While the story was good, it was expected that Yip wouldn’t be killed off by Bullock, even after we saw the teaser to that car burning scene months ago. The Joker Bot made me chuckle in its’ complete silliness and the fact that Yip goes away means she could end up back in the mix somewhere down the road. Fernando Blanco’s art continues to set this book apart from the other titles in the “Bat Family” and that’s cool. Next month: a new creative team jumps in with both feet!
DOCTOR FATE #4: Khalid continues to try and learn his place in the world as a hero while the city continues to experience the flooding. Meanwhile, his father is desperate to reach him as he speaks with Bast.
This book just continues to roll on and I don’t know how. I LOVE the character of Doctor fate and have always found his back-story interesting. But this book, by Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew, is just a tangled mess. I don’t care for the character or characters and we’re four issues in and Khalid is STILL saving people and questioning why. C’mon: has he NEVER read a comic or seen a movie? You know: great power and all that. Seriously!
DOOMED #4: Wonder Girl is here and beat the snot out of Doomed. Flashback to a half hour earlier as he takes Oui Oui the dog back home with comical results. Then Reiser dreams of what will happen when he gets stuck in Doomed’s body for the rest of his life. Clarice arrives, whispers something to him and he changes back to Reiser. Coming back to the fight, Doomed saves Wonder Girl and she realizes that he’s not bad, just misunderstood and also gets him to change back. What a surprise for her when she finds out he wears no costume and is butt naked! Later, Superman arrives as Jayne figures out that Reiser could have been infected by the Doomsday spores.
Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez turn out another interesting issue as this title tries its’ hardest to be likable. Unfortunately, DC has already lowered the axe on it with issue #6, which means the creators have two more issues to wrap all of this up. I have to admit that the book has gotten better since the dreadful first issue, but is still not high on the sales chart, meaning a permanent end. Maybe they can roll Reiser into the Teen Titans in the future. In fact, I bet they do!
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #4: Batman and Flash arrive at Val-Zod’s City of Solitude and accuse him of the murder of Terry Sloan. This leads to a flashback where Val and Kara used Sloan's nano-bots to build Neotropolis. For a time, Val and Kara were like the kings and queens until there is a bomb explosion and Anarky takes responsibility for the explosion. Sloan activates a death ray and kills a number of the protesters, minus Anarky, who has escaped. Sloan sends in his Sandmen and Val knocks them out and transports to Sloan’s lair. Once there, he tells Kara that it was Val who figured out how to detonate the fire pits that killed Superman. This eventually leads to a confrontation between the two lovers leading to a big break up. Back in the here and now, Overwatch One is coming down…complete with a big Anarky symbol painted on it!.
What a colossal mess! This was one long flashback and…wait: didn’t Superman die in an EMPTY FIRE PIT where Desaad had his clone lab? So we’re already RETCONING stuff? Jorge Jimenez's art looks okay but Daniel H. Wilson apparently doesn’t remember what was written less than a year ago. Tis series continues to be a major disappointment.
FLASH #44: The Flash finds a way to get out of his watery predicament while Professor Zoom and his Speed Force Team of Rogues continue to make his life hell. That includes tormenting Barry’s father too. Meanwhile, Frye and Hartley have a tiff regarding that possibility that Frye may be outed by having his lover show up at work. The next morning, Barry meets up with Wally and gets him a gig working in the CCPD garage. The new Rogues show up downtown and they cause all sorts of havoc, including Wally’s new mentor Tim. With a force field around him, Barry’s speed just manages to increase the damage he causes which is not only bad for him, but also for Central City.
Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth continue to rewrite history and pave the way to the future with this title. The story really is filled with great action and Booth’s artwork is stellar. At times, it feels like it is pandering to fans of the television show by throwing in plot points that most fans question. Of course, most fans are still trying to get over the concept of Iris and Barry not being together and Wally being black. That’s okay: this IS a new DC and diversity is key, right?
GOTHAM ACADEMY #10: After everyone flees from the burning play rehearsal and then gets composed again, with a new student named Katherine in the mix, we learn from Eric that a ghost has been responsible for sabotaging the play. Olive believes it is the ghost of her mother, which results in some trust issues between Maps and Olive. Olive goes to the office of Hugo Strange and instructs her not to do any extra curricular activities. Meanwhile, the Detective Club goes ghost hunting and discovers that Katherine is really Clayface. Clayface created the persona to gain access and to get revenge on director Simon Trent. When he makes fun of Olive’s mom, she hits him with a hose full of water and he turns back into Katherine. In the end, Pomeline shows Olive a newspaper that suggests her mom may still be alive.
Wow! I so love this title and here’s why. It’s all about the characters. Sure, Karl Kerschl’s art is nice and all. But Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher have given us a great wealth of characters to work with and we have all seen them grow and change in the last ten issues. And I love the way the creators have managed to drop famous characters from Batman history into this title as educators. Last issue we had Kirk Langston and this time around we get Hugo Strange. Oh…and points to Simon Trent for invoking Uta Hagen. Btw: she was a Tony Award winning German actress.
GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #9: Corrigan and Lisa have been officially arrested and placed in individual interrogation rooms. Meanwhile, Agent Rook and his team execute a search of Precinct 13 looking for evidence that proves Corrigan is dirty. At the same time, Dr. Tarr has figured out what the deal is with the creepy black flowers and that they mark a place where something supernatural is going to happen. After continued pressure by Casimiro and Palmer, the Spectre comes out and blows them up, leaving bits of bodies parts all over the walls.
Just when this series is starting to take off, DC puts the hammer down and cancels it in three issues. That’s a drag as Ray Fawkes and Juan Ferreyra really brings their A game with this issue. Blood, horror and a pissed off Spectre that apparently is NOT the creature we thought he was and all of this comes from within Corrigan. Okay…that’s a game changer! Anyway, this is one of the strongest issues yet and hopefully, if you haven’t scored the issues, we might get a TPB from DC. It really is a complex series.
GRAYSON #12: Dick Grayson returns to Gotham and, in disguise as Mr. Sparrow, meets with Bruce Wayne. Their meeting is broken up by a Agent Zero who knocks Bruce out and threatens to tell the world that Batman is Bruce Wayne unless Dick heads back home to Spyral. Later, Dick meets with Jason and Tim and they are not happy Dick faked his death and didn’t let them in on it. Even more upset is Barbara, who had a physical relationship with Dick at one point. Less bothered by it all is Damian, who actually knows what it was like to be dead. When he leaves them, each of them begins working on the “Cluemaster’s Code”, which allows them to hack into the Hypnos. This allows Dick to see who Agent Zero really is: Luka Netz
This book just gets better and better! Tom King, Tim Seeley and Mikel Janin have taken the whole secret agent meets hero in tights genre and elevated it to an amazing place. Dick finally comes back home after being dead and obviously, this is pissing people off. And, best of all, we get the reveal of who Agent Zero really is. And if that wasn’t obvious before, it is now as Luka Netz is Kathy Kane’s real name. So, which Kane is this one? Kate Kane is Batwoman and her mom is supposed to be dead. Kathy Kane WAS a key character in the original BATMAN INCORPORATED run, so I guess this is her. Very cool!
GRAYSON ANNUAL #2: The issue begins with years ago while Batman and Robin are attending to apprehend Blockbuster when they get an assist from Superman. While Robin thinks Superman is cool, Batman is suspicious of him. back in present day, Robin is set to leave Gotham and head back to his assignment with Spyral when he encounters Superman, who thought that Dick was dead. The Fist of Cain, who Dick knows from Spyral killing their leader Christian Fleischer some time back, attacks them. And, of course, they are looking to take out Clark because the whole world knows he is Superman. After a lengthy fight between our heroes and the FOC folks, they break out their secret weapon: Blockbuster. Not sure how to defeat him, Superman calls Lex Luthor and asks for a favor and build a power inhibitor, which he does while sitting on his toilet. The inhibitor takes down the bad guys and, in the end, the two heroes bid farewell to each other, but not before Superman agrees it’s okay to bury the name Nightwing and be known only as "Grayson".
What I really like about this story by Tom Seeley and Alvaro Martinez is that it tied into current continuity, with Dick leaving Gotham after his recent visit there in GRAYSON #12. The artwork is nice and the story, while a bit sappy in points, displays the mutual respect these two heroes have for each other. And I didn’t feel totally ripped off for paying five bucks for an annual that really didn’t do much for the ongoing story in the regular title. While not a direct continuation from the book, it does tie into current events and that’s okay by me.
GREEN ARROW #44: Oliver and Kyra are out on a date, along with his pet wolf George when they encounter Wart Lady. She psychically bonds with George and we get the secret origin where wolves eliminated most of an entire tribe except an old Indian man named Old One killed all but the Alpha of the pack them with a magic axe made from the jaw of a demon. He took him home, healed him and he became the old man’s pet. Eventually, a cult kills Old One and the wolf, but not before a husky gives birth to a wolf pup whose bloodline belongs to the wolf. And that pup is George. Later, Oliver and George is attacked by the cult that want’s George’s bones, only to be saved by Tarantula.
I like what Ben Percy and Patrick Zircher are doing on this title, but did we need an entire issue to give us the origin of the wolf and the crazy cult that is going after them? I really want to have a Green Arrow book and that means having Green Arrow in it. Especially after seeing Green Arrow and Green Lantern on the Green Lantern 75th Anniversary variant. I would LOVE to see the Green team back again…HINT, HINT, HINT! Until then, this is the only game in town…even though they need to change the game a bit.
GREEN LANTERN #44: Trapper and Hal are on the Planet Gallun where they are taking the injured Virgo to a doctor. While he is getting patched up, Thangarian marauders arrive. It seems the port is kept open as bait and the Thangarians have dismantled communications on the planet to keep the inhabitants from sending out a distress signal. Unfortunately, the marauders don’t realize that there is someone with the power of the green in their midst and Hal and Trapper defeat the marauders. Hal gets injured, but also gets healed, as does Virgo and, with Gallum safe, all three head off into space again.
Robert Venditti and Billy Tan continue the story of the former head of the Green Lanterns as he travels through space with his new traveling companions. I like Venditti’s writing, but this issue just feels like a filler issue rather than a real one. Sure, Virgo is injured from last issue and needs to be healed. But we spend the whole issue building up a new found team-up between Hal and Trapper and it feels like Curtis and Portier in THE DEFIANT ONES. Tan’s artwork is his usual great stuff. Oh…seek out the variant cover to this one featuring classic Jordan and Alan Scott by the legendary Howard Chaykin.
GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #4: Our story begins with Hal Jordan telling Virgo and Trapper a story of when he fought off an entire squad of Green Lanterns. He has dealings with Lobo before meeting the Lanterns but eventually lets loose and takes all the lanterns on and defeats them. What we learn is that the way it happened is not the way it actually happened. The version he tells is the one he heard from a drunk alien. But that story and the retelling of it builds on the reputation that he is the toughest person in the universe. In the end, the Gray Agents arrive on Planet Spire and plan to kill off the legend now as Hal Jordan.
This was nice to see Robert Venditti and Pascal Alixe continue the story points from the current GREEN LANTERN series but this was basically a flashback story that filled a lot of pages. The moral here was rumors helped build Hal’s reputation. The other moral is not to fall for every five dollar annual that comes down the pipe.
GREEN LANTERN: LOST ARMY #4: It turns out that Arisia is not dead, just badly injured and John uses his ring to keep her alive while the rest of the Lanterns fight off the enemy. With the ship in jeopardy, Relic and Krona quickly retreat to save themselves. Following a lengthy flashback where we see that Stewart won’t leave a soldier behind, we see that the Lanterns have been captured and their jailers are sucking the life energy out of their prisoners. Guy leads a minor uprising while B'dg travels through the air vents and frees the rest. Now they stand ready to “teach these pirates” a lesson.
Corny! Why are we getting corny dialogue here? And the lengthy flashback sequence. I started to feel like I was watching a rerun of LOST, but in a BAD WAY. Cullen Bunn gives us a so-so story and Javier Pina’s art is not a fully fleshed out as I would like. All in all, this book is running out of gas and it’s no wonder that this is ending in two issues. Maybe that will allow our writer to concentrate on SINESTRO, where we’re also seeing characters who drain life energies out of people!
HARLEY QUINN #20: Following a strange dream sequence where Harley is a flight attendant with Mr. J. and Ivy flying the plane, she resumes her search for Sparrow and ends up in Los Angeles. Right off the bat, she kills the airplane Customer Service representative for being rude to her. She ends up at a Hollywood party and hooks up with a cowboy sidekick, as they find Sparrow and get her back to a nearby hotel. Unfortunately, that’s where the cowboy makes his last stand as he gets shot by the person originally hired to find Sparrow: Deadshot!
It’s another wacky issue from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, with art this time from John Timms. My biggest question about Amanda and Jimmy is just how many books will the public endure? I mean, we have HARLEY QUINN, HARLEY QUINN POWER GIRL, the forthcoming HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK, in addition to the quarterly “specials” that seem to pop up every time you turn around. I mean, just how much will the public endure before we grow tired of her. It’s not like she is Deadpool with a whole bunch of…Oh, never mind. You get it, don’t you? Harley has jumped the shark and we’re all still on the end of that fishing line. Please remove the hook from my mouth now!
HARLEY QUINN POWER GIRL #4: Vartox beats on Power Girl until Harley rides in on a Caticorn and saves her. He grabs Harley and threatens to kill her until the purring of the Caticorn calms him down, allowing Power Girl to come over and knock him out. When he wakes, he grabs her and gives her a big kiss, prompting her to throw him into a distant wall. He proceeds to tell her how he knew Power Girl, as she helped repopulate his planet using the Pregnoray. This is when the Ex-Girlfriend Force arrives just to fill six panels and then leave. Then there is a visit from the Sanctified Shotgun Sisters of the NRA: an offshoot of the group Nuns With Attitude. After Oreth burns off Vartox’ clothes, Power Girl sends him packing…just in time for the arrival of the Harvester of Sorrow.
Message to Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray: Blue Oyster Cult called and wants their song title back. Except for saying that Stephanie Roux’ artwork is the book’s highlight, refer to my comments above.
HARLEY QUINN ROAD TRIP SPECIAL #1: Dr. Harleen Quinzell finds out that her Uncle Lou has died and her mom wants her to go to Los Angeles and get his ashes. So, Harley, Selena Kyle and Ivy hit the road in Uncle Lou’s old school Airstream as they travel from the West Coast to the East. Along the way, Selena meets with a fellow thief known as Darkwolf and tries to retrieve a priceless necklace. This only leads to a wild road rage car chase involving all the parties and ending with Harley fashioning a cactus into boxing gloves and knocking him out. Without wheels, they end up being picked up by a Native American hauling firewater, which the girls consume, leading to a six page dream sequence. Coming out of their booze fueled trance, they make stops in Colorado, Kansas, and Illinois before picking up a hitchhiking pair known as Jimmy Olsen and Bizzaro. Back home, they bury Uncle Lou’s ashes and Poison Ivy grows a new tree over the grave and the girls head off to Coney Island to drink champagne.
Here we have another Harley Quinn special but this time around DC is asking you to shell out SIX BUCKS for it for 38 pages of comic story. I know I’m old, but I still remember having to shell of TWENTY-FIVE CENTS for 64 pages of story. What we have here is a story by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Bret Blevins, Moritat, Flaviano Armentaro, Pasquale Qualand and Jed Dougherty. It was a fun ride, but WAY OVERPRICED! SIX BUCKS! REALLY?! Be glad I bought this so you didn’t have to. You’re welcome!
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder wrap of this piece of the TRUTH storyline in pretty disappointing fashion. It seemed way too rushed, spending too much time concentrating on Lee’s story and not enough on Clark’s. Kuder provides the art for most of the book while Howard Porter gives us the epilogue piece. And just who is this mysterious individual? It all seems like a rush to get to the mysterious visitor at the end of the book. This is my least favorite issue of the Pak/Kuder run thus far.
ALL STAR SECTION EIGHT #4: Wonnder Woman shows up and chastises Section Eight but then Baytor whacks her in the head with a big hammer which scrambles her brain and suddenly causes her to want to join the team. Soon she has managed to make herself the Maid of Honor in a wedding between Bueno Excellente and Ms. Guts. During the post wedding reception, Baytor accidentally hits her again with the hammer, which scrambles her brains back again. She storms out, but not before calling SixPack Sidney, leading him to wonder who Sidney is. A mystery indeed!
Garth Ennis, John McCrea. A killer book that is completely off the normal grid! Just go buy it before the mini-series ends!
AQUAMAN #44: Aquaman teleports into Mera's sleeping chambers so he can explain what is going on with his fascination with the other people and try to make up. This leads to them kissing and REALLY making up. The next morning, he feels guilty and she turns into Mera’s sister Siren. She refuses to reveal where Mera is and he won’t get an answer anytime soon as Atlantean guards burst in and force him to teleport away. Unfortunately for him, he has teleported to an alien world.
Is Cullen Bunn DC’s answer to Gerry Duggan, since it seems like he is writing a butt ton of books for the company. And most of them aren’t that good. This book has gotten so sluggish since CONVERGENCE and I hate the current story arc. I don’t want Aquaman on a distant planet or helping save Thule. I want him duking it out with Black Manta and Arthur’s collection of Rogues like Fisherman…if he is still around. Alec Morgan’s art is okay…I guess. It’s kind of hard to tell when you have Art Thibert and Jesus Merino finishing it for him.
BATGIRL #44: The Velvet Tiger is battling Batgirl and causes her utility belt to misfire. That leads her back to home base where Qadir and Luke figure out that Gilcom CEO Lani Gilbert is really Velvet Tiger. She heads off to visit Jeremy, who has been helping her all along to save his career. Back at Velvet Tiger’s lair, Batgirl tries to save Jo, but it takes Alysia to do that and it takes a remote control Bat cycle to take out Velvet Tiger and get Batgirl to safety. Later, Barbara finds out that Luke offered Frankie a job but she turned it down because she was in the middle of a career change. The pair also exchange their first kiss and Barbara invites him to Alysia and Jo’s wedding. Finally, Frankie is messing around with a cybernetic link that allows her to control things.
As we all know by now, I am not a fan of this title in the least, but it is improving. Bengal is the artist this issue and I like the style much better than Babs Tarr. It’s just a much cleaner look. Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher continue to treat Batgirl/Barbara like a teenager and I still find that disturbing. We went from shot by Joker, crippled, helping the Bat Family as Oracle, no longer crippled, running Birds of Prey and now this? Talk about taking continuity and throwing it out the window. However, the writing here seems much more focused than past issues. Maybe there is hope after all.
BATMAN #44: Set in a time just after Zero Year, Batman finds the body of a fifteen year old boy and connects him to The Penguin. The boy is Peter Duggio, who once went to Bruce Wayne for help, as his father became ill during Zero Year, and the Four Fives took over the area of town where he lives. Peter went to the Penguin and offered to run his business through his family’s bodega. But The Penguin gave it back to the Four Fives. Peter then met with Mr. Bloom and was given a drink that gave him crazy super powers. He tried to stop the Four Fives from setting his family business on fire, but is too late. He does get shot by a policeman, but manages to flee, eventually transforming into a Man Bat. He dies because the serum wore off and he fell to the earth.
Can you say fill-in issue? DC charges us FIVE BUCKS for this beautifully drawn issue, which is only beautiful provided you like Jock’s art. But this overly long, wandering story by Scott Snyder and Brian Azzarello that bounces from the recent past to the semi recent present is just a mess. It’s the Bruce Wayne Batman, we get Mr. Bloom for two panels and the whole story leaves me feeling cheated. We all want Bruce back in the suit, but this is not called whetting our appetite. All this does is make me feel ripped off.
BATMAN ANNUAL #4: Bruce Wayne and Julie Madison go over to the Wayne Mansion to sign papers, as Powers International’s Geri Powers is being nice enough to give poor Bruce his home back. All of the patients have been taken out of the place, but it seems that Clayface made clay models of Riddler, Mr. Freeze and himself. So the models went away, but the real villains are here. Of course Bruce, with his amnesia, has no idea who these crooks are. Alfred manages to get Bruce to safety through the underground tunnels but it isn’t long before they catch him and begin the “What are you, Bruce Wayne” game. It seems The Riddler found the files where Bruce had admitted himself into Arkham and now wants Bruce to admit that he is crazy. But Bruce activates a security measure that Alfred had told him about and takes out the bad guys.
So we get a five-dollar BATMAN ANNUAL and have no appearances by either Batman? Thank you James Tynion IV and Roge Antonio for making me feel like I wasted five bucks! I remember when an Annual was a BIG DEAL. It was a special story or concluded a story arc, like this month’s NEW SUICIDE SQUAD ANNUAL. This was just an excuse to take Bruce’ move back into the mansion into a five-dollar romp.
BATMAN BEYOND #4: The invasion has begun and it’s Tim Drake’s fault as his suit took the Veil offline. Micron is not happy about these developments and splits, leaving Tim on his own. The Jokerz join in the battle as Brother Eye continues to send his monsters against Tim who gets help from Micron’s return. Meanwhile, Inque teams up with Barbara Gordon as she hates Brother Eye as he has her daughter Deanna under his control. With Tim surrounded by Brother Eye’s transformed creatures, Barbara shows up in the Batmobile and saves Back in the Bat Cave, Barbara presents him with Batman 1.0: Jim Gordon's Bat Suit.
We get another interesting issue here, although I am slowly getting tired of where this book is headed. Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang tell an interesting story, but that story is getting a bit tired. It is starting to look like Tim Drake has just been totally ruining things in the DC Universe. He couldn’t stop brother Eye and now he’s responsible for a full-blown invasion. The cool twist this issue was revealing that Jim Gordon's Bat Suit survived the last 35 years. Despite the plodding of this issue, I am looking forward to how Tim handles "The Suit.”
BATMAN SUPERMAN #24: Aquaman and Superman are brawling while Batman and Lucius try to stop the artificial sun from exploding. In the midst of all this, Ukar's troops are heading for the oil rig that holds that sun. Gordon launches the container holding the sun into the sky and the Dawn Command arrives and steals it away from everyone. Aquaman gets Ukar to realize he needs to stop trusting people while Batman tells Superman to stay out of Gotham City. In the epilogue, Clark meets with Bruce Wayne while Wrath meets with the mystery man from ACTION COMICS: Vandal Savage.
Greg Pak, along with Ardian Syaf, Yildiray Cinar and Howard Porter, gives us another piece of the puzzle that seems to show that good old Vandal Savage is back to cause mayhem. After all, we haven’t seen him since DEMON KNIGHTS got cancelled, with the exception of a version of him appearing in Morrison’s THE SOCIETY OF SUPERHEROES. I have to admit though, I was glad to get the main story ended, as it was starting to drag on. Once Aquaman got involved, I knew it would be a little bumpy. I DO LIKE seeing that Jim Gordon is not seeing eye to eye with Clark and the whole Bruce/Clark meeting was cool. But, if Batman and Superman can’t co-exist, does that mean we need to change the title of the book?
BAT-MITE #4: Bat-Mite is trying his best, but is completely trashing Weed and Reagan’s apartment, completely ruining Reagan’s family photo album in the process. Skeets and Booster Gold arrive and ask for Bat-Mite’s help in saving the future from Gridlock. In the process, Bat-Mite decides that Booster needs to be dark and gritty and has him create a new costume and a new persona in the form of Black Gold. Bat-Mite transports them to Gridlock's "Vault of Timelessness", where he keeps all his goodies from his childhood preserved forever. During the battle between our heroes and Gridlock, Gridlock’s precious treasures are ruined. Gridlock flees, Booster Gold rises from the ashes of Black Gold, and Reagan’s photo album gets restored thanks to time travel.
While I have been absolutely loving this series, this issue was nowhere near as good as the previous three. Dan Jurgens and Corin Howell do a good job, but it loses steam about halfway through the issue. It was almost like Jurgens just couldn’t figure out where he wanted his punchlines to go and the whole bit solution for the photo album was predictable from the moment Booster shower up. I’m hoping issue #5 will bring this book back to it’s winning style and lead to a nice conclusion for issue #6.
BIZZARO #4: Our happy-go-lucky trio is in Branson, Missouri where Chastity is still tracking down bad guys. But there’s a time for work and a time for fun, so Jimmy and Bizzaro take in a magic show starring Zatanna, who proceeds to send Bizzaro around the DC Universe, whether he likes it or not. Travelling through the Rock of Eternity, Gemworld, The House of Mystery, Hades, the Parliament of Trees, Skartaris, he eventually returns, only to have he and Jimmy swap personalities. That also means swapping body types as Jimmy now looks like and sounds like Bizzaro while Bizzaro is now intelligent and human. With both of them now seeing how the other half has to live, they are transformed back to their old selves. And just in time too as Agents Mahalo and Paillard from ARGUS arrive asking for their help. They need them to break into Area 51.
What a long strange trip to Canada this is. Heath Corson and Gustavo Duarte give us another wild issue, complete with trips to the corners of the DCU. Wait: didn’t Warlord DIE during CONVERGENCE? Wasn’t Amethyst scarred during FUTURE’S END? Oh…that’s right: stories are written out of continuity now. That’s cool: I can dig it! By the way: Darwyn Cooke are listed as a guest artist but all I can see is part of one panel, which is the portrait of Zatanna. It is IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE as Cooke’s work. But I don’t see it anywhere else, so calling him a “guest artist” is a bit misleading. Other than that, we have another great issue as we raced towards the final issue with #6.
BLACK CANARY #4: Bo Maeve and Ditto are on the road. Bo tells how she went from watching MTV to growing up and forming the band Alas Insane. After having creative difference, she walks away from her gig, only to be replaced to Dinah Drake, which explains her dislike of our hero. Bo lit the theater on fire and that forced Dinah to use her powers to put it out. Back in present day, Bo turns Ditto over to Amanda Waller, but a masked, blonde ninja puts a stop to that, allowing Ditto to escape. Ditto ends up at the motel Dinah is holed up at and there is a happy reunion. Meanwhile, Bo is injected with special mixture that gives her Dinah’s screaming ability.
Here’s my problem with comics these days: guest artists. Pia Guerra steps in for Annie Wu this month. So, it’s not just this book, it’s a LOT of books at many companies. Whatever happened to the days when the legends of our business were drawing a literal handful of books or more each month? That gripe aside, this issue is cool and love what Brenden Fletcher is ding with it. I like the origin story for Bo and the way that Amanda Waller comes rolling into the story, but who is the mysterious ninja? And where does this tale go from here? I’m guessing D.D. is putting the band back together. Should be an interesting rest of the road trip!
CATWOMAN #44: Picking up from last issue, Selina visits Croc who has been taking care of the injured Eiko. She gets her home and Selina and Croc have a long talk about her. Later, she is continuing to train Stephanie Brown and Eiko admits that she and Selina had a fight and they need to talk stuff over. Finishing their training, Stephanie runs into Selina and chews her out for dumping her, even as Catwoman is tells her she needs her help. Afterwards, Antonia and Ward have a dinner meeting with Selina where Antonia tells Selina she has been meeting with Penguin and Selina tells her that she wants Antonia to run the family, which will allow her to go back to being Catwoman on a regular basis. In the end, Black Mask assaults Hasigawa’s place and executes him.
Okay, so it looks like Genevieve Valentine is setting things up for Frank Tieri to run with as the next writer by bringing many plot threads to an abrupt end. With the death of Hasigawa, Eiko can now focus on revenge, Anthonia can focus on the family business, and Selina can go back to trying to find her long lost boyfriend. Maybe this will be more of a costume book again instead of the female version of THE GODFATHER. David Messina’s art gets better all the time and this is one of his best outings yet.
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #4: With most of the issue set in the past, we see a really drunk Constantine dealing with the great tentacled monster that we find out is really Veronica.
Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV throw a really convoluted and confusing issue our way. Set in both the past and the present, we see how John’s group descends into the world of bad magic. The fact that the great monster is really his ex-lover was a nice little twist and I’m sure that secret will be revealed next issue. The art by Vanesa Del Rey and Chris Visions was okay, but this book continues to try to find its’ palce in the DC Universe.
DEATHSTROKE #10: The battle against Lapetus continues as the god has decided that Themyscira isn’t the only goal, now he wants to take down Olympus too. After a fierce battle, Deathstroke slays the enemy but is told by Hephaestus that this was all set in place by Apollo. But the slaying of a Titan calls for a blood sacrifice, so Slade plucks out his right eye.
Tony S. Daniel and James Bonney, with art by Tyler Kirkham, brings this long-winded epic to an end. I say long-winded because it ran through a bunch of issues AND an annual and, in the end, Deathstroke slays the god and has to pluck out his eye to make amends. Honestly, that is a bit over the top but also a good way to get our hero(?) back to his cyclopean vision. This would have been so much better if Daniels had been drawing it too, but I guess I can settle for Kirkham. The overall issue is like most of the issues in the series: run of the mill.
DETECTIVE COMICS #44: Bullock is trying to reach Yip who is sitting with Falcone in his limo and getting paid for her work. When he drops her off, she calls Bullock, begging him to pick up his phone. Batman is battling the Joker Bot, which ends up trashing the car that Bullock, Montoya AND Yip are in. Harvey gets Montoya out and then sets fire to the car, presumably with Yip in it. Bullock and Montoya head to the circus where we find that the targets are actually police officers who are not in bed with the Falcones. With the help of his team, Batman takes out the Joker Bot, defeating the Joker's Daughter in the process and with plenty of time to spare to get to the circus and take down the assassins. Later, Yip meets with Bullock where he tells her that she is officially listed as dying in the line of duty, even though Gordon and Montoya are aware of it.
This issue marks the end of Brian Buccellato’s run on the title and it felt like more of a whimper than a bang. While the story was good, it was expected that Yip wouldn’t be killed off by Bullock, even after we saw the teaser to that car burning scene months ago. The Joker Bot made me chuckle in its’ complete silliness and the fact that Yip goes away means she could end up back in the mix somewhere down the road. Fernando Blanco’s art continues to set this book apart from the other titles in the “Bat Family” and that’s cool. Next month: a new creative team jumps in with both feet!
DOCTOR FATE #4: Khalid continues to try and learn his place in the world as a hero while the city continues to experience the flooding. Meanwhile, his father is desperate to reach him as he speaks with Bast.
This book just continues to roll on and I don’t know how. I LOVE the character of Doctor fate and have always found his back-story interesting. But this book, by Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew, is just a tangled mess. I don’t care for the character or characters and we’re four issues in and Khalid is STILL saving people and questioning why. C’mon: has he NEVER read a comic or seen a movie? You know: great power and all that. Seriously!
DOOMED #4: Wonder Girl is here and beat the snot out of Doomed. Flashback to a half hour earlier as he takes Oui Oui the dog back home with comical results. Then Reiser dreams of what will happen when he gets stuck in Doomed’s body for the rest of his life. Clarice arrives, whispers something to him and he changes back to Reiser. Coming back to the fight, Doomed saves Wonder Girl and she realizes that he’s not bad, just misunderstood and also gets him to change back. What a surprise for her when she finds out he wears no costume and is butt naked! Later, Superman arrives as Jayne figures out that Reiser could have been infected by the Doomsday spores.
Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez turn out another interesting issue as this title tries its’ hardest to be likable. Unfortunately, DC has already lowered the axe on it with issue #6, which means the creators have two more issues to wrap all of this up. I have to admit that the book has gotten better since the dreadful first issue, but is still not high on the sales chart, meaning a permanent end. Maybe they can roll Reiser into the Teen Titans in the future. In fact, I bet they do!
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #4: Batman and Flash arrive at Val-Zod’s City of Solitude and accuse him of the murder of Terry Sloan. This leads to a flashback where Val and Kara used Sloan's nano-bots to build Neotropolis. For a time, Val and Kara were like the kings and queens until there is a bomb explosion and Anarky takes responsibility for the explosion. Sloan activates a death ray and kills a number of the protesters, minus Anarky, who has escaped. Sloan sends in his Sandmen and Val knocks them out and transports to Sloan’s lair. Once there, he tells Kara that it was Val who figured out how to detonate the fire pits that killed Superman. This eventually leads to a confrontation between the two lovers leading to a big break up. Back in the here and now, Overwatch One is coming down…complete with a big Anarky symbol painted on it!.
What a colossal mess! This was one long flashback and…wait: didn’t Superman die in an EMPTY FIRE PIT where Desaad had his clone lab? So we’re already RETCONING stuff? Jorge Jimenez's art looks okay but Daniel H. Wilson apparently doesn’t remember what was written less than a year ago. Tis series continues to be a major disappointment.
FLASH #44: The Flash finds a way to get out of his watery predicament while Professor Zoom and his Speed Force Team of Rogues continue to make his life hell. That includes tormenting Barry’s father too. Meanwhile, Frye and Hartley have a tiff regarding that possibility that Frye may be outed by having his lover show up at work. The next morning, Barry meets up with Wally and gets him a gig working in the CCPD garage. The new Rogues show up downtown and they cause all sorts of havoc, including Wally’s new mentor Tim. With a force field around him, Barry’s speed just manages to increase the damage he causes which is not only bad for him, but also for Central City.
Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth continue to rewrite history and pave the way to the future with this title. The story really is filled with great action and Booth’s artwork is stellar. At times, it feels like it is pandering to fans of the television show by throwing in plot points that most fans question. Of course, most fans are still trying to get over the concept of Iris and Barry not being together and Wally being black. That’s okay: this IS a new DC and diversity is key, right?
GOTHAM ACADEMY #10: After everyone flees from the burning play rehearsal and then gets composed again, with a new student named Katherine in the mix, we learn from Eric that a ghost has been responsible for sabotaging the play. Olive believes it is the ghost of her mother, which results in some trust issues between Maps and Olive. Olive goes to the office of Hugo Strange and instructs her not to do any extra curricular activities. Meanwhile, the Detective Club goes ghost hunting and discovers that Katherine is really Clayface. Clayface created the persona to gain access and to get revenge on director Simon Trent. When he makes fun of Olive’s mom, she hits him with a hose full of water and he turns back into Katherine. In the end, Pomeline shows Olive a newspaper that suggests her mom may still be alive.
Wow! I so love this title and here’s why. It’s all about the characters. Sure, Karl Kerschl’s art is nice and all. But Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher have given us a great wealth of characters to work with and we have all seen them grow and change in the last ten issues. And I love the way the creators have managed to drop famous characters from Batman history into this title as educators. Last issue we had Kirk Langston and this time around we get Hugo Strange. Oh…and points to Simon Trent for invoking Uta Hagen. Btw: she was a Tony Award winning German actress.
GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #9: Corrigan and Lisa have been officially arrested and placed in individual interrogation rooms. Meanwhile, Agent Rook and his team execute a search of Precinct 13 looking for evidence that proves Corrigan is dirty. At the same time, Dr. Tarr has figured out what the deal is with the creepy black flowers and that they mark a place where something supernatural is going to happen. After continued pressure by Casimiro and Palmer, the Spectre comes out and blows them up, leaving bits of bodies parts all over the walls.
Just when this series is starting to take off, DC puts the hammer down and cancels it in three issues. That’s a drag as Ray Fawkes and Juan Ferreyra really brings their A game with this issue. Blood, horror and a pissed off Spectre that apparently is NOT the creature we thought he was and all of this comes from within Corrigan. Okay…that’s a game changer! Anyway, this is one of the strongest issues yet and hopefully, if you haven’t scored the issues, we might get a TPB from DC. It really is a complex series.
GRAYSON #12: Dick Grayson returns to Gotham and, in disguise as Mr. Sparrow, meets with Bruce Wayne. Their meeting is broken up by a Agent Zero who knocks Bruce out and threatens to tell the world that Batman is Bruce Wayne unless Dick heads back home to Spyral. Later, Dick meets with Jason and Tim and they are not happy Dick faked his death and didn’t let them in on it. Even more upset is Barbara, who had a physical relationship with Dick at one point. Less bothered by it all is Damian, who actually knows what it was like to be dead. When he leaves them, each of them begins working on the “Cluemaster’s Code”, which allows them to hack into the Hypnos. This allows Dick to see who Agent Zero really is: Luka Netz
This book just gets better and better! Tom King, Tim Seeley and Mikel Janin have taken the whole secret agent meets hero in tights genre and elevated it to an amazing place. Dick finally comes back home after being dead and obviously, this is pissing people off. And, best of all, we get the reveal of who Agent Zero really is. And if that wasn’t obvious before, it is now as Luka Netz is Kathy Kane’s real name. So, which Kane is this one? Kate Kane is Batwoman and her mom is supposed to be dead. Kathy Kane WAS a key character in the original BATMAN INCORPORATED run, so I guess this is her. Very cool!
GRAYSON ANNUAL #2: The issue begins with years ago while Batman and Robin are attending to apprehend Blockbuster when they get an assist from Superman. While Robin thinks Superman is cool, Batman is suspicious of him. back in present day, Robin is set to leave Gotham and head back to his assignment with Spyral when he encounters Superman, who thought that Dick was dead. The Fist of Cain, who Dick knows from Spyral killing their leader Christian Fleischer some time back, attacks them. And, of course, they are looking to take out Clark because the whole world knows he is Superman. After a lengthy fight between our heroes and the FOC folks, they break out their secret weapon: Blockbuster. Not sure how to defeat him, Superman calls Lex Luthor and asks for a favor and build a power inhibitor, which he does while sitting on his toilet. The inhibitor takes down the bad guys and, in the end, the two heroes bid farewell to each other, but not before Superman agrees it’s okay to bury the name Nightwing and be known only as "Grayson".
What I really like about this story by Tom Seeley and Alvaro Martinez is that it tied into current continuity, with Dick leaving Gotham after his recent visit there in GRAYSON #12. The artwork is nice and the story, while a bit sappy in points, displays the mutual respect these two heroes have for each other. And I didn’t feel totally ripped off for paying five bucks for an annual that really didn’t do much for the ongoing story in the regular title. While not a direct continuation from the book, it does tie into current events and that’s okay by me.
GREEN ARROW #44: Oliver and Kyra are out on a date, along with his pet wolf George when they encounter Wart Lady. She psychically bonds with George and we get the secret origin where wolves eliminated most of an entire tribe except an old Indian man named Old One killed all but the Alpha of the pack them with a magic axe made from the jaw of a demon. He took him home, healed him and he became the old man’s pet. Eventually, a cult kills Old One and the wolf, but not before a husky gives birth to a wolf pup whose bloodline belongs to the wolf. And that pup is George. Later, Oliver and George is attacked by the cult that want’s George’s bones, only to be saved by Tarantula.
I like what Ben Percy and Patrick Zircher are doing on this title, but did we need an entire issue to give us the origin of the wolf and the crazy cult that is going after them? I really want to have a Green Arrow book and that means having Green Arrow in it. Especially after seeing Green Arrow and Green Lantern on the Green Lantern 75th Anniversary variant. I would LOVE to see the Green team back again…HINT, HINT, HINT! Until then, this is the only game in town…even though they need to change the game a bit.
GREEN LANTERN #44: Trapper and Hal are on the Planet Gallun where they are taking the injured Virgo to a doctor. While he is getting patched up, Thangarian marauders arrive. It seems the port is kept open as bait and the Thangarians have dismantled communications on the planet to keep the inhabitants from sending out a distress signal. Unfortunately, the marauders don’t realize that there is someone with the power of the green in their midst and Hal and Trapper defeat the marauders. Hal gets injured, but also gets healed, as does Virgo and, with Gallum safe, all three head off into space again.
Robert Venditti and Billy Tan continue the story of the former head of the Green Lanterns as he travels through space with his new traveling companions. I like Venditti’s writing, but this issue just feels like a filler issue rather than a real one. Sure, Virgo is injured from last issue and needs to be healed. But we spend the whole issue building up a new found team-up between Hal and Trapper and it feels like Curtis and Portier in THE DEFIANT ONES. Tan’s artwork is his usual great stuff. Oh…seek out the variant cover to this one featuring classic Jordan and Alan Scott by the legendary Howard Chaykin.
GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #4: Our story begins with Hal Jordan telling Virgo and Trapper a story of when he fought off an entire squad of Green Lanterns. He has dealings with Lobo before meeting the Lanterns but eventually lets loose and takes all the lanterns on and defeats them. What we learn is that the way it happened is not the way it actually happened. The version he tells is the one he heard from a drunk alien. But that story and the retelling of it builds on the reputation that he is the toughest person in the universe. In the end, the Gray Agents arrive on Planet Spire and plan to kill off the legend now as Hal Jordan.
This was nice to see Robert Venditti and Pascal Alixe continue the story points from the current GREEN LANTERN series but this was basically a flashback story that filled a lot of pages. The moral here was rumors helped build Hal’s reputation. The other moral is not to fall for every five dollar annual that comes down the pipe.
GREEN LANTERN: LOST ARMY #4: It turns out that Arisia is not dead, just badly injured and John uses his ring to keep her alive while the rest of the Lanterns fight off the enemy. With the ship in jeopardy, Relic and Krona quickly retreat to save themselves. Following a lengthy flashback where we see that Stewart won’t leave a soldier behind, we see that the Lanterns have been captured and their jailers are sucking the life energy out of their prisoners. Guy leads a minor uprising while B'dg travels through the air vents and frees the rest. Now they stand ready to “teach these pirates” a lesson.
Corny! Why are we getting corny dialogue here? And the lengthy flashback sequence. I started to feel like I was watching a rerun of LOST, but in a BAD WAY. Cullen Bunn gives us a so-so story and Javier Pina’s art is not a fully fleshed out as I would like. All in all, this book is running out of gas and it’s no wonder that this is ending in two issues. Maybe that will allow our writer to concentrate on SINESTRO, where we’re also seeing characters who drain life energies out of people!
HARLEY QUINN #20: Following a strange dream sequence where Harley is a flight attendant with Mr. J. and Ivy flying the plane, she resumes her search for Sparrow and ends up in Los Angeles. Right off the bat, she kills the airplane Customer Service representative for being rude to her. She ends up at a Hollywood party and hooks up with a cowboy sidekick, as they find Sparrow and get her back to a nearby hotel. Unfortunately, that’s where the cowboy makes his last stand as he gets shot by the person originally hired to find Sparrow: Deadshot!
It’s another wacky issue from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, with art this time from John Timms. My biggest question about Amanda and Jimmy is just how many books will the public endure? I mean, we have HARLEY QUINN, HARLEY QUINN POWER GIRL, the forthcoming HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK, in addition to the quarterly “specials” that seem to pop up every time you turn around. I mean, just how much will the public endure before we grow tired of her. It’s not like she is Deadpool with a whole bunch of…Oh, never mind. You get it, don’t you? Harley has jumped the shark and we’re all still on the end of that fishing line. Please remove the hook from my mouth now!
HARLEY QUINN POWER GIRL #4: Vartox beats on Power Girl until Harley rides in on a Caticorn and saves her. He grabs Harley and threatens to kill her until the purring of the Caticorn calms him down, allowing Power Girl to come over and knock him out. When he wakes, he grabs her and gives her a big kiss, prompting her to throw him into a distant wall. He proceeds to tell her how he knew Power Girl, as she helped repopulate his planet using the Pregnoray. This is when the Ex-Girlfriend Force arrives just to fill six panels and then leave. Then there is a visit from the Sanctified Shotgun Sisters of the NRA: an offshoot of the group Nuns With Attitude. After Oreth burns off Vartox’ clothes, Power Girl sends him packing…just in time for the arrival of the Harvester of Sorrow.
Message to Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray: Blue Oyster Cult called and wants their song title back. Except for saying that Stephanie Roux’ artwork is the book’s highlight, refer to my comments above.
HARLEY QUINN ROAD TRIP SPECIAL #1: Dr. Harleen Quinzell finds out that her Uncle Lou has died and her mom wants her to go to Los Angeles and get his ashes. So, Harley, Selena Kyle and Ivy hit the road in Uncle Lou’s old school Airstream as they travel from the West Coast to the East. Along the way, Selena meets with a fellow thief known as Darkwolf and tries to retrieve a priceless necklace. This only leads to a wild road rage car chase involving all the parties and ending with Harley fashioning a cactus into boxing gloves and knocking him out. Without wheels, they end up being picked up by a Native American hauling firewater, which the girls consume, leading to a six page dream sequence. Coming out of their booze fueled trance, they make stops in Colorado, Kansas, and Illinois before picking up a hitchhiking pair known as Jimmy Olsen and Bizzaro. Back home, they bury Uncle Lou’s ashes and Poison Ivy grows a new tree over the grave and the girls head off to Coney Island to drink champagne.
Here we have another Harley Quinn special but this time around DC is asking you to shell out SIX BUCKS for it for 38 pages of comic story. I know I’m old, but I still remember having to shell of TWENTY-FIVE CENTS for 64 pages of story. What we have here is a story by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti with art by Bret Blevins, Moritat, Flaviano Armentaro, Pasquale Qualand and Jed Dougherty. It was a fun ride, but WAY OVERPRICED! SIX BUCKS! REALLY?! Be glad I bought this so you didn’t have to. You’re welcome!
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