ACTION COMICS #49: A young boy is being bullied but Vandal Savage's Black Mass changes him to his favorite character Salvaxe the barbarian king. Meanwhile, Superman busts out of his self-imposed Kryptonite prison, battles the Puzzlerbot and destroys it with one punch. Etta Candy warns Superman that the Kryptonite is still killing him, as he flies off to rendezvous with Wonder Woman. As they approach Savage's ship, Salvaxe attacks and he and Superman brawl. Wonder Woman tells Superman that Savage's ship blasted Jupiter and it looks like it’s going to pull it’s moons into itself. In the end, everything was a diversion for the REAL mission: stealing the Fortress of Solitude.
Want to know what happens next? Head over to SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #26. The “Savage Dawn” storyline rumbles on and…yay: Superman is getting repowered again. He has a new power set and I know we’ll see that develop as the months go on. What you need to know is that Greg Pak, Aaron Kuder and Ardian Syaf are responsible and this will probably all come to a head before the “rebirth” in June, when this title will be renumbered to #957 and ships twice a month! Double the pleasure…and possibly Dan Jurgens at the helm. STAY TUNED!
AQUAMAN #49: Mera and Arthur are hanging out at the lighthouse when Erika shows up and asks them to go to the Amnesty Sea Festival and bring friends. That means Tula, Garth and Murk are going with them with humorous results. Arthur tells Mera that he wants her to head the Atlantean embassy on land while he wants Tula to do the same in Atlantis. That means Mera treats herself to a new costume. Meanwhile, a mysterious creature or creatures seem to be making their way towards attacking the surface by attacking from a number of everyday water sources.
Wow! While the action wasn’t prevalent, Dan Abnett makes quite the impression in his first issue of this title. Abnett knows how to write a story and he demonstrates it here as he does a beautiful job of characterization here. Husband and wife are back together again and they are as sexy as they were in the first issues of this title. Vincente Cifuentes art is top notch and just the final image of Mera on the last page of the issue is enough to illustrate his ability. Come June, this title reboots to #1 and will ship twice monthly. It remains to be seem what the creative team will be, but I hop it could be this duo.
BATGIRL #48: A rooftop picnic between Batgirl and Batwing gets interrupted when the video game villains team known as Co-Op attempts a robbery. Batgirl has met these two before in the 8 page preview from last May but she has no memory of it. Back at her apartment, she finds Black Canary roughing up Greg, who she found rifling through Babs’ personal affairs. The pair do some digging and that leads them to the basement of the Hall of Records, where they battle the Fugue: the mystery figure from Barbara’s dreams. Quickly defeated, he is revealed as Greg, who quickly escapes in a jet tube. Unfortunately, it looks like Batgirl may be dead.
Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher give us another story of what I like to refer to as the teen Batgirl. Maybe it’s me: how do we go from a paralyzed Oracle to a crime-fighting member of the Birds of Prey to a seemingly juvenile Barbara Gordon. And I still do not like it. The industry actually refers to this transformation as the “Batgirling” of a character. While Stewart and Fletcher are good writers, it still doesn’t mean it makes for a pleasing character. Babs Tarr handles the art with some breakdowns by Rob Haynes. I cannot recommend the book only because I can’t picture THIS Batgirl being played by either Yvonne Craig OR Alicia Silverstone! And, by the looks of the new DC REBIRTH, July will see TWO Batgirl titles: BATGIRL #1 and BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY #1.
BATMAN #49: Despite his protestations, Alfred shows Bruce to the Batcave and explains how he destroyed the machine that Batman had created which would clone him and put all of Batman’s knowledge inside the clone's head. But he only destroyed the hard drive containing Batman’s mind, so the machine still works. Once strapped in, we learn that the machine is trying to force false memories of Batman onto Bruce's new mind. Alfred tries to convince Bruce not to erase his mind because that would be the equivalent of having Joe Chill kill Bruce’ parents again. Julie Madison shows up and, as she admits that she has always known Bruce was Batman, she presses the button that leads to Bruce experiencing brain death. They restart the machine and shove the Caped Crusader’s consciousness into Bruce's wiped mind. In the last panel, a dark, brooding Bruce says that it’s time to go to work.
First off, images or alternate timelines that never occurred bombards us. Once we wade through that, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Yanick Paquette take us on a tale we all knew what be coming once the DC Universe reacted to the NEW Batman. While we know that Snyder and Capullo, who are leaving with issue #51, are wrapping up their run, what we don’t know is what this NEW NEW Batman will display for his personality. What we do know is that this title gets a new number one issue in June, the book will ship twice monthly, and MAY have Tom King at the helm. And with Julie Madison knowing his identity, does this make her a new addition to the Batman family? I can’t wait for the next issue.
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #18-21: In issue #18, we find the Robins at St. Hadrian's where they are teaming up with Spyral to figure out what Mother’s end game is. In the flashback, Mother reveals to Batman that Cassandra is the person responsible for killing Harper’s mother. Then she bites a cyanide capsule, forcing Batman to save her even as the Arab boy rushes in with the police and attempt to apprehend the Dark Knight. In the present day, Harper is horrified by Orphan’s revelation to her and how Batman knew, but never made her his Robin. In the end, it seems that Mother is using an audio signal to trigger the Ichthy’s Virus, so they lock themselves down in the bowels of St. Hadrian's. They also realize that Harper is missing.
In issue #19, a bus filled with children triggered by crashes into a coffee shop in Suffolk and kills one of St. Hadrian's teachers. At St. Hadrian's, Paris Pantoja saves Miss Gold as the students attack. In the basement, Harper has freed Orphan and Poppy and Jason Todd has been taken down with the taser Harper carries. In Spyral Control Center, Tim figures out that Mother is after Spyral's Hypnos and the Somnus Satellite. Just then, he and Cassandra are taken over by the Virus, forcing Dr. Netz to hit Tim and Cassandra with Scarecrow's Fear Gas, which neutralizes the virus. They head down to find Jason and Harper and Cassandra puts the fear gas mask on Harper. It breaks her from Mother’s influence, but also allows her to see Cassandra as a monster, and attacks her.
In issue #20, St. Hadrian's is under attack by it's students that are being controlled by Mother's signal. Miss Gold and Paris Pantoja barricade themselves in the Gym while , Tim, Dr. Netz and Helena try to shut the signal down and Dick and Jason try to stop Harper from killing Cassandra. Dick and Helena end up battling Poppy and Orphan, who use their abilities to gain access to the Somnus Satellite. Tim succeeds in shutting down the signal just as the students are bursting into the gym. Somnus was created in case Dick ever wanted to have the world forget who he was. Unfortunately, Mother has access to that satellite. Luckily, Damian Wayne and Goliath are here.
Issue #21 is a complete flashback issue that begins with Harper Row holding her dead mother in her arms. Following this, Bruce goes to Eastern Europe to meet with Miss Marchenko regarding Mother’s history. She grew up in the principality of Gardevia where, one day, the Red Army came in and massacred the town. Mother was gravely injured but survived. That night, after digging herself out from under the bodies of the townspeople, she slit the throats of all the soldiers. She left Gardevia and hid out at Miss Marchenko’s home, killing her parents and declaring herself Miss Marchenko’s mother now. When Bruce leaves, the presumed dead Mother kills Marchenko. Back in Gotham, Batman tells Harper’s father that he will straighten up and take care of his family. And then the Dark Knight goes back to the Batcave and erases all traces of his computer records about Mother.
And the end is now near. So, Batman has a pretty good sized skeleton in his closet. James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Tim Seeley, Ed Brisson and Scot Eaton are responsible for the stories in these for issues while Paul Pelletier, Roge Antonio, Geraldo Borges, and Tony S. Daniel handle the artwork. Five issues to go…
BATMAN BEYOND #9: While the refugees desperately try to talk their way into New Gotham, Batman heads off to Metropolis to find Matt McGinnis. He disguises himself and goes to a shantytown to get some information that sends him off to what is left of the Justice League Watchtower. Matt is already there, but the animal men capture him before he can get closer to the remains. Batman arrives and fights them, but loses and is turned over to their Dr. Cuvier. During the fight, John Stewart's ring flies out of Matt’s pocket and he gives chased, leading him right into the Watchtower where he finds the preserved bodies of the Justice League.
Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang continue to make this a better book that I truly expected it to be. If you were a fan of the television series, then you will start to recognize these characters who are dropping in. First off, we have Superman, Aquagirl, Big Barda, Green Lantern and Warhawk, although I thought we saw a robotic version of Barda destroyed. With the appearance of Dr. Abel Cuvier, we now know that the animal men are Splicers and the result of his experiments. Sorry-I was REALLY HOPING that we would get Kamandi out of all of this. What all this means is that Jurgens and Chang need to wrap this up in the next few issues as this title will get a new first issue when BATMAN BEYOND goes through REBIRTH in the Fall.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #29: The father of the dead alien arrives on the moon and Superman goes off to investigate a spaceship that is filled with angry aliens. It seems they are using a Kryptonian to power their ship. But leave it to Batman, who suspected it was a trap and the alien girl’s father is responsible for it. Lobo shows up and confirms that the alien father hired him to kill of Batman. The Dark knight has rigged the spaceship with explosives and sets them off, scarring Lobo and angering the alien. He tries to warn Superman, but it’s too late, as he is attacked by the freed Kryptonian.
Considering that Kal-El was supposed to be the sole survivor of the planet Krypton (well…except for all those Kandorians), we have had an awful lot of Kryptonians showing up lately. Tom Taylor writes a great second part to this tale, Robson Rocha, the talent that was behind LOBO, illustrates it, and the whole thing rocks! There is some great, humorous dialogue between Batman and Superman and it makes me miss this team, since we have been dealing with a brief Jim Gordon/Superman team. It’s up to Taylor to now find a way to finish this off before the Fall as this title and SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN will go away and be merged into a new title called TRINITY.
BLACK CANARY #8: The police interrogate the band about the supposed deaths of Ditto and Kurt, but fail miserably, leading to the band being released. Outside the station house, they get handed an envelope containing a flyer for a show in Berlin and a note from Kurt explaining that Dinah is in trouble. On the plane, they discover that Ditto and Maeve are going to Berlin too. Meanwhile, Dinah and Vixen are being held in an abandoned Nazi amphitheater in Germany where Dinah is forced to battle a group of armed warriors while a mysterious blonde woman Vixen calls Grey Eyes watches. Dinah is powerless thanks to a collar bolted around her neck and Vixen is also powerless because Grey Eyes has her totem. The white ninja arrives and explains that she is Dinah’s Aunt Rena and this is all part of a plan to infiltrate Grey Eyes’ organization and find out who is killing people connection to Dinah’s mother’s martial arts institution. Vixen purposely starts a fight with Dinah which leads to the guards arriving and forces Dinah to take them down, ruining her aunt’s plans. She removes the collar and takes down Grey Eyes, which allows Vixen to get her totem back. The pair head back to America while Black Canary and Maeve arrive in Germany.
Brenden Fletcher bombards us with all sorts of important information in this issue, although I still don’t get this whole book. I mean, I don’t get the whole Kurt Lance time traveling thing. The revelation that the white ninja is Dinah’s aunt can only make me believe that we will see mom in the near future. Guest artist Sandy Jarrell does an okay job, but certainly is no Annie Wu. The DC REBIRTH in June seems to leave this title out in the cold and the fact that the cover DC has revealed for the May issue seems to echo that a change is on the way. Since BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY is on tap, I assume the band is breaking up and Dinah and Babs team-up again.
CATWOMAN #49: Croc has Catwoman in his clutches and plans on cashing in on the million buck Penguin is offering for her. Luckily, Batgirl arrives and unknowingly to makes the save while showing up to arrest Selina for murder. As the pair fight, Croc makes his way back into the game and takes Batgirl down. Just when it looks like he is going to collect his bounty, Gotham PD helicopters arrive and Croc creates a diversion to allow her to escape. No sooner does she reach ground level, she runs into the Riddler, but she knocks him out and gets away. It turns out that the Frost Diamond is really a fake that contains a USB drive with all of Penguin’s blackmail files on it. Selina goes to meet with the one person she believes she can trust-Bruce Wayne. But Bruce isn’t the person he used to be and he has notified the police and that means she’s busted…again!
I like this run by Frank Tieri so much, except for what I see as a really bad couple of plot points in this issue. Why is Batgirl is Gotham City? Did she get tired of being in Burnside or did DC Editorial forget to tell Tieri about this development. And how come Bruce, with his memory gone, doesn’t have the beard he has been sporting since his battle with the Joker? Other than that this issue, with guest art by Inaki Miranda, was nicely done. Oh wait: this will come to a conclusion soon as this title is off DC’s title list come REBIRTH.
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #9: Constantine and Papa Midnite are being tortured by Neron in the city of Dis in the Ninth circle of Hell. He pulls out Constantine’s heart and lets his chest heal, so he can do it again later on. Neron tells how he plans to get every human to sell their souls so they can learn the secrets of magic. Constantine’s demon lover Blythe shows up and offers to get him and Midnite out, as long as he takes her with him, which he agrees to do. He also finds out that Midnite didn’t poison Oliver and only pretended to do so to gain John’s help. Using his blood, Blythe opens a doorway and he splits, leaving Midnite and Blythe behind. Constantine finds himself being attacked by evil elves and a centaur.
Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV have ramped out the action in the last two issues and it has made the book a million times better! Our hero and Papa Midnite find themselves in Hell and the dialogue couldn’t be wittier! Riley Rossmo adds to the delight with some spacey art and that just makes the whole thing that much more fun. This title goes away come July and gets replaced by THE HELLBLAZER. DC is still barely releasing info about the new series, so what we will get when it arrives is anyone’s guess right now.
CYBORG #8: Almost two months ago, Cyborg and his father discuss the upcoming Cybernetics Regulation Act and what it will mean from Victor. Then he shows his dad the ghost of his mother that had been hanging around as of late. Meanwhile, the government drafts Zirrozinski to work for them. Cyborg and Shazam fight and defeat a villain known as The Zookeeper. That’s when Zirrozinski and the governemnt show up and try to arrest Cyborg
Someone PLEASE tell me that, come the Fall when this title goes twice monthly, that it is going to get better! PLEASE! David Walker wrote it and some of his dialogue is just so corny! Things are so bad, and I don’t know if we blame Walker, artists Felipe Watanabe, Daneil Hdr and Julio Ferreira, or DC Editorial, but there is a conversation between Victor and his father with a word balloon attributed to dad that I think should be Victor’s. Why is dad asking his son to “pass the syrup” when he has it in his hands? And that’s just the surface of this. Badly executed time jumps, a slimly veiled plot and worst of all, the bad dialogue, and this book needs to be rebooted badly!
DEATHSTROKE #15: Slade finds himself in an issue long battle against Lex Luthor’s Bizarro clones that ends when he creates an energy loop that shuts them down. His search for Rose leads him to a box with what he fears may be a part of her but turns out to be her comb with some hair on it. It seems a character known as the lawman has her and he is making her watch all the developments happening that is involving Slade. Continuing his search he runs into Victor, who saves him from a sniper. Not satisfied, Slade attacks Victor only to be interrupted by Red Hood, who challenges Deathstroke to a fight.
Enough with the lame crossovers and long, boring fight sequences that lead nowhere. James Bonny is just going through the motions as far as I’m concerned and it’s a good thing that he has Tyler Kirkham handling the art, because that’s what saves this book. He brings us two spectacular two-page spreads and a pair of equally amazing splash pages. Beyond that, this book doesn’t have much to offer. Here’s hoping that come the Fall, when this book ships twice monthly, that the quality will be better.
DETECTIVE COMICS #49: Batman is investigating the latest mysterious historical murder, as we have a corpse in Alan Shepard’s spacesuit. That causes Batman to end up at the Old World’s fair Exposition Grounds where he brings his detective talents into use. Meanwhile, someone in a Joan of Arc face mask kidnaps a young woman and tries to burn her at the stake. Batman makes the save, but the bad guy gets away in the process. This allows him to stage a new act, featuring a bunch of Union soldiers being paraded down Aparo Avenue.
Right off the bat, let me say that the tag team of Fernando Pasarin and Matt Ryan makes this book just look amazing! There are a couple of spots where the gymnastics that Jim Gordon is performing looks a bit impossible, but that’s minor. Many an artist has made careers with overblown proportions in their style. Peter J. Tomasi is writing a really wild tale that keeps posing more questions than answers. I love the back and forth between Bullock and Gordon, especially Bullock showing how much he is a NASA geek. And when we next see DETECTIVE COMICS in June, it will be bi-weekly, begin it’s numbering where the pre New 52 continuity left off with issue #934, and might POSSIBLY be written by Scott Snyder. One thing for certain is that is ships twice monthly.
DOCTOR FATE #9: There are protesters at the United Nations and they are being severely beaten by possessed New York City Police officers. Khalid gathers them up in a fence and drops them into the river, waking them from their trance. Then he splits the street in half, to separate the protesters from the police. He decides to look for Akila and finds that she was arrested by the police, which leads him to the police station where he gives them a mild electric shock and breaks her out. He heads to the Egyptian consulate looking for the others who were arrested and finds them in holding cells in the basement. Unfortunately, the ghosts of Egypt are there too and bearing arms.
Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew do their best to try and make this series fun and interesting, but I just can’t get a warm, fuzzy feeling for this book. I don’t like Khalid’s character or any of the supporting cast. And I know that many people out there would throw the Race card at me, but that has nothing to do with it. I just find them all so flat and one-dimensional. Here we are, nine issues in, and he’s still whining about trying to be a hero. He is certainly NO KENT NELSON. And DC must agree too, as this book is gone from the lineup when REBIRTH happens.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #9: Ark Home Colony and Erebus City on the verge of war and the Wonders are doing their best to let cooler heads prevail. Commander Sato and Sandman become aware of a situation in Clearwater Valley, they send Power Girl to handle it, and she gets an assist from Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Batman, Red Arrow, and Wildcat are teaming up to take down the Energy Company that has been stealing and murdering. Flash, Val-Zod and Captain Steel have discovered that this planet is a lie-there are no natural resources here and this planet is not capable of sustaining human life. In the end, Kendra finds out that Amazons have replaced everyone who was on Fury’s ship.
Dan Abnett and Jorge Jimenez are doing their best to make this series interesting but, unfortunately, this book goes nowhere. And I love Abnett’s history of work, but this is not a great one. When the NEW 52 Earth 2 characters were introduced, I relished them as they were just different enough to work. While the mainstream media were whining about Green Lantern being gay, I welcomed the change and where it could go in the character’s motivations. But that was a long time ago and all these characters do is taken up space on a page. This title will go away in the Fall and replaced by a new EARTH 2 title. I can only hope that the classic Earth 2 comes home!
FLASH #48: Captain Frye explains that Barry's new assignment is as the forensics specialist on a task force made up of The Rogues. The goal is to catch The Flash and this leaves Barry a bit concerned, of course. Frye has drone’s send out throughout the city to track The Flash’s speed energy. Meanwhile, Barry heads off to have a coffee with his father but a planned accident in the Industrial District causes Barry to put on his costume and head there, not knowing that it’s a trap. He rescues two stranded workers, but Frye and the Rogues arrive and begin fighting The Flash. He wins and gets away while we see that Wally is at home and experiencing strange, speed related vibrations. Meanwhile, the mysterious character who started the fire in the Industrial District is toying around with a new experiment: Heat Wave.
Robert Venditti and Van Jensen weave another great FLASH story and enjoy it while you can as Jensen will be leaving the book after issue #51. Jesus Merino makes his debut on art, handling both pencils and inks and while it’s not Brett Booth, I love his work. Starting in June, this title will go back to #1 and ship twice monthly. Rumors have been flying that we may see Wally West, a WHITE Wally West, back in the fold. All of this remains to be seen. I just hope Flash maintains some classic traditions and doesn’t become an adaptation influenced by the television show.
FLASH #49: Trickster is meeting with the mysterious stranger, which causes him to be late for a meeting with the rest of the Rogues and increases the tension between them. Meanwhile, Wally experiences a burst of Speed Force energy and that triggers the drones, leading the Rogues to his school. This leads The Flash to the school to battle them but, when Trickster appears to attack one of the students, it turns out to be a swerve that traps our hero. Frye and The Rogues have arrested the Flash.
We get a double dose of the Scarlet Speedster this month as issue #48 was late last month. Again, Robert Venditti and Van Jensen provide the story while Philippe Briones is doing the art. The shudder moment for me was the variant cover by Neal Adams and Frank Miller. If you had any doubts about Miller’s waning art ability, just check out the cover.
GOTHAM ACADEMY #15: “Yearbook” continues with a series of stories. The first story features Maps and Colton as they spy on the staff party, featuring such characters as Egghead and Bookworm. In the second story, Olive and Maps meet a magic crow while playing Serpents and Secrets and end up in a real life game where they face off against a Lich. Our heroes retrieve a special book and it gets returned to the rightful owner, who wants to know why someone wanted his wife’s special locket that was hidden inside. The final story follows Professor McPherson's dog who has a hiding spot for many of Gotham Academy’s treasures.
Brenden Fletcher, Adam Archer, Zac Gorman, Eduardo Medeiros, Rafael Albuquerque, and Helen Chen pool their talents to give us four more previously untold tales of Gotham Academy. I have to admit that these “Yearbook” issues feel like fillers to me. I want a story not a bunch of cute vignettes. Although I have to admit to being totally captivated by Gorman’s first story, featuring Egghead and Bookworm. I bet Vincent Price and Roddy McDowell would be thrilled with the way they were presented. My guess is that this is all we will get until the title ends and it gets replaced by GOTHAM ACADEMY NEXT SEMESTER in the Fall.
GRAYSON #17: We begin with Grifter chatting with Tao and trying to get him to piece the puzzle of Helena Bertinelli together. Their ultimate goal: kill Helena. Meanwhile, Agent 1 and 37 are in Honduras to meet with Maxwell Lord and Checkmate and have to deal with Frankenstein and a bunch of crazed monkeys. Our heroes go to Mexico City where they get into it with Grifter and Keshi and figure out that Spyral is the real target.
Well, this was a bit of a bummer. Tim Seeley and Tom King seemingly fell down on the job on this one as the usually rocking story fell flat. Maybe it has to do with this being their swan song as the last three issues of the title will be be Jackson Lanzig and Collin Kelly. While it was nice to see Grifter back in the game, he was totally underutilized and the appearance of tao was wasted here. And to have Carmine DiGiandomenico fill in for Mikel Janin was another mistake, as his line work is not up to Janin’s incredible work. The last three issues of this title will be by Roge Antonio. GRAYSON is nearing the end of his time in Spyral as this title, which will be published twice monthly starting in July, will be replaced by NIGHTWING.
GREEN ARROW #49: Back in Seattle, Ollie is trying to deal with the racists making speeches about the Wargs. He goes off to a Queen Industries business meeting that all goes to hell and leads to a fight between a beastly Oliver and a Korean gangster named The Kraken. The Kraken gets away and Oliver’s potential business partner gets killed in the process. Luckily Emiko shows up and hits him with a tranquilizer arrow, allowing her to capture him and inject him with something to take the Warg out of him. Meanwhile, the Patriots work on their plan to break Marrock out of the Super Max he is in. In the end, Oliver realizes a war is coming and neither side is worth fighting for.
I am still having a tough time warming up to Ben Percy’s work on the Emerald Archer, but it is getting better. It’s just that I want the Oliver Queen who fought against authority, was a Mayor with an iron fist and got it on with Black Canary. On the plus side, Ollie is not a werewolf anymore and Szymon Kudranski’s art delivers! This team has three months to finish this up because this title goes back to #1 in June and rolls out twice monthly.
GREEN LANTERN #49: Hal flips out while watching the television report on his attack on the Modoran training camp. Unfortunately, that leads to a fight with his brother Jim over it, which leads to Hal heading off the United Nations to stop a potential attack. Hal busts in, puts a green muzzle on everyone and collects their translators before they explode. Saving everyone there, Hal receives their applause and adulation. In the end, Howard comes out of his coma and the Modorans blow up their hideout, preparing to fight another day. Oh wait: the OTHER Hal is ready to meet our Hal and keep him from destroying Coast City.
Robert Venditti continues this tale of Hal on the road to possible ruin while the parallax Hal prepares to duke it out with him. Personally, I cannot wait! Martin Coccolo provides the pencils with the exception of the final page, which is by Billy Tan. This title will ship twice monthly in June as it will become GREEN LANTERNS. Personally, that tells me the title will feature Hal and Hal. Well…that could be fun!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #2: The Lanterns discover Mukmuk and that the creature known as Marniel, who lives within Perduron, is to blame. Then Marniel sends out her followers and they destroyed the planet’s engines. The team saves the planet but Marniel fires off missiles causing Arisia and B'dg to be sucked into a void. And that leads to an upset Guy punching Kolowog in the mouth in frustration.
Tom Taylor gives us a disappointing second chapter that seems to throw a lot of stuff at us with no real payoff, as far as I see. Either way, Ethan Van Sciver still turns in a kick-ass performance on the artistic side. But the downside is that he is off this book after the next issue to go work on REBIRTH. This book is only a six-issue series and it drops off the schedule in July, when it is replaced by the twice monthly title HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS.
HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #2: Two guys meet a dying alien who hands them a box that has Green, Black, and Red Lantern power rings inside. The rings go up on WeBay and Geoff Johns outbids Harley for the Green ring. The Black and Red rings get joined together because of their clumsiness and that’s where they fun begins as Harley buys it. When the ring arrives, she gets super evil and Hal Jordan gets involved to try and stop her, which leads to a Power Ring arm wrestling match over the Brooklyn Bridge. An Azakarian warship arrives to reclaim their ring that Harley proceeds to lose in the battle against them. So she steals Hal’s ring and beats up the bad guys a giant mallet. With victory assured, Hal kisses Harley and she squeezes his butt. Meanwhile, the London Legion of Heroes have arrived in Coney Island to hang out with Harley.
This title is off the schedule come the REBIRTH and it’s a good thing. While Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner are quite good at writing smarmy innuendoes and stuff into Harley’s books, it just doesn’t work for a 38 page comic. John Timms and Mauricet share the art duties and it’s just okay. Again, my biggest complaint is that the book is too long and doesn’t have enough to make me laugh. Sure, there is a couple of great jokes but spread throughout a book of this length, it just doesn’t work.
HARLEY QUINN #25: Poison Ivy comes to visit her friend Harley, who is looking to get into Arkham and bust out Mason. After some quality time together, she makes her way into Arkham and unleashes a gas that “Ferrignofies” the guards and most of the inmates. She gets Mason out of his cell, but finds herself being tempted and taunted by The Joker, who is in the cell next door. Harley goes in and that leads to a knock down, drag out fight between the two, complete with Harley biting off the Clown Prince’ lower lip. Once outside, the pair chats until Ivy shows up in the Batboat. Of course, that means Batman is here too, along with Queenie, Eggy, Tony and Madame Macabre. Batman puts Mason into witness protection and his mom is going with him, so she leaves Harley in charge of her business. In the end, Harley has big dreams and big ideas.
Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner brings this story to a close with promises of even more craziness in the months to come. Chad Hardin brings his usual A Game to the artwork and the fact that he has a way with the female figure helps! Come the Fall, this title will ship twice monthly. With the other Harley title off the schedule and the hope that the multiple mini-series and one shots will end, maybe the husband and wife team can truly concentrate on making their ONE BOOK a real winner.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
More new #1's from a host of places
Some miscellaneous new titles:
AMERICAN MONSTER #1: First off, it should be noted that Aftershock Comics is a new kid on the block that has been making some serious waves with talent such as Garth Ennis, Marguerite Bennett, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Paul Jenkins. Add to that list Brian Azzarello who, along with artist Juan Doe brings us AMERICAN MONSTER. It’s a gritty tale filled with a kidnapping, two murders, some crazy teens and a scarred military veteran. It is a dark tale with twists and turns and a mystery or two…and that is just the first issue. If you were a fan of 100 BULLETS, then this series is for you.
CRY HAVOC #1: When you have a book that touts a main character who is a lesbian, that is nothing new in the world of comics. A lesbian in the military? That’s a little different. A lesbian in the military who is a werewolf? Now you’ve got my attention. Simon Spurrier writes a compelling little tale with dynamic art from Ryan Kelly. This is a great first issue for this new Image series and I look forward to seeing where Spurrier and Kelly go from here.
DKIII: THE MASTER RACE #1: This may well be one of the most anticipated titles of the year and if it could stay on schedule, that would be the case. Andy Kubert handles the art chores while Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello have written this sequel to 2001’s THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, although Miller has publicly stated that most of this book is Azzarello’s doing. It’s three years after the events in that book and it seems that Carrie Kelly is the NEW Batman, as she declares that Bruce Wayne is dead. The book features appearances from Wonder Woman, her daughter Lara, and a frozen Superman. In addition, there is a 12 pages mini-comic bound into the book featuring The Atom. Written by Azzarello and Miller, with pencils by Miller and inks by Klaus Jansen, the advance art for this sent shock-waves through fandom as the proportions on the figures seemed a bit…off! Is it as good as the previous efforts? Not really. Does it have potential? Sure…sure, let’s see where this goes.
LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS SURVIVING MEGALOPOLIS #1: Megalopolis, protected by a host of superheroes, used to be the safest city on the planet. But that was then, as a noxious cloud has turned the heroes into murderous maniacs. The city has been quarantined, but a bunch of the residents have managed to escape. Now those freed residents are trying to make their way back into the city and fix things. This is a sequel to the previous mini-series that set up the “heel turn” by the heroes. Gail Simone cuts loose with an awesome, action packed script and Jim Calafiore turns in another great performance on the art. Seek out the original series, although it’s not essential, as there is enough material that discusses that series. This is a fun ride and a great riff on the dangers of super powers.
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #0: Leave it to Boom Studios to once again tap into pop culture for a comic series. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ADVENTURE TIME are among the series currently being pumped out by Boom and now they dive into the legendary hit sensation that still packs in crowds at Cons all over the world. This book, which came out with seven different covers (the 1:100 copy White Ranger fetches upwards of several hundred dollars). The book features three stories by a variety of talents including Kyle Higgins, Hendry Prasetya, Steve Orlando, Corin Howell, Mairghread Scott, Daniel Scott and others. If this is your bag, dive in. It won’t make you a fan if you’re not one already. It’s a nice little love letter to a legendary franchise.
RINGSIDE #1: Here is a book that is set in the world of professional wrestling but it’s not about wrestling per se. There are no less than a half dozen characters introduced, premier among them is Don Knoussos, who was once known as the Minotaur. Don’t expect to see ring battles or bloody action. This is a story about people who happen to be connected to the wrestling world. Joe Keatinge has written a truly character driven story that relies on great dialogue to push the story along. Nick barber’s art is minimalist at best and that seems to be the style in many of today’s books. Is it a great book? Well, it’s a very intriguing tale that moves slowly and delicately to bring us the nuances of all the players. This is truly a book with potential.
THE SHERIFF OF BABYLON #1: Set in Baghdad 10 months after the Fall of Baghdad, this is an eight-issue, highly charged, rather dark tale written by Tom King, who was there. The story follows Christopher, who is training Iraqi citizens to become police officers, along with Sofia and Nassir. At any given time, any one of these people can be responsible for lighting the fuse to a powder keg. Mitch Gerards handles the art and it is so moody and fits perfectly with this tale. This is not a bang up action tale, so if you think this is going to be a 21st Sgt. Rock styled tale, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a Vertigo tale
UNFOLLOW #1: In the blink of an eye, or actually a single keystroke, a dying billionaire decides that he’s going to share the wealth between 140 random people. So social media mogul Larry Ferrell sends his $17 billion fortune to those 140, which works out to be $120 million apiece. You also have to know that some folks need to have more than that, so expect to see people dropping like flies, as happens in the first few pages. Now you have less than 140 and more money in your pocket. This is a brilliant little Vertigo book from Rob Williams and Mike Dowling that plays with the concepts of fame and popularity and how much is your life worth.
AMERICAN MONSTER #1: First off, it should be noted that Aftershock Comics is a new kid on the block that has been making some serious waves with talent such as Garth Ennis, Marguerite Bennett, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Paul Jenkins. Add to that list Brian Azzarello who, along with artist Juan Doe brings us AMERICAN MONSTER. It’s a gritty tale filled with a kidnapping, two murders, some crazy teens and a scarred military veteran. It is a dark tale with twists and turns and a mystery or two…and that is just the first issue. If you were a fan of 100 BULLETS, then this series is for you.
CRY HAVOC #1: When you have a book that touts a main character who is a lesbian, that is nothing new in the world of comics. A lesbian in the military? That’s a little different. A lesbian in the military who is a werewolf? Now you’ve got my attention. Simon Spurrier writes a compelling little tale with dynamic art from Ryan Kelly. This is a great first issue for this new Image series and I look forward to seeing where Spurrier and Kelly go from here.
DKIII: THE MASTER RACE #1: This may well be one of the most anticipated titles of the year and if it could stay on schedule, that would be the case. Andy Kubert handles the art chores while Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello have written this sequel to 2001’s THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, although Miller has publicly stated that most of this book is Azzarello’s doing. It’s three years after the events in that book and it seems that Carrie Kelly is the NEW Batman, as she declares that Bruce Wayne is dead. The book features appearances from Wonder Woman, her daughter Lara, and a frozen Superman. In addition, there is a 12 pages mini-comic bound into the book featuring The Atom. Written by Azzarello and Miller, with pencils by Miller and inks by Klaus Jansen, the advance art for this sent shock-waves through fandom as the proportions on the figures seemed a bit…off! Is it as good as the previous efforts? Not really. Does it have potential? Sure…sure, let’s see where this goes.
LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS SURVIVING MEGALOPOLIS #1: Megalopolis, protected by a host of superheroes, used to be the safest city on the planet. But that was then, as a noxious cloud has turned the heroes into murderous maniacs. The city has been quarantined, but a bunch of the residents have managed to escape. Now those freed residents are trying to make their way back into the city and fix things. This is a sequel to the previous mini-series that set up the “heel turn” by the heroes. Gail Simone cuts loose with an awesome, action packed script and Jim Calafiore turns in another great performance on the art. Seek out the original series, although it’s not essential, as there is enough material that discusses that series. This is a fun ride and a great riff on the dangers of super powers.
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #0: Leave it to Boom Studios to once again tap into pop culture for a comic series. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ADVENTURE TIME are among the series currently being pumped out by Boom and now they dive into the legendary hit sensation that still packs in crowds at Cons all over the world. This book, which came out with seven different covers (the 1:100 copy White Ranger fetches upwards of several hundred dollars). The book features three stories by a variety of talents including Kyle Higgins, Hendry Prasetya, Steve Orlando, Corin Howell, Mairghread Scott, Daniel Scott and others. If this is your bag, dive in. It won’t make you a fan if you’re not one already. It’s a nice little love letter to a legendary franchise.
RINGSIDE #1: Here is a book that is set in the world of professional wrestling but it’s not about wrestling per se. There are no less than a half dozen characters introduced, premier among them is Don Knoussos, who was once known as the Minotaur. Don’t expect to see ring battles or bloody action. This is a story about people who happen to be connected to the wrestling world. Joe Keatinge has written a truly character driven story that relies on great dialogue to push the story along. Nick barber’s art is minimalist at best and that seems to be the style in many of today’s books. Is it a great book? Well, it’s a very intriguing tale that moves slowly and delicately to bring us the nuances of all the players. This is truly a book with potential.
THE SHERIFF OF BABYLON #1: Set in Baghdad 10 months after the Fall of Baghdad, this is an eight-issue, highly charged, rather dark tale written by Tom King, who was there. The story follows Christopher, who is training Iraqi citizens to become police officers, along with Sofia and Nassir. At any given time, any one of these people can be responsible for lighting the fuse to a powder keg. Mitch Gerards handles the art and it is so moody and fits perfectly with this tale. This is not a bang up action tale, so if you think this is going to be a 21st Sgt. Rock styled tale, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a Vertigo tale
UNFOLLOW #1: In the blink of an eye, or actually a single keystroke, a dying billionaire decides that he’s going to share the wealth between 140 random people. So social media mogul Larry Ferrell sends his $17 billion fortune to those 140, which works out to be $120 million apiece. You also have to know that some folks need to have more than that, so expect to see people dropping like flies, as happens in the first few pages. Now you have less than 140 and more money in your pocket. This is a brilliant little Vertigo book from Rob Williams and Mike Dowling that plays with the concepts of fame and popularity and how much is your life worth.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
DC YOU Month 8, Part 2
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #8: Martian Manhunter has been reborn and so has Mars. Now it’s on a collision course with Earth. Alicia, who has lived on Mars for the past twenty years, has locked up Agent Wessel. She was consumed by the Martian Man-Eater and transported there along with everyone who was on Wessel’s plane. We learn that Alicia has grown up fighting Ma'alefa'ak, and that J'onn J'onzz was created by the Martian Elders to be a great Martian weapon. Ma'alefa'ak launches an attack on the Martian Manhunter with a giant robot, leading to Alicia and her forces bringing in a entering the battle with their own giant robot.
This is not the easiest book to understand but it is worth it! Rob Williams has written an amazing story with all sorts of confusing elements. How did Mars and Earth exist in a parallel space during the last twenty years? Why did it take Martian Manhunter so long to get himself together? Eddy Barrows is back on art and the book just pops! Again, it’s a puzzling tale that Williams is giving us, but possibly one of the best reads in the DC line.
MIDNIGHTER #8: Midnighter is being interviewed for a documentary when Asset 1907 informs him of an incident in downtown Rochester involving a giant leopard/elephant creature. He transports there to subdue the creature when Dominic Mndawe, the Freedom Beast, joins him and splits the two creatures apart. He explains that the Sportsman’s Ambition is responsible, which leads the two of them to team up. They take down the hunters and the head guy gets merged with a mosquito and meets his end in the mouth of a bat. In the end, Marina gets out of jail and Midnighter joins Spyral to help retrieve the Perdition Pistol. That means our boy is off to track down the Suicide Squad.
And WHY does this issue work? Because Steve Orlando and guest artist David Messina only spent three pages dealing with Midnighter’s “off the clock” persona. The rest of the issue is action, action and action, even if the merging of man and mosquito was straight out of THE FLY. THIS is what this title needs: kicking ass and taking names!
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #16: Bonnie is looking for Vic Sage and finds him meeting with the recently freed Black Manta. Unfortunately, that means Sage needs to handle this and executes her. Waller, the team and the FBI show up and come inside, even though Sage has released all of the prisoners in Belle Reve. As the FBI and Belle Reve’s guards take on the prisoners, the Squad fights Manta while Waller battles Sage. Manta takes down the Squad and goes after Waller, but Deadshot, even badly injured, takes him out. In the end, the bad guys are taken away and Waller has the Squad locked back up, even though she promised to free them.
Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones bid goodbye to this title to make way for the new team of Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra. Ryan’s story does a great job oif wrapping up months of plotslines while Briones art shines. I have loved what this team has accomplished and look forward to what the new team brings to the table. My hope is that they stick to their guns and NOT cater to the upcoming movie.
OMEGA MEN #8: While Kyle Rayner brings the Omega Men to Voorl where he is shown the genocide that was committed by the Citadel. Scrapps was a young child when the Citadel attacked and over 7 billion inhabitants died here. Calista says that they kidnapped Kyle so he can murder the Citadel’s Prime Minister with a Lantern bomb. In the end, Kyle doesn’t know if he can do it, even despite Calista’s pleading.
Wow! This is one of those books that will go down as a classic cult title. Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda continue to weave a story of terrorism. Now it seems like the terrorists are the Citadel. There is a great back-story regarding Scrapps and how she was rescued after surviving the genocide. I have repeatedly said that this is not your father’s OMEGA MEN. It’s better.
POSION IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #1: Dr. Pamela Isley is in Lower Angola, where she and Dr. Nepolo are looking for a plant known as “the Living Fossil”. Finding it, she gets permission from the two-thousand years old plant to relocate it. Local bad guys show up to stop them, but the plant kills them at Ivy’s bidding. Two days later, she is at work at the Gotham Botanical Gardens, when a field trip from Gotham Academy arrives. Then Dr. Quinzel shows up, leading to she and Ivy going to Bobby’s Biker Bar where they discuss their ongoing relationship before beating up the bikers. After Ivy insults Harley, she splits leaving her to herself. The next day, she discovers that the Living Fossil samples she had there have grown greatly. She rushes downtown to tell Dr. Cruz about it, but she’s dead.
This was far better than I expected it to be thanks to the writing of Amy Chu and the incredible art of Clay Mann. Actually, I think that should be a team effort getting credit as Seth Mann’s inks are there but subtle enough to not be over the top. And Ulises Arreola’s colors are beautiful, giving this book the appearance of being colored with colored pencils. The story is compelling enough to have me coming back again…willingly!
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #8: Back in 1923, Gotham flooded the Nethers to eliminate the less-than-desirable residents there. Today, Jason finds a secret entrance to the Gotham Underground and is attacked by the residents living there. Elsewhere in the Underground, Arsenal is being tortured for information about why Roy is partnered with Joker’s Daughter. She has had her false face removed and is tied up in front of Charon and his lava monsters. Jason convinces the mob to help him find Roy and Duella. But Iron Rule is here and they mean business, although Jason lets them know that he's their worst nightmare.
So we have another fun issue here from Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez, although I am confused why we got this great story about the Nethers only to use it as a means to get Jason in the Underground. Personally, I would like to see more of the ancient history of Gotham…hint, hint, hint. I have become used to having Duella as part of the team, although Jason is not keen about it. If the book gets renamed as part of the June REBIRTH, maybe we can just give Jason his own book and let this be the Roy and Duella show.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #8: In this flashback issue, Damian tells Alfred how he and Maya returned the Spear of Bing Lei to it’s proper owners.
This was, quite simply, a fill-in issue by Ray Fawkes and Ramon Bachs that does a nice job of filling in the details of a past mission. Nothing to write home about, but a nice issue none the less.
SECRET SIX #10: The Secret Six are at the point where they are ready to grab the last two alabaster pillars when Superman shows up to stop them. Meanwhile, Black Alice tells Scandal Savage to kill her to save the universe and Savage does. Unfortunately, Alice isn’t Alice anymore. In fact, Alice was never Alice, as Lori died in the car crash that killed her parents. At the time of death, she prayed to pagan gods and demons and they answered her. Alice heads off to the Secret Six and thanks Ralph Dibney for saving her and keeping her from destroying magic. With this crisis ended, the Children of Arion rejoice as the Elder Gods return, led by Thrumm. But Thrumm is hungry and likes to eat the Children of Arion.
I found this issue a little disappointing for a book that I have been raving about since the beginning. On the plus side, Dale Eaglesham’s art looks as fantastic as ever. On the downside, Gail Simone’s ending fell flat. We have this big build-up with the introduction of the Children of Arion and Thrumm and then the Children of Arion get eaten in one panel on the last page of the book. Where it should be a big deal, it comes off as more of a throw off…an afterthought. In addition, we waste the first four pages of the book with Superman fighting a robot and talking to Zatanna about the impending magic problem. Again, I’m really disappointed by the way this storyline ended and hope next issue will be back to its normal top notch form.
SINESTRO #19: Sinestro’s Fear Lanterns now have new members in the form of Superman and Wonder Woman, who are in battle against The Paling. Sinestro directs the Manhunters to send out more Yellow rings to recruit even more Lanterns. Among those recipients are Deadman, Spectre, John Constantine, Black Manta, and Etrigan. Saint Walker shows up and boosts the energy levels of the Lanterns, allowing Black Adam to gain the upper hand in his fight. In the end, Sinestro uses an Indigo ring to bring the fight straight to the Pale Bishop.
The battle continues and this book, so long drifting in a lackluster storyline. But Cullen Bunn, with the artistic talents of Brad Walker and Neil Edwards, has lit a fire under this character and made him cool to be a heel who is also a good guy. And you throw in the possibility of all these other DC characters now wearing the Yellow Lantern rings and it just means this upcoming finale could be the coolest thing to hit this title to date…even better than the SINESTRO WARS, which is where the revitalization began.
STARFIRE #8: Dick Grayson and Starfire have gotten together and someone in a helicopter is trying to kill him, but a bright light causes the chopper to crash. That means Kori and Dick are forced to save the woman who was trying to shoot him. Meanwhile Sol and Rave get closer than Sol expected while Atlee is make an offer to have Sheriff Stella visit her world. Later, Kori and Dick go out on a day but get attacked by a trio that were hired to take back the trigger device that got destroyed last issue. Dick lets her know he needs to leave and take care of business. No sooner is he gone than Kori and Sol are sharing a kiss in the pool when this sparkling thing I the pool begins to transform.
Ugh-why must Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti write Starfire as a total ditz? From the moment that she and Dick went of their date, I could feel my I.Q. dropping. She is naive, not stupid. The plus about this book, as always, is the art of Emanuela Lupachino, who gets an assist this issue from Marco Pierfederici. Reading this book is like watching a car accident: you don’t want to look but you feel compelled to. I don’t WANT to keep reading it, but I feel compelled to hope that it is going to get better.
SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #1:Deadshot:Out of the Past. Deadshot is in South America hunting down drug lord Guillermo Lapaz. Later, Amanda Waller sends Deadshot and Will Evans to Gotham to kidnap Lapaz’ daughter. During a gun battle between Waller’s men and Falcone’s, Deadshot heads off to investigate some information Waller gave him earlier. Apparently his father is alive and Floyd wants him dead.
The second tale is Katana: Dawn of the Age of Chaos. Kobra is attempting to rule Markovia and Katana gets shot down as she travels through Markovian air space. She has come here to meet with Dr. Jace, who is an expert in astrophysics, in hopes she can help her release the souls in her sword. But the townspeople convince her to stay and help them fight against Kobra. During the battle, Kobra kidnaps Dr. Jace and their leader tells them if they continue to resist, they will all die.
This was an interesting first issue, but I’m not sure how well received a $4.99 mini-series. It will be interesting to see as there is a LEGENDS OF TOMORROW series coming that will be $7.99 a month! The DEADSHOT tale is written by: Brian Buccellato and illustrated by Viktor Bogdanovic. I have to admit it was a fun, bloody time that hopefully will have a nice payoff character wise at the end of the series. Comic legend Mike W. Barr teams with Diogenes Neves to bring us the KATANA tale. It looks great but I have to admit that, despite Barr’s skills, I have seen SEVEN SAMURAI and this tale of the sword wielding Katana coming to the rescue of the townspeople sure feels like the Kurosawa film.
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25: Superman is critically injured and Wonder Woman brings him to her Olympian family, begging them for help. Their answer is to engage the Man of Steel in a variety of tests. Artemis sends him out to hunt while Strife forces him to walk through the insults of the people who used to respect him. Hephaestus offers him the opportunity to climb into a rocket and leave Earth. Eros taunts him regarding Clark and Diana’s relationship. Having passed all the trials, Superman is healed. Unfortunately, he is now completely mortal.
Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke combine for an interesting issue that saves the life of the Man of Steel but renders him completely powerless. I love Tomasi’s writing and Mehnke’ art is equally impressive. What makes this work so well is the various vignettes, representing everything Supes has been going through over the last several months. We all know there are changes coming to the Big Blue Boy Scout at the end of this storyline, including what is believed to be getting repowered and possibly getting to wear his undies on the outside again. Personally, I can’t wait to see it. heck-maybe we can even get him hooked up with the woman who betrayed him again.
SUPERMAN #48: Coming out of SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25, our completely mortal hero teams up with Steve Trevor to take down a political assassin named Kingslayer. Later, Steve agrees to let Superman expose himself to a deadly amount of Kryptonite to help him jump-start his powers. But that all goes bad as Hordr_Root's brother, The Puzzler, shows up at ARGUS. In the ending, it looks like Superman is dying of Kryptonite poisoning.
How is it the Vandal Savage always seems to know where the Man of Steel is heading? Are we REALLY supposed to believe that he knew Clark would be going to ARGUS to get his Kryptonite fix? Sorry Gene Luen Yang: that’s just WAY TOO MUCH DISBELIEF to have to suspend! Howard Porter and Ardian Syaf share the art chores and, unfortunately, you can see exactly where one leaves and the other takes over. Not the best issue in this recent series of events in this book, but it could be worse. Actually…it is worse!
SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #4: In a flashback to several years ago, Clark and Lois are spending a day in Metropolis. Lois buys a Superman shirt for Jon, a blind street performer recognizes Clark’s voice and they almost run into Jimmy Olsen, who is off to Bibbo Bibbowski’s Ace O'Brews. As an anniversary present, Lois gives him his black costume. Back in the present, Lois and Jon go to visit her publisher, but she has been kidnapped, causing them to flee. In the process, they run into Bruno Mannheim. Meanwhile, Clark battles Blanque and Hank Henshaw and Blanque buries Clark under a mountain of snow. This leads to Blanque and Henshaw going to California. If that wasn’t enough, the Oblivion Stone is about to make a collision course with Earth.
I cannot sing the praises of this title enough! Dan Jurgens is writing a story that is so much fun, that it makes me want to forget this world’s Superman. This Clark is truly the Clark Kent we left behind when the New 52 was created. Lee Weeks and Marco Santucci handle the art and it’s awesome looking! We bring in characters from two worlds and hint at others. Again, I cannot rave enough about this title.
SWAMP THING #1: The Phantom Stranger visits Swamp Thing in his swamp, telling him that the Parliament of Trees is looking for him. Shortly thereafter, he saves Frank and Grace Wormwood, who almost drown in the swamp. They beg him to rescue their son Lazlo from the Crowley College of Evolving Arts. When Swamp Thing gets there, he finds that Lazlo’s friend accidentally turned him into a zombie and he looks to gain his revenge by killing them. When Swamp Thing tried to stop him, Lazlo tears him in half.
The good thing about this book: SWAMP THING co-creator Len Wein and Kelley Jones, the person whose art MOST looks like Bernie Wrightson’s, are the creative team behind this book. The worst thing is Swamp Thing’s dialogue that is a bit clunkier than we are used too. And I’m kind of okay with that, considering that it harkens back to the old days of the character. I am totally thrilled that this book will entertain like it did in the beginning. Don’t expect Alan Moore or Steve Bissette here. This is going to be like it was back in the Seventies!
TEEN TITANS #16: Red Robin returns to the team after the ROBIN WAR and they are immediately attacked by Durlans who have come to retrieve Chimera. In the end, she agrees to leave with her people and Kid Flash also has gone off to handle his problems. With the police closing in, the Titans leave and take up residency in Heaton, Pennsylvania.
All I can say is that the June relaunch of DC titles can’t happen soon enough as this book needs an enema! While Miguel Mendoca’s art shines, Will Pfeifer’s story is just silly and full of holes. Red Robin shows up to a reunion, we get a full issue fight, followed by characters beating feet and the whole team heading to Heaton, Pennsylvania. Sigh! This book really needs a revamp. It’s kind of sad when the BEST TITANS book on the market is the one that follows a little further down.
TELOS #4: Telos is battling drones that Brainiac created allow Computo to get back the the piece of Brainiac's old shell. At the same time, Techne, Captain Comet, Stealth, and K-Rot are also fighting drones along with Validus. When all seems lost for our hero, it turns out that Brainiac wasn’t really in partnership with Computo. He sends out a signal that disabled Validus and Telos tears Computo apart. Unfortunately, the data Techne downloaded about the location of Telos' family was corrupted and it may just have been Brainiac playing Telos. The Citadel Fleet is on their way to stop the rebel uprising that destroyed Computo, leading to Telos heading out to meet them.
Jeff King throws us a swerve with the whole “Brainiac is bad/Brainiac is good” storyline by eventually making him good…sort of. I’m so glad this is a six issue limited series as I don’t think I could handle a full dose of Telos and his version of Guardians of the Galaxy meets the Zoo Crew. Carlo Pagulayan and Igor Vitorino handle the art on this issue and I could take it or leave it.
TITANS HUNT #4: We begin with a weird flashback memory of an earlier time when a younger team hears Herald’s song. In the present day, Garth, Donna and Dick have all heard the sound and wonder who is behind it. Mal’s wife heads to the hospital to see how Mal is doing only to find out he isn’t there. The ambulance never arrived at the hospital and Mal is in the woods where he meets the ghostly Mister Twister. While Hawk and Dove continue to work on the Harvester, Dick changes into his Nightwing costume because the villain is looking for someone in a mask.
Dan Abnett and Stephen Segovia deliver another strong issue here as the team starts to come together and I get excited for a full-on reunion! This title is so much better than the TEEN TITANS book. The characters are engaging folks I grew up with. There was a point that we all thought CONVERGENCE was a big joke that meant NOTHING to the NEW 52 Universe. Seems we may have been wrong, what with the Titans arriving, along with Lois and Clark, and Parallax. Thank you Dan Abnett for caring enough about these characters to make them fun!
WE ARE ROBIN #8: We meet Johnny “Smiley” Bender, who we saw in the first issue beating up Duke Thomas. Johnny had something called Moebius Syndrome that affects the muscles in your face. So his parents had surgery performed but that left him looking like his idol The Joker. Once he gets out of lockup, he goes home to parents that have nothing good to say to him. He dresses up like The Joker and executes them. Meanwhile, Duke finds his parents at last. Dad doesn’t remember him and his mom’s facial paralysis is apparently permanent.
Let’s see where Lee Bermejo takes this next. He has resolved Duke’s search and introduced a new villain. I think. This was an interesting in-between issue as the previous ROBIN WAR story line has been put to bed and stray plot pieces from the first seven issues are touched upon. Jorge Corona, with breakdowns by Rob Haynes, provides the art and it looks okay. I am curious to see where Bermejo takes Johnny in the months to come.
WONDER WOMAN #48: Diana saves the President of the United States from an attack at the G8 Summit Meeting by Dr. Maru. But the good doctor unleashes a poisonous version of PCP that turns the citizens of London against Wonder Woman. When Maru tries to shoot Diana, she hits one of the affected, which snaps the others out of their trance. Diana captures Maru, but she breaks one of her poison gas teeth and escapes. Meanwhile, over in Olympus, Zola wakes Hera because something is wrong with Zeke.
This was a fast moving issue that gives us a new villain. We don’t have a ton of drama except that Dr. Maru is bad and Wonder Woman needs to stop her. This may be Meredith Finch’ best issue to date. And David Finch’ art is possibly his best since he climbed on-board. Overall, this was the best issue we have seen of the Amazon in some time.
This is not the easiest book to understand but it is worth it! Rob Williams has written an amazing story with all sorts of confusing elements. How did Mars and Earth exist in a parallel space during the last twenty years? Why did it take Martian Manhunter so long to get himself together? Eddy Barrows is back on art and the book just pops! Again, it’s a puzzling tale that Williams is giving us, but possibly one of the best reads in the DC line.
MIDNIGHTER #8: Midnighter is being interviewed for a documentary when Asset 1907 informs him of an incident in downtown Rochester involving a giant leopard/elephant creature. He transports there to subdue the creature when Dominic Mndawe, the Freedom Beast, joins him and splits the two creatures apart. He explains that the Sportsman’s Ambition is responsible, which leads the two of them to team up. They take down the hunters and the head guy gets merged with a mosquito and meets his end in the mouth of a bat. In the end, Marina gets out of jail and Midnighter joins Spyral to help retrieve the Perdition Pistol. That means our boy is off to track down the Suicide Squad.
And WHY does this issue work? Because Steve Orlando and guest artist David Messina only spent three pages dealing with Midnighter’s “off the clock” persona. The rest of the issue is action, action and action, even if the merging of man and mosquito was straight out of THE FLY. THIS is what this title needs: kicking ass and taking names!
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #16: Bonnie is looking for Vic Sage and finds him meeting with the recently freed Black Manta. Unfortunately, that means Sage needs to handle this and executes her. Waller, the team and the FBI show up and come inside, even though Sage has released all of the prisoners in Belle Reve. As the FBI and Belle Reve’s guards take on the prisoners, the Squad fights Manta while Waller battles Sage. Manta takes down the Squad and goes after Waller, but Deadshot, even badly injured, takes him out. In the end, the bad guys are taken away and Waller has the Squad locked back up, even though she promised to free them.
Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones bid goodbye to this title to make way for the new team of Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra. Ryan’s story does a great job oif wrapping up months of plotslines while Briones art shines. I have loved what this team has accomplished and look forward to what the new team brings to the table. My hope is that they stick to their guns and NOT cater to the upcoming movie.
OMEGA MEN #8: While Kyle Rayner brings the Omega Men to Voorl where he is shown the genocide that was committed by the Citadel. Scrapps was a young child when the Citadel attacked and over 7 billion inhabitants died here. Calista says that they kidnapped Kyle so he can murder the Citadel’s Prime Minister with a Lantern bomb. In the end, Kyle doesn’t know if he can do it, even despite Calista’s pleading.
Wow! This is one of those books that will go down as a classic cult title. Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda continue to weave a story of terrorism. Now it seems like the terrorists are the Citadel. There is a great back-story regarding Scrapps and how she was rescued after surviving the genocide. I have repeatedly said that this is not your father’s OMEGA MEN. It’s better.
POSION IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #1: Dr. Pamela Isley is in Lower Angola, where she and Dr. Nepolo are looking for a plant known as “the Living Fossil”. Finding it, she gets permission from the two-thousand years old plant to relocate it. Local bad guys show up to stop them, but the plant kills them at Ivy’s bidding. Two days later, she is at work at the Gotham Botanical Gardens, when a field trip from Gotham Academy arrives. Then Dr. Quinzel shows up, leading to she and Ivy going to Bobby’s Biker Bar where they discuss their ongoing relationship before beating up the bikers. After Ivy insults Harley, she splits leaving her to herself. The next day, she discovers that the Living Fossil samples she had there have grown greatly. She rushes downtown to tell Dr. Cruz about it, but she’s dead.
This was far better than I expected it to be thanks to the writing of Amy Chu and the incredible art of Clay Mann. Actually, I think that should be a team effort getting credit as Seth Mann’s inks are there but subtle enough to not be over the top. And Ulises Arreola’s colors are beautiful, giving this book the appearance of being colored with colored pencils. The story is compelling enough to have me coming back again…willingly!
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #8: Back in 1923, Gotham flooded the Nethers to eliminate the less-than-desirable residents there. Today, Jason finds a secret entrance to the Gotham Underground and is attacked by the residents living there. Elsewhere in the Underground, Arsenal is being tortured for information about why Roy is partnered with Joker’s Daughter. She has had her false face removed and is tied up in front of Charon and his lava monsters. Jason convinces the mob to help him find Roy and Duella. But Iron Rule is here and they mean business, although Jason lets them know that he's their worst nightmare.
So we have another fun issue here from Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez, although I am confused why we got this great story about the Nethers only to use it as a means to get Jason in the Underground. Personally, I would like to see more of the ancient history of Gotham…hint, hint, hint. I have become used to having Duella as part of the team, although Jason is not keen about it. If the book gets renamed as part of the June REBIRTH, maybe we can just give Jason his own book and let this be the Roy and Duella show.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #8: In this flashback issue, Damian tells Alfred how he and Maya returned the Spear of Bing Lei to it’s proper owners.
This was, quite simply, a fill-in issue by Ray Fawkes and Ramon Bachs that does a nice job of filling in the details of a past mission. Nothing to write home about, but a nice issue none the less.
SECRET SIX #10: The Secret Six are at the point where they are ready to grab the last two alabaster pillars when Superman shows up to stop them. Meanwhile, Black Alice tells Scandal Savage to kill her to save the universe and Savage does. Unfortunately, Alice isn’t Alice anymore. In fact, Alice was never Alice, as Lori died in the car crash that killed her parents. At the time of death, she prayed to pagan gods and demons and they answered her. Alice heads off to the Secret Six and thanks Ralph Dibney for saving her and keeping her from destroying magic. With this crisis ended, the Children of Arion rejoice as the Elder Gods return, led by Thrumm. But Thrumm is hungry and likes to eat the Children of Arion.
I found this issue a little disappointing for a book that I have been raving about since the beginning. On the plus side, Dale Eaglesham’s art looks as fantastic as ever. On the downside, Gail Simone’s ending fell flat. We have this big build-up with the introduction of the Children of Arion and Thrumm and then the Children of Arion get eaten in one panel on the last page of the book. Where it should be a big deal, it comes off as more of a throw off…an afterthought. In addition, we waste the first four pages of the book with Superman fighting a robot and talking to Zatanna about the impending magic problem. Again, I’m really disappointed by the way this storyline ended and hope next issue will be back to its normal top notch form.
SINESTRO #19: Sinestro’s Fear Lanterns now have new members in the form of Superman and Wonder Woman, who are in battle against The Paling. Sinestro directs the Manhunters to send out more Yellow rings to recruit even more Lanterns. Among those recipients are Deadman, Spectre, John Constantine, Black Manta, and Etrigan. Saint Walker shows up and boosts the energy levels of the Lanterns, allowing Black Adam to gain the upper hand in his fight. In the end, Sinestro uses an Indigo ring to bring the fight straight to the Pale Bishop.
The battle continues and this book, so long drifting in a lackluster storyline. But Cullen Bunn, with the artistic talents of Brad Walker and Neil Edwards, has lit a fire under this character and made him cool to be a heel who is also a good guy. And you throw in the possibility of all these other DC characters now wearing the Yellow Lantern rings and it just means this upcoming finale could be the coolest thing to hit this title to date…even better than the SINESTRO WARS, which is where the revitalization began.
STARFIRE #8: Dick Grayson and Starfire have gotten together and someone in a helicopter is trying to kill him, but a bright light causes the chopper to crash. That means Kori and Dick are forced to save the woman who was trying to shoot him. Meanwhile Sol and Rave get closer than Sol expected while Atlee is make an offer to have Sheriff Stella visit her world. Later, Kori and Dick go out on a day but get attacked by a trio that were hired to take back the trigger device that got destroyed last issue. Dick lets her know he needs to leave and take care of business. No sooner is he gone than Kori and Sol are sharing a kiss in the pool when this sparkling thing I the pool begins to transform.
Ugh-why must Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti write Starfire as a total ditz? From the moment that she and Dick went of their date, I could feel my I.Q. dropping. She is naive, not stupid. The plus about this book, as always, is the art of Emanuela Lupachino, who gets an assist this issue from Marco Pierfederici. Reading this book is like watching a car accident: you don’t want to look but you feel compelled to. I don’t WANT to keep reading it, but I feel compelled to hope that it is going to get better.
SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #1:Deadshot:Out of the Past. Deadshot is in South America hunting down drug lord Guillermo Lapaz. Later, Amanda Waller sends Deadshot and Will Evans to Gotham to kidnap Lapaz’ daughter. During a gun battle between Waller’s men and Falcone’s, Deadshot heads off to investigate some information Waller gave him earlier. Apparently his father is alive and Floyd wants him dead.
The second tale is Katana: Dawn of the Age of Chaos. Kobra is attempting to rule Markovia and Katana gets shot down as she travels through Markovian air space. She has come here to meet with Dr. Jace, who is an expert in astrophysics, in hopes she can help her release the souls in her sword. But the townspeople convince her to stay and help them fight against Kobra. During the battle, Kobra kidnaps Dr. Jace and their leader tells them if they continue to resist, they will all die.
This was an interesting first issue, but I’m not sure how well received a $4.99 mini-series. It will be interesting to see as there is a LEGENDS OF TOMORROW series coming that will be $7.99 a month! The DEADSHOT tale is written by: Brian Buccellato and illustrated by Viktor Bogdanovic. I have to admit it was a fun, bloody time that hopefully will have a nice payoff character wise at the end of the series. Comic legend Mike W. Barr teams with Diogenes Neves to bring us the KATANA tale. It looks great but I have to admit that, despite Barr’s skills, I have seen SEVEN SAMURAI and this tale of the sword wielding Katana coming to the rescue of the townspeople sure feels like the Kurosawa film.
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25: Superman is critically injured and Wonder Woman brings him to her Olympian family, begging them for help. Their answer is to engage the Man of Steel in a variety of tests. Artemis sends him out to hunt while Strife forces him to walk through the insults of the people who used to respect him. Hephaestus offers him the opportunity to climb into a rocket and leave Earth. Eros taunts him regarding Clark and Diana’s relationship. Having passed all the trials, Superman is healed. Unfortunately, he is now completely mortal.
Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke combine for an interesting issue that saves the life of the Man of Steel but renders him completely powerless. I love Tomasi’s writing and Mehnke’ art is equally impressive. What makes this work so well is the various vignettes, representing everything Supes has been going through over the last several months. We all know there are changes coming to the Big Blue Boy Scout at the end of this storyline, including what is believed to be getting repowered and possibly getting to wear his undies on the outside again. Personally, I can’t wait to see it. heck-maybe we can even get him hooked up with the woman who betrayed him again.
SUPERMAN #48: Coming out of SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25, our completely mortal hero teams up with Steve Trevor to take down a political assassin named Kingslayer. Later, Steve agrees to let Superman expose himself to a deadly amount of Kryptonite to help him jump-start his powers. But that all goes bad as Hordr_Root's brother, The Puzzler, shows up at ARGUS. In the ending, it looks like Superman is dying of Kryptonite poisoning.
How is it the Vandal Savage always seems to know where the Man of Steel is heading? Are we REALLY supposed to believe that he knew Clark would be going to ARGUS to get his Kryptonite fix? Sorry Gene Luen Yang: that’s just WAY TOO MUCH DISBELIEF to have to suspend! Howard Porter and Ardian Syaf share the art chores and, unfortunately, you can see exactly where one leaves and the other takes over. Not the best issue in this recent series of events in this book, but it could be worse. Actually…it is worse!
SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #4: In a flashback to several years ago, Clark and Lois are spending a day in Metropolis. Lois buys a Superman shirt for Jon, a blind street performer recognizes Clark’s voice and they almost run into Jimmy Olsen, who is off to Bibbo Bibbowski’s Ace O'Brews. As an anniversary present, Lois gives him his black costume. Back in the present, Lois and Jon go to visit her publisher, but she has been kidnapped, causing them to flee. In the process, they run into Bruno Mannheim. Meanwhile, Clark battles Blanque and Hank Henshaw and Blanque buries Clark under a mountain of snow. This leads to Blanque and Henshaw going to California. If that wasn’t enough, the Oblivion Stone is about to make a collision course with Earth.
I cannot sing the praises of this title enough! Dan Jurgens is writing a story that is so much fun, that it makes me want to forget this world’s Superman. This Clark is truly the Clark Kent we left behind when the New 52 was created. Lee Weeks and Marco Santucci handle the art and it’s awesome looking! We bring in characters from two worlds and hint at others. Again, I cannot rave enough about this title.
SWAMP THING #1: The Phantom Stranger visits Swamp Thing in his swamp, telling him that the Parliament of Trees is looking for him. Shortly thereafter, he saves Frank and Grace Wormwood, who almost drown in the swamp. They beg him to rescue their son Lazlo from the Crowley College of Evolving Arts. When Swamp Thing gets there, he finds that Lazlo’s friend accidentally turned him into a zombie and he looks to gain his revenge by killing them. When Swamp Thing tried to stop him, Lazlo tears him in half.
The good thing about this book: SWAMP THING co-creator Len Wein and Kelley Jones, the person whose art MOST looks like Bernie Wrightson’s, are the creative team behind this book. The worst thing is Swamp Thing’s dialogue that is a bit clunkier than we are used too. And I’m kind of okay with that, considering that it harkens back to the old days of the character. I am totally thrilled that this book will entertain like it did in the beginning. Don’t expect Alan Moore or Steve Bissette here. This is going to be like it was back in the Seventies!
TEEN TITANS #16: Red Robin returns to the team after the ROBIN WAR and they are immediately attacked by Durlans who have come to retrieve Chimera. In the end, she agrees to leave with her people and Kid Flash also has gone off to handle his problems. With the police closing in, the Titans leave and take up residency in Heaton, Pennsylvania.
All I can say is that the June relaunch of DC titles can’t happen soon enough as this book needs an enema! While Miguel Mendoca’s art shines, Will Pfeifer’s story is just silly and full of holes. Red Robin shows up to a reunion, we get a full issue fight, followed by characters beating feet and the whole team heading to Heaton, Pennsylvania. Sigh! This book really needs a revamp. It’s kind of sad when the BEST TITANS book on the market is the one that follows a little further down.
TELOS #4: Telos is battling drones that Brainiac created allow Computo to get back the the piece of Brainiac's old shell. At the same time, Techne, Captain Comet, Stealth, and K-Rot are also fighting drones along with Validus. When all seems lost for our hero, it turns out that Brainiac wasn’t really in partnership with Computo. He sends out a signal that disabled Validus and Telos tears Computo apart. Unfortunately, the data Techne downloaded about the location of Telos' family was corrupted and it may just have been Brainiac playing Telos. The Citadel Fleet is on their way to stop the rebel uprising that destroyed Computo, leading to Telos heading out to meet them.
Jeff King throws us a swerve with the whole “Brainiac is bad/Brainiac is good” storyline by eventually making him good…sort of. I’m so glad this is a six issue limited series as I don’t think I could handle a full dose of Telos and his version of Guardians of the Galaxy meets the Zoo Crew. Carlo Pagulayan and Igor Vitorino handle the art on this issue and I could take it or leave it.
TITANS HUNT #4: We begin with a weird flashback memory of an earlier time when a younger team hears Herald’s song. In the present day, Garth, Donna and Dick have all heard the sound and wonder who is behind it. Mal’s wife heads to the hospital to see how Mal is doing only to find out he isn’t there. The ambulance never arrived at the hospital and Mal is in the woods where he meets the ghostly Mister Twister. While Hawk and Dove continue to work on the Harvester, Dick changes into his Nightwing costume because the villain is looking for someone in a mask.
Dan Abnett and Stephen Segovia deliver another strong issue here as the team starts to come together and I get excited for a full-on reunion! This title is so much better than the TEEN TITANS book. The characters are engaging folks I grew up with. There was a point that we all thought CONVERGENCE was a big joke that meant NOTHING to the NEW 52 Universe. Seems we may have been wrong, what with the Titans arriving, along with Lois and Clark, and Parallax. Thank you Dan Abnett for caring enough about these characters to make them fun!
WE ARE ROBIN #8: We meet Johnny “Smiley” Bender, who we saw in the first issue beating up Duke Thomas. Johnny had something called Moebius Syndrome that affects the muscles in your face. So his parents had surgery performed but that left him looking like his idol The Joker. Once he gets out of lockup, he goes home to parents that have nothing good to say to him. He dresses up like The Joker and executes them. Meanwhile, Duke finds his parents at last. Dad doesn’t remember him and his mom’s facial paralysis is apparently permanent.
Let’s see where Lee Bermejo takes this next. He has resolved Duke’s search and introduced a new villain. I think. This was an interesting in-between issue as the previous ROBIN WAR story line has been put to bed and stray plot pieces from the first seven issues are touched upon. Jorge Corona, with breakdowns by Rob Haynes, provides the art and it looks okay. I am curious to see where Bermejo takes Johnny in the months to come.
WONDER WOMAN #48: Diana saves the President of the United States from an attack at the G8 Summit Meeting by Dr. Maru. But the good doctor unleashes a poisonous version of PCP that turns the citizens of London against Wonder Woman. When Maru tries to shoot Diana, she hits one of the affected, which snaps the others out of their trance. Diana captures Maru, but she breaks one of her poison gas teeth and escapes. Meanwhile, over in Olympus, Zola wakes Hera because something is wrong with Zeke.
This was a fast moving issue that gives us a new villain. We don’t have a ton of drama except that Dr. Maru is bad and Wonder Woman needs to stop her. This may be Meredith Finch’ best issue to date. And David Finch’ art is possibly his best since he climbed on-board. Overall, this was the best issue we have seen of the Amazon in some time.
DC YOU Month 8, Part 1
ACTION COMICS #48: Coming out of last month’s SUPERMAN ANNUAL. Superman, the Supremacists have taken down the Justice League including Wonder Woman. Vandal, telling Wrath how she disappointed him with failure in Houston, unleashes an attack on Metropolis that keeps the Man of Steel busy. Luckily, the Justice League United arrive to lend a hand. When Steel and Lana show up with Ray Palmer in tow, Clark gets set up with a super suit powered by Kryptonite. He frees Wonder Woman first, but before Vandal Savage can make the final strike, Wrath attacks him leading to an explosion and the JLU gets captured. Tune into SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25 for the next installment..
Greg Pak turns the heat up and makes this one of his best issues to date. Besides all the action going on, we get version 5.0 of Metallo’s suit, which not only gives Superman something close to his powers, but also means it’s killing him too. Then we toos in Steel, The Atom and the JLU and this book was action packed from beginning to end. And we get a cool cliffhanger too! Aaron Kuder and Rafa Sandoval do the art duties and this book looks great! As we race to issue #50, the status quo is about to change again!
AQUAMAN #48: As much as The Drift, Garth, Tula, Swatt and Murk, want to not believe it, seeing Mera versus Mera convinces them that Aquaman has ben telling the truth about her doppelganger. She and Arthur share a kiss and then it’s back into battle. Aquaman uses his trident and the powers Poseidon gave him to have our world to consume Thule. The world is saved, Wonder Woman says she'll talk Poseidon about giving Aquaman his powers back and now he has to figure how to rule a kingdom now filled with the refugees from Thule.
And thus ends Cullen Bunn’s run on this title; a run that was never embraced by fandom. So Bunn has decided to step down and Dan Abnett prepares to step in. This was an okay wrap up to the plot threads that Bunn has been weaving. Vincente Cifuentes handles the art and it looks really good. So, where does our hero go from here? He gets to reunite with his wife, rebuild his kingdom, and try to figure out how to be Aquaman again without the powers of Poseidon. Should be a fun ride, provided that Abnett decides to address those issues.
BATGIRL #47: Batgirl teams up with Spoiler and Bluebird to try and figure out how GCPD obtained information from her. Disguised as police officers, Spoiler and Batgirl infiltrate GCPD and discover that police reports say it was Barbara who tipped them about the Forster Lane Gang, leading our heroine to wonder if she is losing her mind. The duo gets caught and is forced to change into costume and fight the cops. A wrinkle comes into play when Corporal Punishment gets in the middle of it all and fights with the duo. It takes Bluebird to come to their rescue. In the end, a mysterious figure from Barbara’s dreams convinces her to go on with Luke’s plan to create a company to bring the world renewable, sustainable energy.
Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher continue their stint on this title and introduce what feels like a new version of the BIRDS OF PREY. But what should be a big event is slightly hampered by an uneven art job. I am not now and haven’t been a fan of the cartoony art of Babs Tarr. But she is not here this month and BATGIRL fans are crying about it! Instead, we get Eleonora Carlini and Moritat sharing the art duties. Now, we haven’t seen Moritat since ALL STAR WESTERN went under but the style is truly morphed to look like Tarr. DC has recently Tweeted out an image of a blue curtain with the word REBIRTH on it. Rumors have been flying about DC rebooting their line AGAIN. If that happens, maybe we’ll actually lose the Batrgirled Batgirl!
BATMAN #48: Bruce and the Joker continue their park bench conversation, with the Joker, who may or may not realize who he realize is, begging Bruce not to go back to his own life. Just when it seems that the Joker is going to shoot himself, Gotham errupts with explosions as a giant Mr. Bloom unleashes his attack on Gotham City with Jim Gordon in his clutches. As he reveals Gordon’s identity to the world, he tells the citizens to go searching for his seeds and them inplant them in their skin. Unfortunately, it causes them to morph and explode. When Liv explodes in front of him, Bruce tracks down Alfred and demands he take him to his cave.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo gear up towards the big finish of this story. You know the one-the one that brings Brcue Wayne back into the suit. As always, the book looks great and Snyder's’story is amazingly complex but subtlety simple at the same time. Does the Joker know who he really is? How does either Batman stop Bloom? What happens to Jim Gordon with Bruce back in action? What happens when Baba finds out her dad was Batman? I’m sure a lot of these questions will go unanswered for a time. But this much is sure: BATMAN IS COMING BACK, BABY!
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #14-17: In issue #14, the flashback has Batman and Robin break up a chemical plant in Prague. During the fight, Batman gets a private call from the Scarecrow, who wants to set up a face to face meeting with him regarding Mother. At that meeting, Batman informs Scarecrow that he now works for the Dark Knight. Back in the present, the bomb in the Nursery is still ticking as Orphan tells Dick, Harper, and Cassandra that the children here were killed because they were imperfect. He activates the defense system for the Nursery and they get attacked by hundreds of laser firing robots. Harper can’t disarm the bomb, but Dick defeats Orphan and manages to shut down the robots. The Nursery blows up and Dick informs everyone they are heading to Spyral Headquarters in England.
In issue #15, Tim and an unconscious Red Hood arrive at Gnosis-the Secret City of St. Dumas. Once brought inside by Azrael, Jason is put into a prison hole while Tim is given a tour of the place. As Jason breaks free, Tim meets the current Saint Dumas and is forced to fight Azrael. Both our heroes find out about Project Ichthys, where Jason gets visited by the apparition of The Joker with a crowbar. In the Prague flashback, Scarecrow meets with Mother and Batman tells Robin that Scarecrow is on his way to Cairo.
In issue #16, we see that Batman and Robin had tracked Scarecrow to Cairo, where they have captured him. This led to Batman retrieving a gun from a trashcan and heading off to pass Mother’s final test. In the present, Tim is still trapped in Gnosis by Azrael and St. Dumas while Ichthys is still making Jason fight the Joker in his mind. Tim talks enough to dig up a memory for Jean Paul that turns him around and sets him into attacking St. Dumas and his monks. This allows Tim to convince Jason not to fight his fear but experience his death at Joker’s hands all over again. With the order defeated and Azrael in control of Gnosis, Jason and Tim head off to join Dick, Harper, Cassandra, and Orphan.
In issue #17, we see Dick and Helena Bertinelli unsuccessfully attempt to interrogate Orphan. At the same time, Harper spends some time at St. Hadrian’s before having a conversation with Orphan, who tells her he knows secrets that she needs to know. In the flashback, Batman has shot the parents of a boy in Cairo. But Mother has figured out that he shot them with rubber bullets and sets the boy and Orphan after him. But she has a plan and that will involve orphaning someone in America. For now…she orders Orphan to kill Batman.
With two months to go, we race towards the conclusion. Who was the target in America? Who was Sculptor supposed to kill? Will our team get the answer in time to save more kids? Again James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly provide the story while Fernando Blanco, Christian Duce, Andrea Mutti, Roger Robinson, Scot Eaton, and Goran Sudzuka give us the art. This series has been a fun ride and, since it isn’t running 52 issues like BATMAN ETERNAL did, it has managed to maintain my interest.
BATMAN BEYOND #8: Batman Beyond is turning Neo Gotham upside down looking for the missing Matt. Meeting with Micron, he tells of how Brother Eye converted Warhawk and Barda and that he survived because he went miniature. The story gets interrupted when thousands of people arrive looking for sanctuary, but Mayor Luke Fox isn't letting them in. Meanwhile, Matt has John Stewart's ring and has made his way to Metropolis and is making his way to the remains of the Justice League Watchtower. He is being watched though, by a group of animal men.
Okay…now I am REALLY excited about this! While the back story that Micron tells manages to fill in some holes in the story, the really exciting piece of it has to do with the final page revelation. By the looks of it, we are going to find out that what happened in the future is what was The Great Disaster. Now, as someone who absolutely loved Jack Kirby’s legendary KAMANDI series, I would be thrilled to have this lead to that character making his New 52 debut. That would also mean that these animals had been given doses of Cortexin and that is what made them intelligent. Maybe we can get the whole cast in here: Ben Boxer, Steve, Renzi, Dr. Canus, Tuftin, Great Caesar and Mylock. Yeah…thank you Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang for giving me hope that part of my childhood will find itself into my adulthood.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #28: Commander Randall is on a space walk outside of the lunar space station when an explosion puts her life in jeopardy and Superman saves the day. A giant reptile space traveler has turned up dead on the moon and that leads Superman to help his pal Batman defeat Clayface and take the World’s Greatest Detective to the moon to investigate. Batman believes that the alien has been murdered and the fact that a drone is watching them seems to prove it. It seems that the traveler was searching to meet with Superman, but she came across something from Krytpton.
Well, that is quite a set up. And I was totally thrilled to see Superman teaming up with the Bruce Wayne Batman and not the Jim Gordon one. Tom Taylor wrote a great story that ends with a nice little cliffhanger. However, Robson Rocha’s art is uneven and I want to lay the blame on three different inkers. This book has been a bit of a disappointment with the TRUTH story stepping into it, so this was a welcome change.
BLACK CANARY #7: The aged Kurt Lance is the record label owner behind everything that has gone on with the band. He explains that Ditto is an alien who is the physical embodiment of sound and when Dinah and Bo sang together it caused she and Kurt to go to another time and another dimension. When they came back, they did so at a different point in time and with Kurt older. A monster named Quietus can eat sound and is responsible for most of what has gone on since issue #1. Amanda Waller shows up and wants to take Ditto. Kurt says if she lets Dinah and Bo defeat Quietus, he will give her what she wants. Bo and Dinah team up and defeat the creature. Kurt’s deal with Waller is to take HIM, as he now has in his DNA what Ditto has in hers. The only problem…Dinah is missing and ready to have the mysterious woman in white
Brenden Fletcher and Annie Wu bring this art to a conclusion…but not really. We get an origin story for Ditto and a semi-origin for Kurt Lance’ aging. But that also gives us a bit of a time dilemma. How could old Kurt be the guy who was pulling the strings about all this at the same time young Kurt was running around helping the band? You can’t have two people in the same space and time, can you? That would be like having two Hal Jordans or two Clark Kents or two Donna Troys…oh wait: never mind!
CATWOMAN #48: Catwoman is in New York City and Detective Vincent Scagnetti and his officers have walked into a murder scene and think she is responsible. Well, Scagnetti admits that she is the patsy. With her guile and a little slight of hand, she gets away and makes her way to one of her safe houses, where she has Tesla do some investigating for her, finding out that Scagnetti likes to play cards at The Iceberg Lounge. She pays Penguin a visit and demands he arrange to get the murder charges off her back, but Clayface intervenes. She gets away, but Tesla lets her know that she found out there is a bounty on Selina’s head…and Croc may be the first to try and collect.
Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda have certainly managed to cut a lot of Selina’s mob ties and dropped her back into the suit and in the game of stealing and dealing. But the mob ties still play a supporting role in this title. Miranda’s art shines and Selina looks super attractive. Oh yeah: she has also cut her hair and now she’s a blonde and Tesla reminds her that she now looks like Michelle Pfeiffer in LADYHAWKE. Now THAT is a pop culture reference!
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #8: With John’s current boyfriend captured, Papa Midnite and Constantine infiltrate Papa’s building and nightclub in an attempt to get it back from Mr. Rumor. Constantine discovers that Papa has a portal to hell that powers a pocket dimension. But Rumor has a partner in the form of Neron and it looks like the boys are screwed.
This book continues to be an uneven ride, although this issue was a bit better than most. Riley Rossmo and Brian Level are resposnible for the kicking look of this issue and having five gorgeous two-page spreads is the reason. Trippy, sexy and cool is the buzz words for their work here. Oh yeah-Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV’s story is pretty neat too, although having a rooster-snake be the one torturing John’s boyfriend is just a little...weird!
CYBORG #7: The government claims S.T.A.R. Labs and everyone in it, including Cyborg. In the meantime, Victor’s mom, a ghost in the machine, visits with him and he fills her in on events since her death.
Short review for this issue. David F. Walker’s story about Victor and his mom was wonderful. The rest of it…not so much. But Claude St. Aubin’s art was especially nice.
DEATHSTROKE #14: Slade is making his way through Lexcorp in search of his missing daughter Rose. Along the way, he runs into Luthor’s Lexbots and then Luthor’s suit controlled by Lex’ intellectual algorithm. As a mysterious figure with glowing eyes forces Rose to watch, Slade end up in the basement of Lexcorp and runs into a trio of Bizarros.
Things are looking bad for Slade as he spends the whole issue fighting his way through Lexcorp only to end up in the basement with Bizarros. While this book may not be as bloody as when it started in the hand of Tony S. Daniels, James Bonny and Tyler S. Kirkham are doing a great job of keeping the action and mystery going on this title. Who are the mystery folks holding Rose and what is their final plan?
DETECTIVE COMICS #48: While Batman watches over Gotham City, he calls his daughter, who is out fighting crime herself. Hearing a gunshot, he finds a man dressed like George Washington dead in an alley before Batman gets shot by a flintlock pistol. Luckily, his back-up team are in the blimp close by and pull him to safety. The shooter heads back to his hideout in Woodcrest Cemetary, where he has quite the collection of false faces. At the Gotham Morgue, Gordon and Bullock examine the dead George Washington who was actually a decorated Gotham firefighter. Gordon heads off in the blimp to investigate a weather balloon on the top of Wayne Tower. Only it’s not a weather balloon-it’s a dead astronaut.
First things first: Fernando Pasarin’s artwork is so incredible and this book looks fantastic! I seriously hope he hangs around for longer than just this story arc. Add to that Peter J. Tomasi’s great story that does wonders for the Jim Gordon character. My question is what is going to happen when Bruce Wayne walks back into this role. How does Jim go back to being a member of GCPD after he has been a superhero? I’m sure that Tomasi will handle that with his usual flair.
DOCTOR FATE #8: Khalid continues to learn how to use his powers as he also comes to grips with understanding what it is that Nabu wants from him. He spends the issue saving lives and dealing with the after effects of the flooding. His girlfriend is mad because she cannot reach him, his dad and he have a heart to heart talk and Professor Bradus and his dog Sheba try to convince him that he is being watched over along his journey.
Paul Levitz and Ibrahim Moustafa, filling in for Sonny Liew, continue to give us a lackluster title. It wants to be AMAZING SPIDER MAN in his earliest years by having him follow a path of self-exploration. Unfortunately, Levitz’ Khalid doesn’t have the wide-eyed wonder that Stan Lee’s Peter Parker did. This book continues to flounder, as it is more about the man and not the battle. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it isn’t great right now.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #8: In Neotropolis, Commander Sato, Captain Steel, Val-Zod, Green Lantern, Khalid and Sandman have banded together to figure out how to bring the peace between the warring cities. Green Lantern heads out ot help Power Girl, Huntress and Flash fight a giant monster. Meanwhile, over in New Gotham, Batman is battling some thugs when the energy pack they have explodes leaving a question as to who survives. In the end, Hawkgirl enters a strange cliff opening and runs into an army of Amazons led by Fury.
This book is still having problems getting itself off the ground on the right foot. Dan Abnett writes a good story but I find these characters to be cardboard ones and even John Steinbeck would have problems making this group interesting. Jorge Jimenez handles the art and it’s just okay. Overall, this book continues to struggle to be as captivating as its’ predecessor.
FLASH #48: Delayed until February
GOTHAM ACADEMY #14: Set just before Winter Break, Olive gives Maps a scrapbook, so she can make herself a yearbook detailing their adventures from the past school year. The first story is about Prank Week and involves Eric and Colton accidentally releasing a bat winged goat monster from Dr. Langstrom’s lab. In return, he makes them stand in the courtyard wearing sheep costumes and signs that read, “I’m a baaaaad student.” The next story is about Dillyn from the Glee Club and how she created an app that controls people’s minds. Olive is affected by it and it takes Maps use of a cat video to break Dillyn’s concentration, allowing Olive to breaks Dillyn’s tablet. The third story goes back to 1985 and involves a young Professor MacPherson. She gets to meet a girl named Toni, who has the ability to turn invisible. Toni gets her the number of a boy MacPherson likes after she had her get a makeover. In the present, MacPherson sees a headline declaring that “La Pisada”, the girl who was Toni, is a wanted assassin on the loose.
So this is the first issue with a new artist and we get four artists. I am hoping that Adam Archer stays on because his style is dead-on for this title. While the yearbook format allows for multiple stories in the issue, I wasn’t a huge fan of them. Brenden Fletcher and Archer handled the main story while the teams of Derek Fridolfs with Dustin Nguyen, Katie Cook, and Hope Larson with Kris Mukai handling the three tales respectively. I enjoyed Nguyen'’ work, as always, while the other two styles just left me cold. I hope this story arc is short lived and gets us back on track with our regular tale.
GRAYSON #16: Posing as a bartender, Dick takes out a target and grabs a briefcase, diving into a car driven by Tiger. It seems that the pair have been busy over the last five days as we see them continent hopping while Dick sings his own version of the theme from GOLDFINGER. Helena Bertinelli goes to the Syndicate and seeks the help of Frankenstein, Keshi, Tao, Bronze Tiger, Gwisin, King Faraday, and Grifter. This leads to Dick and Tiger going off to seek some help of their own…from Maxwell Lord on Checkmate.
While we get a whole bunch of beautiful Mikel Janin full page shots of our boys touring the world with Dick singing, one would think that I would be pissed at having almost 20% of the book devoted to this silliness. But it made me smile and was singing the stupid theme with the new lyrics in my head. Then we top it off by not only having Tim Seeley and Tom King reveal the Syndicate members and have Dick team up with Max Lord. LOVE IT!!!
GREEN ARROW #48: Oliver is out in the Rainier wilderness as he tries to get used to his transformation with the Lukos Virus. He comes across human footprints which leads him to Norton: the caretaker the Queen family hired to watch over their land whose son has recently passed away. Later, Ollie takes a phone call from Broderick, who is indulging in his masochistic tendencies. Oliver hears a noise outside and that leads him to lost hikers and, eventually Norton, who tells him that his son isn’t dead, but sick. This leads Ollie to the hikers again as they are attacked by Norton’s werewolf son. Ollie gives in to his animal instincts and leaps into combat with the creature. But it’s Norton who saves the day by killing his own son.
Yeah…not buying all this. While Patrick Zircher’s art shines, the story doesn’t. Ben Percy is trying to give some depth to a multi-part story that will play out over the next few issues, but it just doesn’t work for me. It felt too forced and way too predictable. I figured out what was going on the minute Norton talked about his dead son. For me, that’s not a spoiler…that’s just a bad cliché.
GREEN LANTERN #48: We begin in Coast City Hospital where the friends and family of the victims of Sonar's attack are waiting to hear potential good news about their loved ones. A news broadcast of Sonar demanding that the United Nations grant Modora the right to be a sovereign nation or else plays in the waiting room. This leads Hal to Gotham City to search for the head of the Modoran Separatist Army and he runs into Batman in the process. Gordon sends him to an M.S.A. training camp in Kahndaq where Hal confronts the M.S.A. soldiers. But they speak the words FREE MODORA and the bombs in their heads blow up. As Hal figures what to do, Parallax arrives to where Oa should be and decides that Hal Jordan must die.
Yes…CONVERGENCE rears its’ head and gives us this little dilemma. How can two Hals exist in this universe? Oh yeah…the same way that two Clark Kents can live in this universe. It’s called…CONVERGENCE! Robert Venditti wrote it while Martin Coccolo and Billy Tan drew it. My biggest gripes for the issue are as follows (and they’re small ones): First, why do we have a cover showing a battle between Hal and Jim Gordon when it never appears in the book. Also…hire a proofreader that knows Hal’s home is called Coast City not COST CITY!!!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #1: The Lanterns get Mogo to glow brightly so the lost Lanterns can find the living planet. It does get the attention of the lost Lanterns, but it also attracts a planet-sized city with a pair of giant protectors called Dimsas and Ausras. They want help and the Lanterns, while divided, agree to assist. So they get introduced to the citizens as their new champions even as some hooded figures seem to be making plans. Muk Muk heads out to explore the city and ends up getting killed for his curiosity.
Tom Taylor and Ethan Van Sciver combine to give us a fast-paced book that looks fantastic! I mean, I have always been a fan of Van Sciver, going all the way back to his work on CYBERFROG and FUZZY BUZZARD (yes…I was reading Hall of Heroes titles way back when!). And I generally like most of Tom Taylor’s work. This book seems to want to avoid the problems with the LOST Green Lantern title, in that the book moved with a snail’s pace. This one is action from the beginning and right up until the cliffhanger ending. I can’t wait to see what issue #2 brings us.
HARLEY QUINN #24: Harley goes off to City Hall to meet with the Mayor about getting Mason out of Arkham Asylum with no luck. Harley declares war, while the Mayor tells his assistant to take care of Harley. Harley goes back to Coney Island, where she gathers up her troops and prepares to go to war with City Hall. But they have the idea first and the Mayor’s men come a calling. There is a lot of gunplay and a lot of bloodshed, but Harley and her team prevail. After interrogating the attackers, she sends them back to the Mayor’s office by way of a catapult. In the end, Harley leaves for Gotham and Mason gets to know his new neighbor: Mr. J.!
Okay, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti hit all the right funny bones buttons with this issue. I mean, we have a major gore-filled battle between Harley’s team and the Mayor’s thugs that sets new highs for tasteless lows. There are a ton of sight gags like Harvey cuddling a rooster, heads exploding because of boobs, the dog humping Harley in a dog costume, and the Hulk Hogan inspired “brother” who is part of the attack team. And of course, we have Chad Hardin’s always killer art. We all know this book is a cash cow for DC…they are rolling out ANOTHER HARLEY QUINN title in April…but this one finally shows that it hasn’t jumped the shark quite yet.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #48: Delayed until February
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7: It seems that the folks at S.T.A.R. Labs have figured out that Rao is sucking out the "life energy" of the people. Batman and Cyborg have also figured out that Superman is being held by Rao. Even though olympus exploded, Wonder Woman and Aquaman survived and, since all the rest of the gods have bailed, she IS Olympus and has rebuilt Olympus. 250,000 years ago, Green Lantern and the young Rao find the Infinity Corporation inside the Argo Citadel, as well as the current Rao. Flash and Infinity Corporation are on their way back to where Hal is. At the same time, Superman uses his flying ability to crash Rao's space ship into the surface of the moon.
I really wish I knew what Bryan Hitch was doing here. I know some critics have been raving about this series, regarding how it reads and how it looks, but I am not one of those. Hitch’ art is beautiful, as always. But this story, jumping through various time frames and locations is just too busy. Hitch is taking shots, in my mind, at organized religion and I am okay with a questioning author. But Rao is a false icon who just doesn’t feel like a mega villain, like I feel he should. Let’s put it this way: I want this to be a 12-issue mini-series and not a continuing series. I just feel it needs to reach a conclusion.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #8: It’s six months after the destruction of the Justice League and most of our team is trying to hide in plain sight. The Scullions are still searching for them and the team is breaking into their own cliques. Guy Gardner, who's personality is slowly being replaced by Shiryalla Tome, Ice and Fire are forming one group while Wonder Woman, Tina and the Flash form another. Meanwhile, Supergirl, still trying to fit into this time, comes up with a plan. Elsewhere, Lady Styx, the person who has been behind all of the machinations, has Terrance Magnus and plans on making him hers.
Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis continue to write one of the coolest takes on the classic superhero team. And now, because of the elimination of the guys on the team, it’s an all-girl group now. Well, except that guy is still a guy who is slowly becoming a girl again. Add Scott Kolins funky art to the mix and this series still is one of the coolest, quirkiest titles out there.
Greg Pak turns the heat up and makes this one of his best issues to date. Besides all the action going on, we get version 5.0 of Metallo’s suit, which not only gives Superman something close to his powers, but also means it’s killing him too. Then we toos in Steel, The Atom and the JLU and this book was action packed from beginning to end. And we get a cool cliffhanger too! Aaron Kuder and Rafa Sandoval do the art duties and this book looks great! As we race to issue #50, the status quo is about to change again!
AQUAMAN #48: As much as The Drift, Garth, Tula, Swatt and Murk, want to not believe it, seeing Mera versus Mera convinces them that Aquaman has ben telling the truth about her doppelganger. She and Arthur share a kiss and then it’s back into battle. Aquaman uses his trident and the powers Poseidon gave him to have our world to consume Thule. The world is saved, Wonder Woman says she'll talk Poseidon about giving Aquaman his powers back and now he has to figure how to rule a kingdom now filled with the refugees from Thule.
And thus ends Cullen Bunn’s run on this title; a run that was never embraced by fandom. So Bunn has decided to step down and Dan Abnett prepares to step in. This was an okay wrap up to the plot threads that Bunn has been weaving. Vincente Cifuentes handles the art and it looks really good. So, where does our hero go from here? He gets to reunite with his wife, rebuild his kingdom, and try to figure out how to be Aquaman again without the powers of Poseidon. Should be a fun ride, provided that Abnett decides to address those issues.
BATGIRL #47: Batgirl teams up with Spoiler and Bluebird to try and figure out how GCPD obtained information from her. Disguised as police officers, Spoiler and Batgirl infiltrate GCPD and discover that police reports say it was Barbara who tipped them about the Forster Lane Gang, leading our heroine to wonder if she is losing her mind. The duo gets caught and is forced to change into costume and fight the cops. A wrinkle comes into play when Corporal Punishment gets in the middle of it all and fights with the duo. It takes Bluebird to come to their rescue. In the end, a mysterious figure from Barbara’s dreams convinces her to go on with Luke’s plan to create a company to bring the world renewable, sustainable energy.
Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher continue their stint on this title and introduce what feels like a new version of the BIRDS OF PREY. But what should be a big event is slightly hampered by an uneven art job. I am not now and haven’t been a fan of the cartoony art of Babs Tarr. But she is not here this month and BATGIRL fans are crying about it! Instead, we get Eleonora Carlini and Moritat sharing the art duties. Now, we haven’t seen Moritat since ALL STAR WESTERN went under but the style is truly morphed to look like Tarr. DC has recently Tweeted out an image of a blue curtain with the word REBIRTH on it. Rumors have been flying about DC rebooting their line AGAIN. If that happens, maybe we’ll actually lose the Batrgirled Batgirl!
BATMAN #48: Bruce and the Joker continue their park bench conversation, with the Joker, who may or may not realize who he realize is, begging Bruce not to go back to his own life. Just when it seems that the Joker is going to shoot himself, Gotham errupts with explosions as a giant Mr. Bloom unleashes his attack on Gotham City with Jim Gordon in his clutches. As he reveals Gordon’s identity to the world, he tells the citizens to go searching for his seeds and them inplant them in their skin. Unfortunately, it causes them to morph and explode. When Liv explodes in front of him, Bruce tracks down Alfred and demands he take him to his cave.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo gear up towards the big finish of this story. You know the one-the one that brings Brcue Wayne back into the suit. As always, the book looks great and Snyder's’story is amazingly complex but subtlety simple at the same time. Does the Joker know who he really is? How does either Batman stop Bloom? What happens to Jim Gordon with Bruce back in action? What happens when Baba finds out her dad was Batman? I’m sure a lot of these questions will go unanswered for a time. But this much is sure: BATMAN IS COMING BACK, BABY!
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #14-17: In issue #14, the flashback has Batman and Robin break up a chemical plant in Prague. During the fight, Batman gets a private call from the Scarecrow, who wants to set up a face to face meeting with him regarding Mother. At that meeting, Batman informs Scarecrow that he now works for the Dark Knight. Back in the present, the bomb in the Nursery is still ticking as Orphan tells Dick, Harper, and Cassandra that the children here were killed because they were imperfect. He activates the defense system for the Nursery and they get attacked by hundreds of laser firing robots. Harper can’t disarm the bomb, but Dick defeats Orphan and manages to shut down the robots. The Nursery blows up and Dick informs everyone they are heading to Spyral Headquarters in England.
In issue #15, Tim and an unconscious Red Hood arrive at Gnosis-the Secret City of St. Dumas. Once brought inside by Azrael, Jason is put into a prison hole while Tim is given a tour of the place. As Jason breaks free, Tim meets the current Saint Dumas and is forced to fight Azrael. Both our heroes find out about Project Ichthys, where Jason gets visited by the apparition of The Joker with a crowbar. In the Prague flashback, Scarecrow meets with Mother and Batman tells Robin that Scarecrow is on his way to Cairo.
In issue #16, we see that Batman and Robin had tracked Scarecrow to Cairo, where they have captured him. This led to Batman retrieving a gun from a trashcan and heading off to pass Mother’s final test. In the present, Tim is still trapped in Gnosis by Azrael and St. Dumas while Ichthys is still making Jason fight the Joker in his mind. Tim talks enough to dig up a memory for Jean Paul that turns him around and sets him into attacking St. Dumas and his monks. This allows Tim to convince Jason not to fight his fear but experience his death at Joker’s hands all over again. With the order defeated and Azrael in control of Gnosis, Jason and Tim head off to join Dick, Harper, Cassandra, and Orphan.
In issue #17, we see Dick and Helena Bertinelli unsuccessfully attempt to interrogate Orphan. At the same time, Harper spends some time at St. Hadrian’s before having a conversation with Orphan, who tells her he knows secrets that she needs to know. In the flashback, Batman has shot the parents of a boy in Cairo. But Mother has figured out that he shot them with rubber bullets and sets the boy and Orphan after him. But she has a plan and that will involve orphaning someone in America. For now…she orders Orphan to kill Batman.
With two months to go, we race towards the conclusion. Who was the target in America? Who was Sculptor supposed to kill? Will our team get the answer in time to save more kids? Again James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly provide the story while Fernando Blanco, Christian Duce, Andrea Mutti, Roger Robinson, Scot Eaton, and Goran Sudzuka give us the art. This series has been a fun ride and, since it isn’t running 52 issues like BATMAN ETERNAL did, it has managed to maintain my interest.
BATMAN BEYOND #8: Batman Beyond is turning Neo Gotham upside down looking for the missing Matt. Meeting with Micron, he tells of how Brother Eye converted Warhawk and Barda and that he survived because he went miniature. The story gets interrupted when thousands of people arrive looking for sanctuary, but Mayor Luke Fox isn't letting them in. Meanwhile, Matt has John Stewart's ring and has made his way to Metropolis and is making his way to the remains of the Justice League Watchtower. He is being watched though, by a group of animal men.
Okay…now I am REALLY excited about this! While the back story that Micron tells manages to fill in some holes in the story, the really exciting piece of it has to do with the final page revelation. By the looks of it, we are going to find out that what happened in the future is what was The Great Disaster. Now, as someone who absolutely loved Jack Kirby’s legendary KAMANDI series, I would be thrilled to have this lead to that character making his New 52 debut. That would also mean that these animals had been given doses of Cortexin and that is what made them intelligent. Maybe we can get the whole cast in here: Ben Boxer, Steve, Renzi, Dr. Canus, Tuftin, Great Caesar and Mylock. Yeah…thank you Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang for giving me hope that part of my childhood will find itself into my adulthood.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #28: Commander Randall is on a space walk outside of the lunar space station when an explosion puts her life in jeopardy and Superman saves the day. A giant reptile space traveler has turned up dead on the moon and that leads Superman to help his pal Batman defeat Clayface and take the World’s Greatest Detective to the moon to investigate. Batman believes that the alien has been murdered and the fact that a drone is watching them seems to prove it. It seems that the traveler was searching to meet with Superman, but she came across something from Krytpton.
Well, that is quite a set up. And I was totally thrilled to see Superman teaming up with the Bruce Wayne Batman and not the Jim Gordon one. Tom Taylor wrote a great story that ends with a nice little cliffhanger. However, Robson Rocha’s art is uneven and I want to lay the blame on three different inkers. This book has been a bit of a disappointment with the TRUTH story stepping into it, so this was a welcome change.
BLACK CANARY #7: The aged Kurt Lance is the record label owner behind everything that has gone on with the band. He explains that Ditto is an alien who is the physical embodiment of sound and when Dinah and Bo sang together it caused she and Kurt to go to another time and another dimension. When they came back, they did so at a different point in time and with Kurt older. A monster named Quietus can eat sound and is responsible for most of what has gone on since issue #1. Amanda Waller shows up and wants to take Ditto. Kurt says if she lets Dinah and Bo defeat Quietus, he will give her what she wants. Bo and Dinah team up and defeat the creature. Kurt’s deal with Waller is to take HIM, as he now has in his DNA what Ditto has in hers. The only problem…Dinah is missing and ready to have the mysterious woman in white
Brenden Fletcher and Annie Wu bring this art to a conclusion…but not really. We get an origin story for Ditto and a semi-origin for Kurt Lance’ aging. But that also gives us a bit of a time dilemma. How could old Kurt be the guy who was pulling the strings about all this at the same time young Kurt was running around helping the band? You can’t have two people in the same space and time, can you? That would be like having two Hal Jordans or two Clark Kents or two Donna Troys…oh wait: never mind!
CATWOMAN #48: Catwoman is in New York City and Detective Vincent Scagnetti and his officers have walked into a murder scene and think she is responsible. Well, Scagnetti admits that she is the patsy. With her guile and a little slight of hand, she gets away and makes her way to one of her safe houses, where she has Tesla do some investigating for her, finding out that Scagnetti likes to play cards at The Iceberg Lounge. She pays Penguin a visit and demands he arrange to get the murder charges off her back, but Clayface intervenes. She gets away, but Tesla lets her know that she found out there is a bounty on Selina’s head…and Croc may be the first to try and collect.
Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda have certainly managed to cut a lot of Selina’s mob ties and dropped her back into the suit and in the game of stealing and dealing. But the mob ties still play a supporting role in this title. Miranda’s art shines and Selina looks super attractive. Oh yeah: she has also cut her hair and now she’s a blonde and Tesla reminds her that she now looks like Michelle Pfeiffer in LADYHAWKE. Now THAT is a pop culture reference!
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #8: With John’s current boyfriend captured, Papa Midnite and Constantine infiltrate Papa’s building and nightclub in an attempt to get it back from Mr. Rumor. Constantine discovers that Papa has a portal to hell that powers a pocket dimension. But Rumor has a partner in the form of Neron and it looks like the boys are screwed.
This book continues to be an uneven ride, although this issue was a bit better than most. Riley Rossmo and Brian Level are resposnible for the kicking look of this issue and having five gorgeous two-page spreads is the reason. Trippy, sexy and cool is the buzz words for their work here. Oh yeah-Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV’s story is pretty neat too, although having a rooster-snake be the one torturing John’s boyfriend is just a little...weird!
CYBORG #7: The government claims S.T.A.R. Labs and everyone in it, including Cyborg. In the meantime, Victor’s mom, a ghost in the machine, visits with him and he fills her in on events since her death.
Short review for this issue. David F. Walker’s story about Victor and his mom was wonderful. The rest of it…not so much. But Claude St. Aubin’s art was especially nice.
DEATHSTROKE #14: Slade is making his way through Lexcorp in search of his missing daughter Rose. Along the way, he runs into Luthor’s Lexbots and then Luthor’s suit controlled by Lex’ intellectual algorithm. As a mysterious figure with glowing eyes forces Rose to watch, Slade end up in the basement of Lexcorp and runs into a trio of Bizarros.
Things are looking bad for Slade as he spends the whole issue fighting his way through Lexcorp only to end up in the basement with Bizarros. While this book may not be as bloody as when it started in the hand of Tony S. Daniels, James Bonny and Tyler S. Kirkham are doing a great job of keeping the action and mystery going on this title. Who are the mystery folks holding Rose and what is their final plan?
DETECTIVE COMICS #48: While Batman watches over Gotham City, he calls his daughter, who is out fighting crime herself. Hearing a gunshot, he finds a man dressed like George Washington dead in an alley before Batman gets shot by a flintlock pistol. Luckily, his back-up team are in the blimp close by and pull him to safety. The shooter heads back to his hideout in Woodcrest Cemetary, where he has quite the collection of false faces. At the Gotham Morgue, Gordon and Bullock examine the dead George Washington who was actually a decorated Gotham firefighter. Gordon heads off in the blimp to investigate a weather balloon on the top of Wayne Tower. Only it’s not a weather balloon-it’s a dead astronaut.
First things first: Fernando Pasarin’s artwork is so incredible and this book looks fantastic! I seriously hope he hangs around for longer than just this story arc. Add to that Peter J. Tomasi’s great story that does wonders for the Jim Gordon character. My question is what is going to happen when Bruce Wayne walks back into this role. How does Jim go back to being a member of GCPD after he has been a superhero? I’m sure that Tomasi will handle that with his usual flair.
DOCTOR FATE #8: Khalid continues to learn how to use his powers as he also comes to grips with understanding what it is that Nabu wants from him. He spends the issue saving lives and dealing with the after effects of the flooding. His girlfriend is mad because she cannot reach him, his dad and he have a heart to heart talk and Professor Bradus and his dog Sheba try to convince him that he is being watched over along his journey.
Paul Levitz and Ibrahim Moustafa, filling in for Sonny Liew, continue to give us a lackluster title. It wants to be AMAZING SPIDER MAN in his earliest years by having him follow a path of self-exploration. Unfortunately, Levitz’ Khalid doesn’t have the wide-eyed wonder that Stan Lee’s Peter Parker did. This book continues to flounder, as it is more about the man and not the battle. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it isn’t great right now.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #8: In Neotropolis, Commander Sato, Captain Steel, Val-Zod, Green Lantern, Khalid and Sandman have banded together to figure out how to bring the peace between the warring cities. Green Lantern heads out ot help Power Girl, Huntress and Flash fight a giant monster. Meanwhile, over in New Gotham, Batman is battling some thugs when the energy pack they have explodes leaving a question as to who survives. In the end, Hawkgirl enters a strange cliff opening and runs into an army of Amazons led by Fury.
This book is still having problems getting itself off the ground on the right foot. Dan Abnett writes a good story but I find these characters to be cardboard ones and even John Steinbeck would have problems making this group interesting. Jorge Jimenez handles the art and it’s just okay. Overall, this book continues to struggle to be as captivating as its’ predecessor.
FLASH #48: Delayed until February
GOTHAM ACADEMY #14: Set just before Winter Break, Olive gives Maps a scrapbook, so she can make herself a yearbook detailing their adventures from the past school year. The first story is about Prank Week and involves Eric and Colton accidentally releasing a bat winged goat monster from Dr. Langstrom’s lab. In return, he makes them stand in the courtyard wearing sheep costumes and signs that read, “I’m a baaaaad student.” The next story is about Dillyn from the Glee Club and how she created an app that controls people’s minds. Olive is affected by it and it takes Maps use of a cat video to break Dillyn’s concentration, allowing Olive to breaks Dillyn’s tablet. The third story goes back to 1985 and involves a young Professor MacPherson. She gets to meet a girl named Toni, who has the ability to turn invisible. Toni gets her the number of a boy MacPherson likes after she had her get a makeover. In the present, MacPherson sees a headline declaring that “La Pisada”, the girl who was Toni, is a wanted assassin on the loose.
So this is the first issue with a new artist and we get four artists. I am hoping that Adam Archer stays on because his style is dead-on for this title. While the yearbook format allows for multiple stories in the issue, I wasn’t a huge fan of them. Brenden Fletcher and Archer handled the main story while the teams of Derek Fridolfs with Dustin Nguyen, Katie Cook, and Hope Larson with Kris Mukai handling the three tales respectively. I enjoyed Nguyen'’ work, as always, while the other two styles just left me cold. I hope this story arc is short lived and gets us back on track with our regular tale.
GRAYSON #16: Posing as a bartender, Dick takes out a target and grabs a briefcase, diving into a car driven by Tiger. It seems that the pair have been busy over the last five days as we see them continent hopping while Dick sings his own version of the theme from GOLDFINGER. Helena Bertinelli goes to the Syndicate and seeks the help of Frankenstein, Keshi, Tao, Bronze Tiger, Gwisin, King Faraday, and Grifter. This leads to Dick and Tiger going off to seek some help of their own…from Maxwell Lord on Checkmate.
While we get a whole bunch of beautiful Mikel Janin full page shots of our boys touring the world with Dick singing, one would think that I would be pissed at having almost 20% of the book devoted to this silliness. But it made me smile and was singing the stupid theme with the new lyrics in my head. Then we top it off by not only having Tim Seeley and Tom King reveal the Syndicate members and have Dick team up with Max Lord. LOVE IT!!!
GREEN ARROW #48: Oliver is out in the Rainier wilderness as he tries to get used to his transformation with the Lukos Virus. He comes across human footprints which leads him to Norton: the caretaker the Queen family hired to watch over their land whose son has recently passed away. Later, Ollie takes a phone call from Broderick, who is indulging in his masochistic tendencies. Oliver hears a noise outside and that leads him to lost hikers and, eventually Norton, who tells him that his son isn’t dead, but sick. This leads Ollie to the hikers again as they are attacked by Norton’s werewolf son. Ollie gives in to his animal instincts and leaps into combat with the creature. But it’s Norton who saves the day by killing his own son.
Yeah…not buying all this. While Patrick Zircher’s art shines, the story doesn’t. Ben Percy is trying to give some depth to a multi-part story that will play out over the next few issues, but it just doesn’t work for me. It felt too forced and way too predictable. I figured out what was going on the minute Norton talked about his dead son. For me, that’s not a spoiler…that’s just a bad cliché.
GREEN LANTERN #48: We begin in Coast City Hospital where the friends and family of the victims of Sonar's attack are waiting to hear potential good news about their loved ones. A news broadcast of Sonar demanding that the United Nations grant Modora the right to be a sovereign nation or else plays in the waiting room. This leads Hal to Gotham City to search for the head of the Modoran Separatist Army and he runs into Batman in the process. Gordon sends him to an M.S.A. training camp in Kahndaq where Hal confronts the M.S.A. soldiers. But they speak the words FREE MODORA and the bombs in their heads blow up. As Hal figures what to do, Parallax arrives to where Oa should be and decides that Hal Jordan must die.
Yes…CONVERGENCE rears its’ head and gives us this little dilemma. How can two Hals exist in this universe? Oh yeah…the same way that two Clark Kents can live in this universe. It’s called…CONVERGENCE! Robert Venditti wrote it while Martin Coccolo and Billy Tan drew it. My biggest gripes for the issue are as follows (and they’re small ones): First, why do we have a cover showing a battle between Hal and Jim Gordon when it never appears in the book. Also…hire a proofreader that knows Hal’s home is called Coast City not COST CITY!!!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #1: The Lanterns get Mogo to glow brightly so the lost Lanterns can find the living planet. It does get the attention of the lost Lanterns, but it also attracts a planet-sized city with a pair of giant protectors called Dimsas and Ausras. They want help and the Lanterns, while divided, agree to assist. So they get introduced to the citizens as their new champions even as some hooded figures seem to be making plans. Muk Muk heads out to explore the city and ends up getting killed for his curiosity.
Tom Taylor and Ethan Van Sciver combine to give us a fast-paced book that looks fantastic! I mean, I have always been a fan of Van Sciver, going all the way back to his work on CYBERFROG and FUZZY BUZZARD (yes…I was reading Hall of Heroes titles way back when!). And I generally like most of Tom Taylor’s work. This book seems to want to avoid the problems with the LOST Green Lantern title, in that the book moved with a snail’s pace. This one is action from the beginning and right up until the cliffhanger ending. I can’t wait to see what issue #2 brings us.
HARLEY QUINN #24: Harley goes off to City Hall to meet with the Mayor about getting Mason out of Arkham Asylum with no luck. Harley declares war, while the Mayor tells his assistant to take care of Harley. Harley goes back to Coney Island, where she gathers up her troops and prepares to go to war with City Hall. But they have the idea first and the Mayor’s men come a calling. There is a lot of gunplay and a lot of bloodshed, but Harley and her team prevail. After interrogating the attackers, she sends them back to the Mayor’s office by way of a catapult. In the end, Harley leaves for Gotham and Mason gets to know his new neighbor: Mr. J.!
Okay, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti hit all the right funny bones buttons with this issue. I mean, we have a major gore-filled battle between Harley’s team and the Mayor’s thugs that sets new highs for tasteless lows. There are a ton of sight gags like Harvey cuddling a rooster, heads exploding because of boobs, the dog humping Harley in a dog costume, and the Hulk Hogan inspired “brother” who is part of the attack team. And of course, we have Chad Hardin’s always killer art. We all know this book is a cash cow for DC…they are rolling out ANOTHER HARLEY QUINN title in April…but this one finally shows that it hasn’t jumped the shark quite yet.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #48: Delayed until February
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7: It seems that the folks at S.T.A.R. Labs have figured out that Rao is sucking out the "life energy" of the people. Batman and Cyborg have also figured out that Superman is being held by Rao. Even though olympus exploded, Wonder Woman and Aquaman survived and, since all the rest of the gods have bailed, she IS Olympus and has rebuilt Olympus. 250,000 years ago, Green Lantern and the young Rao find the Infinity Corporation inside the Argo Citadel, as well as the current Rao. Flash and Infinity Corporation are on their way back to where Hal is. At the same time, Superman uses his flying ability to crash Rao's space ship into the surface of the moon.
I really wish I knew what Bryan Hitch was doing here. I know some critics have been raving about this series, regarding how it reads and how it looks, but I am not one of those. Hitch’ art is beautiful, as always. But this story, jumping through various time frames and locations is just too busy. Hitch is taking shots, in my mind, at organized religion and I am okay with a questioning author. But Rao is a false icon who just doesn’t feel like a mega villain, like I feel he should. Let’s put it this way: I want this to be a 12-issue mini-series and not a continuing series. I just feel it needs to reach a conclusion.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #8: It’s six months after the destruction of the Justice League and most of our team is trying to hide in plain sight. The Scullions are still searching for them and the team is breaking into their own cliques. Guy Gardner, who's personality is slowly being replaced by Shiryalla Tome, Ice and Fire are forming one group while Wonder Woman, Tina and the Flash form another. Meanwhile, Supergirl, still trying to fit into this time, comes up with a plan. Elsewhere, Lady Styx, the person who has been behind all of the machinations, has Terrance Magnus and plans on making him hers.
Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis continue to write one of the coolest takes on the classic superhero team. And now, because of the elimination of the guys on the team, it’s an all-girl group now. Well, except that guy is still a guy who is slowly becoming a girl again. Add Scott Kolins funky art to the mix and this series still is one of the coolest, quirkiest titles out there.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Even MORE Marvel #1's
A-FORCE #1: Singularity, who was part of an all female team on Battleworld, finds the Alpha Flight Space Station where Carol Danvers, otherwise known as Captain Marvel, is running her team. While Singularity remembers her time on Battleworld, Carol does not and does not remember her friend. The Anti-Matter Well, that the Alpha Flight team had earlier neutralized, reforms and causes not only Captain Marvel but Singularity. The ship Singularity is in crashes into New Attilan, where she climbs out to find that Antimatter followed her down. They brawl in the streets until Singularity sees Jennifer Walters’ office and heads there. Unfortunately, She-Hulk doesn’t know her either but they team up to defeat Antimatter. Medusa shows up with an army, because Singularity destroyed an expensive communications tower in the process. Confused, because she saw Medusa die in Arcadia, Singularity goes to embrace her and is put in handcuffs.
I read the first issue of this series when it was part of the SECRET WARS and it was so bad that I couldn’t even think about spending my money on it. So, I come into this book without knowing what transpired there. What the Splash Page of this book by G. Willow Wilson and Jorge Molina tells me is that the team will be made of Medusa, She-Hulk, Singularity, Captain Marvel, Nico Minoru (from The Runaways) and Dazzler. While I like the characters individually, I’m not keen on the way this team has been introduced here. Of course, eight months have transpired and we have no idea how we got to here. I do have to admit that the Wilson’s writing is keen and much better than the first issue of that mini-series. But it’s still not my cup of tea.
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1: Someone wearing a fake Iron Man armor is attacking The Pentagon. Later, Tony Stark and Melinda May try to figure out where Phil Coulson is, not knowing he in being tortured in a A.I.M. base. Luckily, Coulson’s team, consisting of Quake, Mockingbord, Fitz, Jemma and Deathlok, are available to bust him out. Stark informs Coulson that the source of the lost technology is Lola Daniels: his ex-fiancée. Meanwhile, Fitz asks Melinda May out to dinner.
I watched the first season of the television show and it had its’ ups and downs. To be honest, I haven’t see it since except for the first episode of the second season. I have a problem with a book that is adapted from a television show. Marc Guggenheim and German Peralta do the best they can, but I see no point in this except to cash in on the show. Oh yeah: what Deathlok is this? Henry Hayes? Who?
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1: Captain Marvel is Carol Danvers and is also Commander Carol Danvers: head of the intergalactic Alpha Flight. In the process, she says goodbye to her boyfriend James “Rhodey” Rhodes and meets Lt. Commander Abigail Brand and teammates Sasquatch, Puck, and Aurora. In the issue, they come across an ancient war ship. When Carol investigates, she finds out that there is a marking on the ship-his making.
I read the first issue of the last series, as written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Suffice it to say, I absolutely hated it! I didn’t like her characterization and liked DeConnick’s dialogue even worse. So Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters took over the writing on this version and it’s an improvement. Fazekas and Butters worked on AGENT CARTER, so they know how to right a great story. And again…it’s better than DeConnick’s run. But the clear winner in this book is Kris Anka’s artwork. Oh yeah…we also get Puck, Sasquatch and Aurora. Now, if you can give me the rest of the classic team…
DEADPOOL AND CABLE #1: Deadpool is ripping through Hydra guys to get to Dr. Carl Weathers and plans to kill him. But cable shows up and tells him killing him will lead to the destruction of the universe. So they set off to stop an assassin and may save him, but it costs the life of a bystander in the process.
I am a huge fan of Fabian Nicieza’s writing, but I can’t get behind this title. The joke count is higher than it is in the regular DEADPOOL title…what does that tell you? Reilly Brown handles the art and it looks great. In fact, that is the best part of the book. As a Nineties throwback, it just doesn’t work.
OLD MAN LOGAN #1: Following the end of the SECRET WARS, a naked Logan wakes up Times Square in his own past. In flashbacks, he thinks of his time in the future where he and his family had to deal with life after the villians’ uprising. Back in the present, he hunts down and executes the youth who would otherwise have become The Butcher.
Logan is a wild animal in the hands of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. If you read the mini-series, you know what that means. This book looks great, has a great STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND feel too it and is possibly the best new post SECRET WARS book to date. I need to say nothing else. This title rocks!
ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT #1: After SECRET WARS, the world at large thinks that Rocket Raccoon and Groot are dead. But they’re not. And we also get the new duo of Pocket the talking squirrel and his partner Shrub.
Scottie Young writes it and Filipe Andrade draws like Young. And it’s a GUARDIANS related title. And don’t we need as many of those as we need DEADPOOL and HARLEY QUINN titles?
SILVER SURFER #1: The Hordax show up on Earth’s televisions and threaten to destroy the planet. Luckily the Silver Surfer and Dawn arrive. While the Surfer defeats the Hordax, Dawn says hello to Dad and sister watching at home. The pair come to Earth and spent time with Dawn’s family, including sitting back and watching THE WIZARD OF OZ. Soon, the planet is having it’s culture stripped away, so Surfer and Dawn head back into space again to confront the Hordax. In the end, The Thing crash lands on Planet Elanis and bows down to the Keeper of the Great Truth.
So…it goes like this: you either LIKE Mike Allred’s art and Laura Allred’s colors or you don’t. Me: I LOVE Allred’s work and always have. Hey-I was a GRAFIK MUSIK fan back when most of the world had no idea what to make of it. Of course,,,I LOVED FLAMING CARROT TOO! Now, we all know Dan Slott from his work on THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN and again, you either like his work or don’t. For me, this team is a tremendous winning combination. If you didn’t read the last series, you need to embrace this one!
SPIDER MAN/DEADPOOL #1: Our heroes are tied up, arguing, and facing the wrath of the dreaded Dormammu. This leads to a flashback where the pair are fighting Hydro Man. It turns out that this whole battle with Dormammu is actually Deadpool auditioning Spider man for a job as his partner. In the end, Wade gets a job offer with a 100 million-dollar payday. The job? Take out Peter Parker.
Back in the day, Joe Kelly had a great Deadpool run along with some really good AMAZING SPIDER-MAN tales. Kelly reunites with Ed McGuinness to deliver a fun, silly, pun-filled title that puts DEADPOOL AND CABLE to shame. The joke count is as high here, but so much more on target. With Wade threatening to “unsheath my katana” against Parker’s “spider eggs”, the sexual innuendo is blatant that it is brilliant. The only thing that ticked me off was the size of the book, which contained all of VISION #1 reprinted in its’ entirety. Now, they didn’t charge extra for it, but I just feel ripped off by having a HUGE book with a story I already bought in it!
UNCANNY X-MEN #1: Magneto and his team of X-Men, Sabretooth, Monet, Psylocke, and Archangel, are dedicated to rescuing some mutants who have willingly placed themselves in suspended animation as they try to avoid the effects of the Terrigen mist. Despite their good deed, the Dark Riders are here and seem to be hell bent on eliminating mutants.
The good news is that this book looks tremendous in the hands of Greg Land. There are several great looking splash pages and an incredible two page spread featuring the team that is so amazing that if Marvel doesn’t put this out as a poster they are just throwing money away. But Cullen Bunn’s story is less than spectacular. The problem is NOT Bunn’s story, it’s Bunn’s characters. This is an anti-hero team similar to the last X-FORCE team. There is a morality issue at stake here and it seems that Magneto’s crew is all about mutants and not about maintaining human lives. Because of that, I found it hard to LIKE these characters. There are a whole bunch of X-titles out there and this USED TO BE the flagship title. But now, that has fallen on EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN and this title is just an also ran. I will stick with it for a bit, mostly because of Land’s work and the hope that there will be some good coming out of them.
I read the first issue of this series when it was part of the SECRET WARS and it was so bad that I couldn’t even think about spending my money on it. So, I come into this book without knowing what transpired there. What the Splash Page of this book by G. Willow Wilson and Jorge Molina tells me is that the team will be made of Medusa, She-Hulk, Singularity, Captain Marvel, Nico Minoru (from The Runaways) and Dazzler. While I like the characters individually, I’m not keen on the way this team has been introduced here. Of course, eight months have transpired and we have no idea how we got to here. I do have to admit that the Wilson’s writing is keen and much better than the first issue of that mini-series. But it’s still not my cup of tea.
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1: Someone wearing a fake Iron Man armor is attacking The Pentagon. Later, Tony Stark and Melinda May try to figure out where Phil Coulson is, not knowing he in being tortured in a A.I.M. base. Luckily, Coulson’s team, consisting of Quake, Mockingbord, Fitz, Jemma and Deathlok, are available to bust him out. Stark informs Coulson that the source of the lost technology is Lola Daniels: his ex-fiancée. Meanwhile, Fitz asks Melinda May out to dinner.
I watched the first season of the television show and it had its’ ups and downs. To be honest, I haven’t see it since except for the first episode of the second season. I have a problem with a book that is adapted from a television show. Marc Guggenheim and German Peralta do the best they can, but I see no point in this except to cash in on the show. Oh yeah: what Deathlok is this? Henry Hayes? Who?
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1: Captain Marvel is Carol Danvers and is also Commander Carol Danvers: head of the intergalactic Alpha Flight. In the process, she says goodbye to her boyfriend James “Rhodey” Rhodes and meets Lt. Commander Abigail Brand and teammates Sasquatch, Puck, and Aurora. In the issue, they come across an ancient war ship. When Carol investigates, she finds out that there is a marking on the ship-his making.
I read the first issue of the last series, as written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Suffice it to say, I absolutely hated it! I didn’t like her characterization and liked DeConnick’s dialogue even worse. So Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters took over the writing on this version and it’s an improvement. Fazekas and Butters worked on AGENT CARTER, so they know how to right a great story. And again…it’s better than DeConnick’s run. But the clear winner in this book is Kris Anka’s artwork. Oh yeah…we also get Puck, Sasquatch and Aurora. Now, if you can give me the rest of the classic team…
DEADPOOL AND CABLE #1: Deadpool is ripping through Hydra guys to get to Dr. Carl Weathers and plans to kill him. But cable shows up and tells him killing him will lead to the destruction of the universe. So they set off to stop an assassin and may save him, but it costs the life of a bystander in the process.
I am a huge fan of Fabian Nicieza’s writing, but I can’t get behind this title. The joke count is higher than it is in the regular DEADPOOL title…what does that tell you? Reilly Brown handles the art and it looks great. In fact, that is the best part of the book. As a Nineties throwback, it just doesn’t work.
OLD MAN LOGAN #1: Following the end of the SECRET WARS, a naked Logan wakes up Times Square in his own past. In flashbacks, he thinks of his time in the future where he and his family had to deal with life after the villians’ uprising. Back in the present, he hunts down and executes the youth who would otherwise have become The Butcher.
Logan is a wild animal in the hands of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. If you read the mini-series, you know what that means. This book looks great, has a great STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND feel too it and is possibly the best new post SECRET WARS book to date. I need to say nothing else. This title rocks!
ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT #1: After SECRET WARS, the world at large thinks that Rocket Raccoon and Groot are dead. But they’re not. And we also get the new duo of Pocket the talking squirrel and his partner Shrub.
Scottie Young writes it and Filipe Andrade draws like Young. And it’s a GUARDIANS related title. And don’t we need as many of those as we need DEADPOOL and HARLEY QUINN titles?
SILVER SURFER #1: The Hordax show up on Earth’s televisions and threaten to destroy the planet. Luckily the Silver Surfer and Dawn arrive. While the Surfer defeats the Hordax, Dawn says hello to Dad and sister watching at home. The pair come to Earth and spent time with Dawn’s family, including sitting back and watching THE WIZARD OF OZ. Soon, the planet is having it’s culture stripped away, so Surfer and Dawn head back into space again to confront the Hordax. In the end, The Thing crash lands on Planet Elanis and bows down to the Keeper of the Great Truth.
So…it goes like this: you either LIKE Mike Allred’s art and Laura Allred’s colors or you don’t. Me: I LOVE Allred’s work and always have. Hey-I was a GRAFIK MUSIK fan back when most of the world had no idea what to make of it. Of course,,,I LOVED FLAMING CARROT TOO! Now, we all know Dan Slott from his work on THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN and again, you either like his work or don’t. For me, this team is a tremendous winning combination. If you didn’t read the last series, you need to embrace this one!
SPIDER MAN/DEADPOOL #1: Our heroes are tied up, arguing, and facing the wrath of the dreaded Dormammu. This leads to a flashback where the pair are fighting Hydro Man. It turns out that this whole battle with Dormammu is actually Deadpool auditioning Spider man for a job as his partner. In the end, Wade gets a job offer with a 100 million-dollar payday. The job? Take out Peter Parker.
Back in the day, Joe Kelly had a great Deadpool run along with some really good AMAZING SPIDER-MAN tales. Kelly reunites with Ed McGuinness to deliver a fun, silly, pun-filled title that puts DEADPOOL AND CABLE to shame. The joke count is as high here, but so much more on target. With Wade threatening to “unsheath my katana” against Parker’s “spider eggs”, the sexual innuendo is blatant that it is brilliant. The only thing that ticked me off was the size of the book, which contained all of VISION #1 reprinted in its’ entirety. Now, they didn’t charge extra for it, but I just feel ripped off by having a HUGE book with a story I already bought in it!
UNCANNY X-MEN #1: Magneto and his team of X-Men, Sabretooth, Monet, Psylocke, and Archangel, are dedicated to rescuing some mutants who have willingly placed themselves in suspended animation as they try to avoid the effects of the Terrigen mist. Despite their good deed, the Dark Riders are here and seem to be hell bent on eliminating mutants.
The good news is that this book looks tremendous in the hands of Greg Land. There are several great looking splash pages and an incredible two page spread featuring the team that is so amazing that if Marvel doesn’t put this out as a poster they are just throwing money away. But Cullen Bunn’s story is less than spectacular. The problem is NOT Bunn’s story, it’s Bunn’s characters. This is an anti-hero team similar to the last X-FORCE team. There is a morality issue at stake here and it seems that Magneto’s crew is all about mutants and not about maintaining human lives. Because of that, I found it hard to LIKE these characters. There are a whole bunch of X-titles out there and this USED TO BE the flagship title. But now, that has fallen on EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN and this title is just an also ran. I will stick with it for a bit, mostly because of Land’s work and the hope that there will be some good coming out of them.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
DC's ROBIN WAR
ROBIN WAR #1: Part 1 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. One of the Robins tries to break up a robbery that results in the death of the perp and a police officer. This leads to Councilwoman Noctua to get the council to pass the Robin Laws. This leads to numerous arrests throughout Gotham. Damiam shows up at the Robin’s cell where he brawls with Duke, Dre, Dax and Izzy. Batman shows up and gets shocked, literally, by Robin. Red Hood and Red Robin and Grayson is making his way here too. Travis, the kid who was the Robin involved in the beginning of the book, gets killed by a Talon and we see that Noctua is in cahoots with the Court of the Owls. They are happy this war has begun as it means Nightwing will soon rise again.
And so the ROBIN WAR begins, courtesy of Tom King with art by Khary Randolph, Alain Mauricet, Jorge Corona, Andres Guinaldo and Walden Wong(yes…all of them!). This seems to be going into a weird place, as it is rumored to all be leading up to the GRAYSON book going away and being replaced by a new NIGHTWING book. Either way, check out this book which is just the first of five parts this month PLUS three tie-in issues
GRAYSON #15: Part 2 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Red Robin, Robin, Red Hood and Grayson meet with Duke Thomas and all the other Robins in the Gotham Underground and tells them that they are now a part of Robin School. They all spend the entire issue training until Grayson betrays them all and GCPD and Batman arrest them. It seems it’s all about taking care of family and this time, the family may be the Court of Owls.
Well, that certainly amps up what began in the first part of the story! Tim Selley, Tom King and Mikel Janin totally gives us a killer second chapter. Actually, it’s the ending that puts this book over the top. Throughout the rest of the book, it’s a lot of training and monologuing, with some nice exposition between characters. That cliffhanger ending just sends this tale into a new place. Between what is happening in BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL and this, it looks like the Batman family is in a states of major chaos.
DETECTIVE COMICS #47: Part 3 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. We begin with Grayson standing on Batman’s throat. Flashing back to an hour earlier, we see that Gordon and Bullock are not happy about having to lock up all these Robins in “The Cage”. Gordon starts to suspect that Councilwoman Noctura is involved with some underhanded stuff involving all of this while Damian comes up with a plan to get the Robins out. Batman heads to Officer Darrell’s place and runs into Grayson, leading to the battle that started the issue. During the fight, Gordon's cowl comes off Dick’s suspicions are justified. Back at “The Cage”, the Robins get a visit from the Court of the Owls and the Talons.
Ray Fawkes and Steve Pugh bring us the third chapter in the ROBIN WAR saga and, while it is not as good as the first two chapters, it does make a nice effort to push the story along. The whole thing inside The Cage is interesting although having the Owl and Talons show up was predictable. The art looked great, as it’s always a joy to see Pugh’s work. It should be interesting to see what the next installment has to offer.
WE ARE ROBIN #7: Part 4 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Dick and Jim are digging into Council Woman Noctura and find out that she is working with the Talons from the Court of The Owls and is deeply involved with The Cage. At the cage, Damian and Duke verbally spar until The Court brings in Jason and Tim and orders them to fight to the death or else. Luckily, Tim and Jason have a plan that results in them freeing the Robins and taking down the Talons. Well…not ALL of the Talons as more arrive.
Lee Bermejo and Carmine Di Giandomenico give us a nice but slightly uneven paced chapter in the ROBIN WAR. I felt the whole Damian/Duke conversation was a little too long and too heavy handed.. I also found that the whole “fake fight” between Jason and Tim was too predictable, although it was cool to see Tim doing some acrobatics. Over all, it was an okay issue that was able to step away from the main storyline that has been going on in the first six issues and tie in with this seemingly epic story of the new Gray Son.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #7: Part 5 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Robin, Red Robin, and the freed Robins fight a group of Talons from the Court of Owls. After defeating the Talons, the teams split up with Red Robin leading his group to Gotham Academy, where they find the Owls preparing to hatch new Talons. Meanwhile, Council woman Noctua meets with a mysterious figure who demands that she position the police as he orders. Then Batman arrives to stop the Elite Talons from hatching and orders the Robins to flee. Nightwing makes his way through the Labyrinth of the Court of Owls and meets with Lincoln March, while Red Robin’s crew runs afoul of the nee Gray Son-Damian
Patrick Gleason, Ray Fawkes and Scott McDaniel combine to throw one major twist into this story. Okay-so Damian has just recently returned from the dead, reconnected with his mother and his father and now he has turned to the Dark Side? Yeah-really didn’t see that coming! How this is going to lead to Dick becoming Nightwing again is anyone’s guess. This has been a fun mini-series, even though the tie-in series have been a waste of time, as they only tie in one or two pages at best.
GOTHAM ACADEMY #13: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. Olive introduces her classmates to Riko Sheridan, who is on loan from WE ARE ROBIN. That only means that, while the team investigates the monster on campus, Maps gets to go all fan-girl on her. When they all confront the creature, known as Efram, they discover that he may be as old as two centuries. Plus, there are Owls on campus and the police arrive and arrest Riko. And Damian shows up in his Robin gear to tell Maps that she needs to keep her secret identity hidden.
Maps has a secret identity? Cool! This was another great issue, even if it’s actual connection to the ROBIN WAR was a slight one that involved Riko Sheridan coming on campus. Brenden Fletcher writes a fun story, which is constant for this title, even is writing partner Becky Cloonan is missing. Artist Karl Kerschl is gone and has been replaced with Adam Archer. Archer’s work is good, but he’s no Kerschl. Overall: we get a fun issue that leads into the YEARBOOK storyline that begins next issue.
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #7: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. Roy is still teamed up with Joker’s Daughter while Tim meets Jason and tells him about the wholesale capturing of the Robins. Roy and Joker’s Daughter get a job to rescue some orphan kids from the Circus of the Strange. They make a pretty good team but the decision is made that she is safest back in Arkham Asylum. On the way back, they run into lava zombies. When Roy arrives, all that is left is a tangled motorcycle.
This issue is listed as a ROBIN WAR tie-in, but actually that’s kind of a rip-off because the actual time spent on that story is barely two pages. In fact, it pretty much amounts to a handful of panels, plus some flashback stuff by Jason and Tim. Scott Lobdell writes a fun story and Javier Fernandez does a cool job on the illustrations. But to call this a tie-in is insulting to the fans. It’s the continuing Joker’s Daughter/Arsenal team-up with a BRIEF MENTION of the ROBIN WAR. Shame on you, DC!
TEEN TITANS #15: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. While Cassie and Reiser are hanging out in a mansion outside of Gotham, the rest of the team goes to Gotham, where they discover that Professor Pyg is back to his old tricks. His zombie victims proceed to attack them, leaving them in a tough predicament, as they don’t want to harm them. They get captured and Pyg begins to use Beast Boy for his experiments and a girl in captivity is transformed from his blood, causing Power Girl to have to grow and subdue her. Pyg escapes and delivers the heroes’ blood to the Cult of Blood. Meanwhile, Red Hood and Red Robin lead the Robin team to Gotham Academy.
Scott Lobdell and Will Pfeifer turn in another average issue with a whopping two pages devoted to the ROBIN WAR, complete with art from Miguel Mendonca. The highlight of the issue is the always-spectacular artwork of Ian Churchill. What I especially didn’t like, outside of putting Red Robin on the cover with his team, in a scene that never appears in the book, was sticking Cassie and Reiser in a one page throw-away that gets them out of the story. It also allows Churchill to draw Cassie in a skimpy bikini, which is never a bad thing! As of February, Greg Pak and Noel Rodriguez become the creative team. Hopefully, their first issue will be better than this last issue.
ROBIN WAR #2: The conclusion of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Damian Wayne has joined the Court of the Owls so that he could save all the other Robins and all of Gotham from the wrath of the Elite Talons. He takes down Red Robin and Red Hood, which leads to a confrontation with Duke Thomas. The Robins then band together with the police to take out the Elite Talons. Marsh tells Dick that he needs to become Nightwing or else he will trigger a nano tech bomb in Damian’s owl mask. In the end, Duke visits Travis’ grave and tells the rest of the team that they aren't ready to be Robins yet. Jason, Tim and Damian confront Dick about the way he betrayed them and he says it’s what Batman would have done. He goes off and joins the worldwide initiation, where he rejects his Robin past and dons his owl mask.
And so the status quo changes as Dick Grayson truly becomes the Gray Son and joins the Court of the Owls. While we are told this will continue on in GRAYSON, I wonder how long before the title gets renamed NIGHTWING. Written by Tom King with art by Khary Randolph, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Steve Pugh, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens, this story sets events in motion that will obviously play out in future issues of WE ARE ROBIN and ROBIN SON OF BATMAN, plus everything else these characters touch. I hope that DC doesn’t just let what happened in this series fall by the wayside six months from now. A change should at least be semi-permanent.
And so the ROBIN WAR begins, courtesy of Tom King with art by Khary Randolph, Alain Mauricet, Jorge Corona, Andres Guinaldo and Walden Wong(yes…all of them!). This seems to be going into a weird place, as it is rumored to all be leading up to the GRAYSON book going away and being replaced by a new NIGHTWING book. Either way, check out this book which is just the first of five parts this month PLUS three tie-in issues
GRAYSON #15: Part 2 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Red Robin, Robin, Red Hood and Grayson meet with Duke Thomas and all the other Robins in the Gotham Underground and tells them that they are now a part of Robin School. They all spend the entire issue training until Grayson betrays them all and GCPD and Batman arrest them. It seems it’s all about taking care of family and this time, the family may be the Court of Owls.
Well, that certainly amps up what began in the first part of the story! Tim Selley, Tom King and Mikel Janin totally gives us a killer second chapter. Actually, it’s the ending that puts this book over the top. Throughout the rest of the book, it’s a lot of training and monologuing, with some nice exposition between characters. That cliffhanger ending just sends this tale into a new place. Between what is happening in BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL and this, it looks like the Batman family is in a states of major chaos.
DETECTIVE COMICS #47: Part 3 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. We begin with Grayson standing on Batman’s throat. Flashing back to an hour earlier, we see that Gordon and Bullock are not happy about having to lock up all these Robins in “The Cage”. Gordon starts to suspect that Councilwoman Noctura is involved with some underhanded stuff involving all of this while Damian comes up with a plan to get the Robins out. Batman heads to Officer Darrell’s place and runs into Grayson, leading to the battle that started the issue. During the fight, Gordon's cowl comes off Dick’s suspicions are justified. Back at “The Cage”, the Robins get a visit from the Court of the Owls and the Talons.
Ray Fawkes and Steve Pugh bring us the third chapter in the ROBIN WAR saga and, while it is not as good as the first two chapters, it does make a nice effort to push the story along. The whole thing inside The Cage is interesting although having the Owl and Talons show up was predictable. The art looked great, as it’s always a joy to see Pugh’s work. It should be interesting to see what the next installment has to offer.
WE ARE ROBIN #7: Part 4 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Dick and Jim are digging into Council Woman Noctura and find out that she is working with the Talons from the Court of The Owls and is deeply involved with The Cage. At the cage, Damian and Duke verbally spar until The Court brings in Jason and Tim and orders them to fight to the death or else. Luckily, Tim and Jason have a plan that results in them freeing the Robins and taking down the Talons. Well…not ALL of the Talons as more arrive.
Lee Bermejo and Carmine Di Giandomenico give us a nice but slightly uneven paced chapter in the ROBIN WAR. I felt the whole Damian/Duke conversation was a little too long and too heavy handed.. I also found that the whole “fake fight” between Jason and Tim was too predictable, although it was cool to see Tim doing some acrobatics. Over all, it was an okay issue that was able to step away from the main storyline that has been going on in the first six issues and tie in with this seemingly epic story of the new Gray Son.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #7: Part 5 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Robin, Red Robin, and the freed Robins fight a group of Talons from the Court of Owls. After defeating the Talons, the teams split up with Red Robin leading his group to Gotham Academy, where they find the Owls preparing to hatch new Talons. Meanwhile, Council woman Noctua meets with a mysterious figure who demands that she position the police as he orders. Then Batman arrives to stop the Elite Talons from hatching and orders the Robins to flee. Nightwing makes his way through the Labyrinth of the Court of Owls and meets with Lincoln March, while Red Robin’s crew runs afoul of the nee Gray Son-Damian
Patrick Gleason, Ray Fawkes and Scott McDaniel combine to throw one major twist into this story. Okay-so Damian has just recently returned from the dead, reconnected with his mother and his father and now he has turned to the Dark Side? Yeah-really didn’t see that coming! How this is going to lead to Dick becoming Nightwing again is anyone’s guess. This has been a fun mini-series, even though the tie-in series have been a waste of time, as they only tie in one or two pages at best.
GOTHAM ACADEMY #13: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. Olive introduces her classmates to Riko Sheridan, who is on loan from WE ARE ROBIN. That only means that, while the team investigates the monster on campus, Maps gets to go all fan-girl on her. When they all confront the creature, known as Efram, they discover that he may be as old as two centuries. Plus, there are Owls on campus and the police arrive and arrest Riko. And Damian shows up in his Robin gear to tell Maps that she needs to keep her secret identity hidden.
Maps has a secret identity? Cool! This was another great issue, even if it’s actual connection to the ROBIN WAR was a slight one that involved Riko Sheridan coming on campus. Brenden Fletcher writes a fun story, which is constant for this title, even is writing partner Becky Cloonan is missing. Artist Karl Kerschl is gone and has been replaced with Adam Archer. Archer’s work is good, but he’s no Kerschl. Overall: we get a fun issue that leads into the YEARBOOK storyline that begins next issue.
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #7: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. Roy is still teamed up with Joker’s Daughter while Tim meets Jason and tells him about the wholesale capturing of the Robins. Roy and Joker’s Daughter get a job to rescue some orphan kids from the Circus of the Strange. They make a pretty good team but the decision is made that she is safest back in Arkham Asylum. On the way back, they run into lava zombies. When Roy arrives, all that is left is a tangled motorcycle.
This issue is listed as a ROBIN WAR tie-in, but actually that’s kind of a rip-off because the actual time spent on that story is barely two pages. In fact, it pretty much amounts to a handful of panels, plus some flashback stuff by Jason and Tim. Scott Lobdell writes a fun story and Javier Fernandez does a cool job on the illustrations. But to call this a tie-in is insulting to the fans. It’s the continuing Joker’s Daughter/Arsenal team-up with a BRIEF MENTION of the ROBIN WAR. Shame on you, DC!
TEEN TITANS #15: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. While Cassie and Reiser are hanging out in a mansion outside of Gotham, the rest of the team goes to Gotham, where they discover that Professor Pyg is back to his old tricks. His zombie victims proceed to attack them, leaving them in a tough predicament, as they don’t want to harm them. They get captured and Pyg begins to use Beast Boy for his experiments and a girl in captivity is transformed from his blood, causing Power Girl to have to grow and subdue her. Pyg escapes and delivers the heroes’ blood to the Cult of Blood. Meanwhile, Red Hood and Red Robin lead the Robin team to Gotham Academy.
Scott Lobdell and Will Pfeifer turn in another average issue with a whopping two pages devoted to the ROBIN WAR, complete with art from Miguel Mendonca. The highlight of the issue is the always-spectacular artwork of Ian Churchill. What I especially didn’t like, outside of putting Red Robin on the cover with his team, in a scene that never appears in the book, was sticking Cassie and Reiser in a one page throw-away that gets them out of the story. It also allows Churchill to draw Cassie in a skimpy bikini, which is never a bad thing! As of February, Greg Pak and Noel Rodriguez become the creative team. Hopefully, their first issue will be better than this last issue.
ROBIN WAR #2: The conclusion of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Damian Wayne has joined the Court of the Owls so that he could save all the other Robins and all of Gotham from the wrath of the Elite Talons. He takes down Red Robin and Red Hood, which leads to a confrontation with Duke Thomas. The Robins then band together with the police to take out the Elite Talons. Marsh tells Dick that he needs to become Nightwing or else he will trigger a nano tech bomb in Damian’s owl mask. In the end, Duke visits Travis’ grave and tells the rest of the team that they aren't ready to be Robins yet. Jason, Tim and Damian confront Dick about the way he betrayed them and he says it’s what Batman would have done. He goes off and joins the worldwide initiation, where he rejects his Robin past and dons his owl mask.
And so the status quo changes as Dick Grayson truly becomes the Gray Son and joins the Court of the Owls. While we are told this will continue on in GRAYSON, I wonder how long before the title gets renamed NIGHTWING. Written by Tom King with art by Khary Randolph, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Steve Pugh, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens, this story sets events in motion that will obviously play out in future issues of WE ARE ROBIN and ROBIN SON OF BATMAN, plus everything else these characters touch. I hope that DC doesn’t just let what happened in this series fall by the wayside six months from now. A change should at least be semi-permanent.
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