A whole bunch more #1 issues

A bunch of number one issues…

BETTY & VERONICA #1: Well, here comes Archie Comics…once again with a new take on some very old characters. This time around, it’s everyone’s favorite gal pals, Betty and Veronica. What makes this different from their portrayal in the horror line and their portrayal in either ARCHIE or JUGHEAD is that this is the work of the amazing Adam Hughes. It looks tremendous! I could just go through this book and not READ IT! Once you get down to the story, that’s pretty cool too. We get the usual cast of characters, but also get narration from J. Farnsworth Wigglebottom III, also known as Jughead’s dog Hot Dog. That’s right: the dog is the narrator. It also has enough sense to be able to make fun of itself too. And, if you’re a die hard, you need to go find all 24 covers by such luminaries as Stephanie Buscema, Cliff Chiang, Rebekah Isaacs, Moritat, and Ryan Sook.

CIVIL WAR II:  Welcome to Marvel’s newest “sequel” of sorts. This is the newest “Earth shaking event” in the Marvel Universe that will lead into a bunch of major events this fall including DEAD NO MORE and DEATH OF X. More importantly, it leads into the new era of Marvel Now this October. So…here is an Inhuman named Ulysses who can see the possible future and Captain Marvel and her camp decide that he could be a powerful tool in keeping the world safe. In the process, a mission is run against Thanos with deadly consequences. War Machine is killed and She-Hulk is critically injured, leading to a split between Carol’s camp and Tony Stark’s. Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez are the architects of this series that also features (SPOILER) the death of Bruce Banner and the rumored death of Tony Stark. As events go, it’s an interesting one.

DARK KNIGHT RETURNS-THE LAST CRUSADE: Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, and John Romita Jr. combine for this one shot that acts as a prequel to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Regular Batman villains including Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and The Joker all show up, as does Selina Kyle. In fact, this does a great job of tying Batman mythology to this book with references to the death of Jason Todd. Romita’s art is typical Romita and Miller works nicely with Azzarello to tell a short, concise and pretty cool tale. In fact, I enjoyed this more than I have been enjoying the newest DARK KNIGHT epic.

THE FLINTSTONES #1: First off-this is NOT your father’s FLINTSTONES. As part of the rebooted Hanna Barbera line, Mark Russell and Steve Pugh brings us THE FLINTSTONES. And, like the rest of the line, this is a long way from the cartoons we know. Beginning at a museum in the present day, we travel back to Bedrock 100,000 years ago and meet Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and Mr. Slate. Or specifically these new versions of them. The story was fun, but not funny, if you get my drift. What I really loved was all the Bedrock takes on modern businesses such as TarPit, Spears and Roebuck, the Outback Snakehouse and the Wammoth Bammoth Thank you Mammoth. This was such a fun read that I can’t wait for issue #2.

GROO FRAY OF THE GODS #1: This is a dream book if you are a fan of this classic warrior! Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Tom Luth and Stan Sakai combine to bring us the continuing adventures of the most feared warrior of all time. The book is fun, funny and filled with jokes and sight gags galore. This is an amazing effort that looks great and is a nice joy to sit back and read and not have to use a ton of brain matter to figure out a plot. Highly recommended!

LADY KILLER 2 #1: Everyone’s favorite housewife assassin is back in this wonderful mini-series from Joelle Jones and Michelle Madsen. This first series was a wonderful 1960’s tale of blood and intrigue and this second arc is no different. Tupperware saleslady by day and then murderer by night, this story rocks! And Madsen’s art is wonderfully grotesque. Let’s put it this way: the book’s first killing is amazing, gory and…just really, REALLY disturbing.

MIDNIGHT OF THE SOUL #1: Howard Chaykin is back! And he brings with him his favorite bits in the form of a troubled lead character, sex, intrigue and offensive language and actions. With a BLACK KISS feel to it and a slight AMERICAN FLAGG look to it, Chaykin brings us the story of a World War II vet turned writer that is in a failing marriage with a wife with moral issues. Chaykin remains one of the most dynamic, although not prolific, storytellers of my generation and this issue proves that he is not looking to stop any time soon. His work is not for everyone, but if you’re a fan of his work, this is a must read.

ROM #1: The classic toy turned comic hero is back in a new series from IDW. Christos Gage and Chris Ryall write it while David Messina illustrated it and it brings Rom into the IDW Universe. The space knight, misunderstood though he is, is here to hunt the Dire Wraiths, who have already made themselves a part of the Earth population. And, after a full length issue filled with crazy action and confusing plot points, the issue ends with the G.I. Joes showing up. For me, it’s one and done. The story was predictable and the art was just okay.

THE SHADOW-THE DEATH OF MARGO LANE #1: Here’s everything you need to know about this book in two words: MATT WAGNER. Besides this being a great take on a classic character, it’s a complete Matt Wagner effort. He wrote it and illustrated it and it looks so amazing! I have long been a fan of Wagner, so this was a no-brainer for me. And I’ve also been a huge fan of The Shadow since the reprint paperbacks of the Seventies came out. Yeah…this was a no-brainer for me. This is a highly recommended series because it looks great, reads like a pulp novel, and is just a whole lot of fun!

SNOTGIRL #1: Yeah…that’s what it’s called-SNOTGIRL! It’s Brian Lee O’Malley. You may not know that name but if you have any kind of connection to SCOTT PILGRIM, you know his work. Leslie Hung is the artist on the book, which is about a pretty vapid fashion blogger. I was immediately intrigued because it WAS O’Malley. But the book left me cold. I don’t like the character or any of the supporting cast. While O’Malley’s characterizations are wonderful, I just don’t like the characters. Maybe if I was a 13 year old girl…
 
WACKY RACELAND #1: Hey kids: all the characters from this classic television cartoon are here in this wacky DC take on these Hanna Barbera creations. Oh yeah: it’s set in a post-Apocalyptic future and it’s pretty hardcore. Yeah, we get Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly (with Muttley), the Ant Hill Mob, the Gruesome Twosome, the Slag Brothers and more. Ken Portac is the writer with art from the always-amazing Leonardo Manco. It’s blood, death, crazy monsters, and killer characters. We also get a back-up, by the same creative team, set in the days before the great race. Like the rest of the new Hanna Barbera line, this is an amazing twist that is just a hoot to read.

MARVEL NOW: here's what's coming

So Marvel has decided it’s time once again to reinvent their line of comics, as they now seem to do annually. After last years’ SECRET WARS, the Marvel Universe was “changed forever” and it resulted in the ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT MARVEL. This year’s big event is CIVIL WAR II that has already led to the (SPOILERS AHEAD!) deaths of James Rhodes and Bruce Banner. The new initiative is called MARVEL NOW.

Marvel has released their MARVEL NOW Preview book for their line and it includes new titles and creative changes for older ones. That being said, here is what’s coming starting in October.

AVENGERS #1.1 by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson. The promotional art shows the mid Sixties lineups featuring Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Giant Man and the Wasp.

CHAMPIONS #1 by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos. Marvel is touting this as the classic 
IMPULSE team being back together again. It features the next generation of heroes in the form of Nova, Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales Spider Man, Totally Awesome Hulk, the time displaced Cyclops, and Vision’s daughter Viv.

OCCUPY AVENGERS #1 by David Walker and Gabriel Walta. The rallying cry is “Taking Back Justice” and it looks like Hawkeye and every day Americans.

AVENGERS #1 by Mark Waid and Mike Del Mundo. Promotional art shows a team led by Vision that features Sam Wilson Captain America, Jane Foster Thor, an Iron Man, the new Wasp and what appears to be Hercules.

U.S. AVENGERS #1 by Al Ewing and Paco Medina. The promotional art is a bit confusing as we have a team that has a female Captain America, the HEROES REBORN female Bucky, Thunderbolt Ross as Red Hulk, a female Iron Man and Cannonball.

ULTIMATES2 #1 by Al Ewing and Travel Foreman. Captain Marvel and Black Panther lead a reborn space team.

GREAT LAKES AVENGERS #1 by Zac Gorman and Will Robson. The legendary team is back. I’m curious to see what Will Robson’s art looks like, as the promotional art is by Mike and Laura Allred.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stefano Caselli. Tony Stark is gone and Riri Williams is the new Iron Man

INFAMOUS IRON MAN #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Here is what happens when you let a transformed Victor Von Doom in the suit.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 by Margaret Stohl and Ramon Rosanas. Following CIVIL WAR II, half the world thinks Carol Danvers is a hero while the other half sees her as an evil tyrant.

HAWKEYE #1 by Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero. Clint Barton is off on his Occupy Avengers gig, so the female Hawkeye gets the lead in the book.

JESSICA JONES #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. Here’s something to be excited about. The classic ALIAS team is back on  the character they made famous. Expect this to be a big hit because of the new fans that discovered her through the Netflix series.

THE UNSTOPPABLE WASP #1 by Jeremy Whitley and Elsa Charretier. This ain’t your father’s Wasp and with art by DC alumni Charretier, it’s sure to feel an awful lot like STARFIRE.

DOCTOR STRANGE & THE SORCERERS SUPREME #1 by Robbie Thompson and Javier Rodriguez. Doctor Strange, along with Merlin, the Ancient One, Wiccan, and more are trying to keep the fabric of time from unraveling.

THE UNWORTHY THOR #1 by Jason Aaron and Olivier Coipel. With Aaron handling the adventures of Jane Foster in THE MIGHTY THOR, he is letting what appears to be the classic Thor run wild in this title.

KINGPIN #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Ben Torres. Coming out of his limited CIVIL WAR II series, Wilson Fisk is poised to take his rightful place again.

BULLSEYE #1 by Ed Brisson and Guillermo Sanna. Everyone’s favorite assassin for hire is back in his own series.

IRON FISTS #1 by Kaare Andrews and Afu Chan. Have no fear: POWER MAN & IRON FIST is still going on. But Danny Rand has a new protégé and this title showcases it.

CAGE  #1 by Genndy Tartakovsky. The other half of the Heroes for Hire team gets his own title. This is being handled by the creator of DEXTER’S LABORATORY, so anything could happen in this four-issue mini-series.

GAMORA #1 by Nicole Perlman and Marco Checchetto. The dealiest woman in the galaxy gets her own title. I don’t know how good it’s going to be, but Checchetto’s art looks amazing!

STAR-LORD #1 by Chip Zdarsky. The guy behind HOWARD THE DUCK AND JUGHEAD lends his own unique stamp to the former head of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Promotional art is by Ramon Perez, but that doesn’t mean Perez is the final artist.

ROCKET RACCOON #1 by Matthew Rosenberg. While the furry hero has his own title, he apparently is in the same place as STAR-LORD: David Nakayama provided the promotional art but no regular artist has been named.

MOSAIC #1 by Geoffrey Thorne and Khary Randolph. Professional basketball player Morris Sackett gains powers at the cost of his own body, becoming the newest of Inhumans whether he likes it or not.

DEATH OF X #1 by Jeff Lemire, Charles Soule and Aaron Kuder. This four-issue mini-series tells the story of what happened eight months ago that set the X-Men and the Inhumans against each other.

DEADPOOL BACK IN BLACK by Cullen Bunn and Salvador. This five-issue mini-series tells the story of how the original alien symbiote from SECRET WARS in 1984 bonded with Deadpool.

DEADPOOL: TOO SOON? #1 by Joshua Corin and Todd Nauck. It’s another mini-series for this Merc with a Mouth as he tries to keep an unknown assassin from killing off Squirrel Girl, Rocket Racoon, Groot. Howard the Duck, Ant Man, and The Punisher.

THANOS #1 by Jeff Lemire and Mike Deodato. While I think most readers have had their fill lately of Thanos, I am excited about it because of the creative team. It will look great and Lemire is on and off, so it could either be great or meh!

THE CLONE CONSPIRACY #1 by Dan Slott and Jim Cheung. Here’s the scoop: The Jackal is back from the dead and that means Spider Man could be visited by many more old friends and enemies in this five issue mini-series.

THE PROWLER #1 by Sean Ryan and Jamal Campbell. The Prowler is working for The Jackal and a reborn Madame Web is in the middle of the mix too.

VENOM #1 by Mike Costa and Gerardo Sandoval. Venom is no longer a space knight and is back on Earth. Is he in a good space or a bad one?

AMAZING SPIDER MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #1 by Gerry Conway and Ryan Stegman. Coming out of the hit mini-series from SECRET WARS, Conway and Stegman gives us a Spidey book featuring his wife and daughter.

SLAPSTICK #1 by Reilly Brown, Fred Van Lente and Mike Norton. Another Deadpool spinoff.

SOLO #1 by Gerry Duggan, Geoffrey Thorne and Paco Diaz. James Bourne is launching his one man war on terror here and now.

FOOLKILLER #1 by Max Bemis and Dalibor Talajic. He’s back, even if he is a different Foolkiller.

Also listed for October and beyond releases are the following existing series: BLACK PANTHER, BLACK WIDOW, CAPTAIN AMERICA: SAM WILSON, CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS, CAPTAIN MARVEL, DAREDEVIL, DEADPOOL & THE MERCS FOR MONEY, DOCTOR STRANGE, TOTALLY AWESOME HULK, THE MIGHTY THOR, MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR, MOON KNIGHT, MS. MARVEL, PATSY WALKER A.K.A. HELLCAT!, POWER MAN & IRON FIST, PUNISHER, SILK, SILVER SURFER, SPIDER-GWEN, SPIDER-MAN, SPIDER-MAN 2099, SPIDER-WOMAN, SQUADRON SUPREME, THUNDERBOLTS, UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL, THE UNBELIEVABLE GWENPOOL, UNCANNY AVENGERS, and UNCANNY INHUMANS,
 
The following titles are NOT listed in the MARVEL NOW Preview book, although they are in Marvel’s October solicitations: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, DEADPOOL, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, NEW AVENGERS, VISION(ending with issue #12), A-FORCE, MOCKINGBIRD, ALL-NEW, ALL DIFFERENT AVENGERS, THE ASTONISHING ANT-MAN, SCARLET WITCH, SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL, SPIDEY, CARNAGE, VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT, NIGHTHAWK, X-MEN ’92, OLD MAN LOGAN, ALL-NEW X-MEN, EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN, UNCANNY X-MEN, and ALL-NEW WOLVERINE. Completely missing is DRAX.It will be an interesting time this Fall.

DC YOU Month 13

BATMAN BEYOND #13: Picking up from last issue, Barbara is forced to shock Batman’s suit to bring it back to full working capability. Once in the Batcave, we see the dual story about Tim searching for Rewire and Terry looking for the missing Tim Drake shortly after he had become Batman. a few months after he first became Batman. In the end, Tim catches Rewire, but again is defeated. It is then revealed that Rewire is Terry McGinnis and his mysterious partner is Spellbinder. 

WOW! I didn’t see that coming! Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang gives us a great story, even if it was a bit confusing reading two timelines at once. Terry searching for the missing Tim, which we all know was the result of FUTURE’S END, was cool and the tease of a reborn Joker was equally cool. Terry as Rewire? How does that happen? Shouldn’t he be erased because of FUTURE’S END? Yeah-I can’t wait to see how this ends!

BLACK CANARY #12: It’s Dinah’s last show with Black Canary. Flash forward a year later and she is on a talk show discussing her upcoming work with Izak Orato. Flash forward another year and she decides to move out of the slum she is living in and move on. Two years later and she gets a visit and a plea for help from Wonder Woman to battle Ravedeath, but turns her down to work on her music some more. Six years later and she is releasing a dance record. Four years later and she is heading towards forty. It turns out that Izak Orato is the villainous beast known as Ravedeath. But all Dinah is concerned about is making more money. Six years later and  she attempts to put Black Canacry back together but Paloma shoots that idea down and tells Dinah she has no idea who Ditto is. Seven more years and Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Barbara Gordon inform her that her husband Oliver Queen has died while on an a mission against Ravedeath. Sixteen years later and her teenage daughter is with a very old and sick Dinah, The daughter turns into Ditto and the ghost of Dinah’s mom visits, causing her to remember the Five Heavens Palm. Back in the present, Dinah removes the sword stuck in her and uses the Five Heavens Palm to heal herself. The two teams pick up the fight, leading to a one on one between Dinah and Ravedeath, where she uses the Five Heavens Palm to destroy him. In the end, she visits Kurt’s grave, turns her spot in the band over to Bo Maeve, and heads off into the sunset.

Brenden Fletcher, Annie Wu and Sandy Jarrell bring this chapter to a close as we get ready for Dinah to become part of the GREEN ARROW title. I love the multiple, if not confusing layers that may or may not have been foreshadowing of events that never did happen. It was kind of like a superhero version of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. And having four versions of Dinah from various points in the DCU along with her mother present to deliver the Five Heavens Palm on Ravedeath was sheer genius! This was a fun, sometimes great, sometimes really confusing run (really-Kurt Lance is old and giving them their marching orders?). Hopefully, the supporting cast will show up in other DC Rebirth titles.

BLOODLINES #3: Duncan explains that he had to kill his mutated family to keep them from killing him. Officer Blake notices the unusual mark on Duncan’s neck, which means he too has been infected. Blake’s powers kick in and Duncan flees, screaming something about how Blake will “kill us all” and gets away in the process. Meanwhile, at Eddie, Albert and Dana discuss their powers and how they are afraid. Later, Duncan saves a woman in a convenience store who was about to become victim to an infected clerk. Blake meets with Haley, who shows off her new powers. Arthur uses his dad’s connections to use the hospital’s MRI to scan his, Dana and Eddie’s bodies. Eddie has a parasite that is moving towards his brain and this causes him to transform, smashing the machine in the process. In the end, the local morgue seems to be the site of the newest of the creatures.

This book is so filled with Nineties cliches that you would think Scott Lobdell was writing it. J.T. Krul does his best Lobdell imitation while V. Ken Marion works on being Brett Booth. I have no idea why DC has this book out there, except to lay claim on the BLOODLINES name and or theme; not that anyone remembers that line of books.

CONSTANTINE #13: Constantine is working hard at trying to gain control of Neron’s collection of souls and uses his magic to make New ork the most boring city on the planet. In doing so, this makes all of the souls he has collected worthless. Lady Alexandriel shows up and suggests that they even their debt by her getting control of New York City. In the process, he reveals to her that his magic will end in a few hours and all will be as it was, except she will control the souls. He asks to get Oliver’s daughters back and she agrees. With that, he meets Oliver at the bar to find out that Oliver had already made a deal to get them out and he gets taken to Hell. In the end, Constantine is alone.

How’s that for a bummer of an ending!? Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV and Eryk Donovan bring the saga of this version of John Constantine to an end and it can’t be too soon. This ambiguous, horny mage, willing to shag and all, just didn’t have the stuff to make it this time around. While he was a bit closer to where he was when he was in Vertigo, he was nothing like the conflicted wizard of JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and that was a turn-off to mainstream fans. Hopefully the NEXT series will be spot on!

CYBORG #12: Cyborg discovers two super powered intruders, one of whom accidentally kills a security guard. It turns out the siblings were exposed to the contents of a broken test tube and that gave them special powers. It is also killing them. Dr. Stone discovers they are becoming human black holes and have the potential to explode and take everyone with them. Autumn transforms into a cocoon and wraps herself around her brother to contain the explosion. Somehow she succeeds, although, in the end, something at the bottom of Lake Erie stirs.

Goodbye Cybog. We’ll see you in the next series. Thanks to Marv Wolfman, Felix Watanabe, Daniel Had and Julio Ferreira for their work on this title. Not much else to say.

DEATHSTROKE #19: Rose is dying and Ra's offers to heal her, but she will have to be dependant on his elixir for the rest of her life. The good news is that it will keep Lawman from controlling her mind. Additional bad news: Deathstroke must join the League of Assassins. Slade goes off to fight the Dead Bastards, along with Victor Ruiz, Lawman, Snakebite and Mystasia. Meanwhile, Jericho uses his powers to go into his sisters’ mind and convinces her to come back to him here in the world of the living. It’s a good thing, because they show up just in time to save daddy from death at Lawman’s hands, causing the bad guys to beat a hasty retreat. Back in Nanda Parbat, Slade discovers that Ra's has made the deal include Slade, Rose AND Jericho in the League of Assassins. I see a major battle coming for next issue!

James Bonny and Paolo Pantalena bring us what I believe is the penultimate issue of this series, although who knows at this point! The writing was fun with ton of action of Pantalena does a nice job of putting in enough blood to satisfy. This book has been up and down, so I’m curious to see where we go from here.

DEATHSTROKE ANNUAL #2: In a story taking place after DEATHSTROKE #20, Deathstroke is in the country of Rhapastan, where he is taking on a new mercenary job that involves another assassin by the name of The Balkan. After numerous skirmishes across the country, we see that Deathstroke IS The Balkan and he has been hired to bring down this country. In the end, he succeeds, but leaves a legacy for a young man in his wake.

Phil Hester, along with Mirko Colak and Roberto Viacava, do a nice job of giving us a tale of a mercenary with a conscious. This is a different side of Deathstroke, as opposed to the shoot up everyone for a dollar. This time, he was shooting ‘em up for a dollar and a cause!

DOCTOR FATE #13: Khalid is getting advice from Uncle Kent before they go off as dual Doctor Fate’s, shutting down some burning oil tanks and some missiles. In the end, Khalid discovers that the demon Afreet is using a model of the city from the 1964 World's Fair as his effigy. Afreet shrinks down and Khalid traps him into the model of the globe from the World’s Fair, which lets Kent take him back to Salem’s Tower.

Paul Levitz and Ibrahim Moustafa continue the story of a kid trying to be a hero. This was actually better than most issues, as it was a lot of action…and the REAL Doctor Fate. And so it continues on…maybe ending next issue and maybe the one after. Not totally sure. I do know that when this ends, Kahlid will just be another character who slips into the fabric of the DC You. Count on it!

EARTH 2 SOCIETY #13: The Wonders all get together to talk about what to do now that peace is restored and Green Lantern has become just Alan Scott again. Fury discusses her plans and explains how she brought back the Amazons with her Pandora Vessel. Dr. fate thinks that maybe this Pandora Vessel could be able to bring back their lost world, so they can get off of this one. Meanwhile, the Ultra-Humanite has genetically modified children, making them into teenager and brainwashing them to do his bidding. These are the lost children of Earth 2…including John Grayson.

This book was long and boring until the Ultra-Humanite plot kicked in. Can we see, courtesy of Dan Abnett and Federico Dallocchio, a renuion between Batman and son? And will the children of Earth-2 be responsible for its’ final downfall? This series isn’t done yet!

GRAYSON ANNUAL #3: Constantine, Jim Corrigan, Harley Quinn, Azrael, and Simon Baz get together to try and figure out who Agent 37 really is. They each tell a tale of a meeting involving Agent 37, but none can tell who he really is. They finally figure out that Agent 37 is Dick Grayson who shows up, explains that he faked his death and then tells them they have all had hypnos implanted in them so they will never remember any of tonight or of Agent 37.

Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly write the final tale of Dick Grayson as Agent 37 Super Secret Agent. Roge Antonio handled the art for the interstitials while Natasha Alterici, Christian Duce, Flaviano, and Javier Fernandez illustrate individual tales. From here, Dick Grayson becomes Nightwing again and joins up with…The Court of the Owls? Maybe…

GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #6: Our lost heroes continue to try to take down the Blackest Knights, which is also costing the lives of many of the Lanterns. They transport the people of the Last City onto Mogo and then, because the Universe they are in is dying, they all head off into the rift in space that consumed B'dg and Arisia.

Okay…thus ends the saga of the Lost Lanterns, who will hopefully reappear in one of the new Green Lantern series. Until then, thanks to Tom Taylor, Scott McDaniel and Jack Herbert, this band of heroes fades off into emptiness….literally.

HARLEY QUINN #29: At the Henshin Auto Plant, CEO Mr. Tomo is reviewing his newest produced vehicles, which turns out to be transforming robots. He proceeds to use one to bump off his cheating wife and her lover, before killing himself. Several days later, Harley and Tony are looking over a collection of snow globes, then uses one of them to plug a hole in her beaver (hey…I just report them!). After meeting Poison Ivy for lunch, Tony and Harley have the idea to repossess some cars and that leads them directly to client Mitch O’Bannon. O’Bannon owns a bunch of bowling alleys and pays the duo Twnety Grand and throws in some free games too. But O’Bannon gets into one of Tomo’s robots and tries to extort the twenty grand back. Dominic Capablo, whose son had been accidentally killed during Harley’s fight with Red Tool, had hired O’Bannon. Harley jumps into one of the cars and it transforms into a giant robot. After a battle, Harley eliminates the competition by blasting him with a barrage of rockets from the robot’s ass. They then head off to Capablo’s mansion and proceed to take a giant missile dump on him too.

ASS MISSILES? Well, what would you expect from Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti? Art is by Chad Hardin. The nice thing, besides his art, is that this ties up a loose end from several issues back

HARLEY QUINN AND HER GANG OF HARLEYS #3: An RPG has blown up Bolly Quinn’s parents’ restaurant. Luckily, the Gang of Harleys hid out in an bomb-proof industrial refrigerator. Unfortunately, they are trapped in there and are slowly freezing to death. Luckily, they find a trap door in the floor of the freezer, which gets them through an old Speakeasy and onto Bum Crap Alley. They head to Coach’ mansion in Woodstock, where she has set up a super cool war room. Meanwhile, Harley attempts to escape by choking Harley-Sinn, but her gang shows up and puts a quick end to that. The team wants to get paid and gets a bit on the threatening side. When the Gang of Harleys arrive, they find the sidekicks killed by their boos, except for the one tells them the place is rigged with time bombs which go off just as the Gang leaps out of the window.

Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Tieri and Mauricet give us a title with more fun and adventure than any of the other Harley titles to date. Gone is most of the innuendoes and all that is left is fun and adventure. THANK YOU!!! And now can we have the Gang with their own series?
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JUSTICE LEAGUE #51: Set six months after the beginning of the New 52, the Justice League is giving Batman a hard time about having Robin on The Watchtower, even though Batman swears he can handle himself. Pretty soon they have headed back to Earth to help Superman fight some giant cybernetic wolves. Soon a red headed giant strongman and a green alien named Bron Wox arrive. Wox explains that all of this is happening due to the defeat of Darkseid and how these creatures are all bleeding through different times and spaces. In the end, as a mysterious narrator tells the tale, Cyborg and Green Lantern team up to defeat all and Batman explains to Robin that someday he will lead the League. The narrator mentions that the secret to his/her success is through Robin.

Dan Abnett and Paul Pelletier drop in what is best described as a one-off fill-in issue. What was nice was seeing Abnett working on the big team while still able to put his stamp on a young Dick Grayson. Yes, working on TITANS REBIRTH certainly helped to get him inside Dick’s head. Pelletier’s art is his usually dynamite work. His lines are clean and his characterizations are fully amazing. THIS is what superhero comics are all about!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #52: Lex is at the Daily Planet checking out their memorial to Superman, where they have his cape displayed. The Justice League show up and Lex questions them how Superman died. However, they don’t tell him about the Pre Flashpoint Superman that seems prepared to take their friend’s place. With Superman dead, Lex, with his own Mother Box, goes out to defend Metropolis with his own brand of hard justice. He also stops to visit his sister, who he is powerless to revive. In the end, he buys the Daily Planet and takes possession of the cape, then declares himself Superman.
 
This all leads into ACTION COMICS as this issue brings this New 52 series to an end. Dan Jurgens and Tom Grummett give us an interesting character sketch of the bald headed megalomaniac and it works perfectly. Here is the great villain who may or may not have reformed. All that matters is that he gets to be the hero he always wanted to be deep down. This is going to be an interesting marriage between Lex and the Pre-Flashpoint Superman…if you can even call it a marriage.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #4: Firestorm has been captured and is being tortured by the military. Stuck in a plasma field, it will eventually be shut off and cause our hero to go critical. Meanwhile, Jason and his dad, Tonya and Ronnie's mother are trying to find out what happened, when Jason uses a special helmet that shows him what is happening.
Jason drives into one of the generators, which allows Firestorm to escape.

In the Metamorpho tale, Metamorpho makes his way into the tower, where the orb explains that it created Metamorpho so he could restore it to where it belongs. He emerges with it in a protective case designed to not depower him, just as Kanjar Ro and his team arrive and attack. In the process, Sapphire steals the orb and contacts Simon Stagg, telling him she has retrieved the package.

In the Sugar and Spice story, Green Lantern hires them to investigate a museum of superhero and villain memorabilia owned by the former Lamplighter. He is most interested in a display containing his old pal Itty. In the process, Rebecca, the girl responsible for the killings on Superman island, arrives with an armed team to take Itty. But this Itty is actually one of 34 and came to Earth to find out about its’ father. Sugar saves the day and breaks the girl nose, just as Hal Jordan arrives to clean up the mess.

The military have Doc Magnus and the Metal Men when Robotman arrives with a court document that releases them to him. They stowaway on the Justice League Satellite where Cyborg discovers who was responsible for messing with Red Tornado and who the mysterious Nameless is. But the government has been busy and has created their own team: Lithium, Magnesium, Silicon, Zirconium, Aluminum and Copper. The Metal Men find out that Nameless is really the Calculator, who attacks them with hard light constructs. They defeat them and him, but now the NEW TEAM is here and it looks like next issue will feature some hardcore robot on robot action!

This book is such an expensive mixed bag. FIRESTORM by Gerry Conway and Eduardo Pansica does nothing for me, basically because I was never a fan of the character and the plot is a pain to follow. METAMORPHO by Aaron Lopresti looks great and actually has some fun elements to it. Is Sapphire a good girl or a bad girl? While SUGAR AND SPIKE tries to entertain, thanks to Keith Giffen and Bilquis Evely, it tends to fall flat. But we do get cool cameos of the Red Tomato Brother Power the Geek, Tusky, and the original Green Team. THE METAL MEN by Len Wein and Yildiray Cinar was the most enjoyable, but even that has its’ flaws. Can we NOT make Doc Magnus into DC’s version of Amadeus Cho?

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #21: The team is still in Germany and being trapped, although it looks like Captain Boomerang might come to the rescue. Cheetah is battling the Rose Tattoo while Adam Reed seemingly kills off Deathtrap, who just bumped off Deadshot. Diablo steps up to the plate and lights things up as he takes over the battle with Rose tattoo. And it seems Deadshot ain’t dead as he was shot with a Rose Bullet by Deathtrap, who is also not dead. Adam Reed decides it’s time to make use of the whole bomb in the neck thing but, before he can hit the detonator, Boomerang slice off his hand. Deathtrap opts to stay behind and blow the place up, giving him a satisfying death worthy of any member of the Squad. The team ends up back home, Waller continues to make deals with governments and Harley plans a new way to escape.

Thus ends this version of the Suicide Squad but, have no fear, as a soon to be hit movie and a new creative team will give it new life in REBIRTH. Tim Seeley writes a great tale, complete with several heroic endings, while Gus Vazquez does a killer job on the art. Obviously, this team is not going away anytime soon as the movie is ready to roll and the merchandise is already beginning to land in stores like Wal Mart and Target. Get ready for the next chapter.

POISON IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #6: It turns out wheelchair-bound Dr. Grimley is the villain of the piece. He was dying of cancer and began working with extracts from the Yew Tree. He then used stem cells from her plant-animal hybrids to regrow a new body. It also meant he had to kill to cover his tracks. Luckily her three girls and Swamp Thing show up to defeat the bad guy. Kind of. He reanimates and Thorn uses a machete to save her family. In the end, Ivy contacts Harley while Darshan gets the girls on a bus to Washington, DC for future adventures.

Did I actually submit my self to reading all six issues of this? Amy Chu wrote it while Al Barrionuevo and Cliff Richards drew it. Looked great, less filling. But we get a New 52 introduction of Rose and Thorn and they could be the next version of Charlie’s Angels…if the right creator comes along!

RED HOOD/ARSENAL #13: While Roy is waiting to be executed live for the world, Jason shows up and kills off the Iron Rule with arrows that cause them to melt. With Roy free, they have to contend with Joker’s Daughter, who gets taken down by an arrow that electrocutes her. Jason shoots out the camera providing the live feed and then walks away, saying he can never be the hero Roy wants him to be. In the end, a goofy looking tale of Roy as Speedy and Jason as Robin, saying myabe they should be partners someday.

And thus this series ends, not with a bang, but with a major whimper! Scott Lobdell and Joe Bennett gives us a tale that is equally sick and stupid. Jason melting bad guys? And then the cute little 70’s style story? Yeesh! And yecch!

ROBIN SON OF BATMAN #13: Suren, Maya and Robin are enjoying some ice cream when the Lu'un Darga show up to attack them. As Suren explains, their goal is to keep after them until they are all dead or until the world ends. They end up in Den Darga’s hidden lair and come face to face with him. He has a plan that will make him so powerful that he can destroy the world with mystical energy. Damian defeats Darga’s plan, but it kills him in the process. Maya uses her energy to convince Damian not to go into the light and as Damian comes back, Den's spirit tries to stop him. Suren uses his family's mystical powers, stops his dad and saves Damian. The trio get on Goliath and head off for new adventures.

Ray Fawkes and Ramon Bachs bring this part of Damian Wayne’s life to a close. But he is about to lead the new Teen Titans, so maybe his partners in crime will be part of the team. Either way, Fawkes gives us a satisfying end for what has been a tough year for our hero.

SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED #6: Katana and Kobra team up to defeat the Aurakale. Katana saves the day, but kills many Kobar followers in the process and mortally wounds Naja, who gets to live out her life in the sword. In the end, the cat lives and Halo and Katana hit the road to adventure. In the Deadshot tale, Will Evans challenges Floyd to a duel with the fate of Lawton’s daughter at stake. Despite a no-cheating rule, Lawton does just then and kills Evans in the process. He ends up back at Belle Reve, but at least his daughter is safe.

Mike W. Barr and Diogenes Neves gave us the Katana tale and, for my money, only served to reintroduce Halo. Brian Buccellato and Viktor Bogdanovic did the Deadshot tale which, over the six issues, did a great job of fleshing out his story. Of the two, that was by far my favorite all around.

SWAMP THING #6: Matt Cable/Swamp Thing is still holding the town of Houma, Louisana hostage when Alec Holland shows up with the re-energized Hand of Fatima and some friends in the form of  The Phantom Stranger, Zatanna and The Spectre. We also learn that Matt has actually been in a coma and he is currently possessed by Anton Arcane. While Steve Trevor and Etta Candy consider calling in a nuke strike on Houma, the heroes mount an attack and Alec once again becomes Swamp Thing, forcing Arcane out of Trevor’s body. Then The Spectre sends Arcane to Hell, where he is restored to his original old man form and delivered into the hands of Etrigan. Back on the surface, the nukes get called off in time and Swamp Thing goes back to the swamp. Over in his hospital room, a comatose Matt Cable is visited by his long lost Abby and he wakes up.

Len Wein and Kelley Jones ends this short series, but manage to hit all the right buttons in the process. Not only do we get all the classic magical characters thrown together but we also have the return of Anton Arcane and Abby. Yeah…that’s what I’m talking about! Wein was the perfect writer for this series and these characters and Kelley Jones was the perfect artist, unless you were getting Bernie Wrightson or Nestor Redondo. A great series that ended to soon. let’s hope for appearances in the REBIRTH world.

TEEN TITANS #21: Monsieur Mallah and the Brain have taken over the minds of Metatroll93 and Wonder Girl. Raven removes the mind control from Metatroll93 and Red Robin manages to free Cassie. Mallah follows Red Robin to the zoo and it makes him sad to see the other animals in cages. The Brain arrives and begins to mind control sea lions and polar bears, along with some humans. The Titans are overwhelmed and all looks lost for our team when Power Girl and Raven show up and Raven removes all the devices Then she sends Mallah and Brain to the prison of Azarath until they can be sent to prison. In the end, Red Robin goes to Belle Reve Prison where Amanda Waller wants him as part of her team.

Ugh! Just when the book looked to be getting better, we get this. A homesick and depressed Mallah? A desperate and depressed Tim Drake being drafted by Waller? All of this is enough to make me want to holler! Credit this to Tony Bedard and Miguel Mendonca.

TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #2: Wonder Girl and Bunker are dancing the night away while Red Robin and Power Girl watch, before convincing him to join in. At the same time, some guy cuts in on Cassie and tries to give Bunker some drug called Green. He refuses but other people have taken it and they turn into green monsters of some sort. The Titans take them all down and Beast Boy joins in, leading to them going below the club and finding the remnants of Professor Pyg’s work, from when he took some of Gar’s blood. Sister Blood and her followers arrive and it brings back memories from THE RAVAGERS. Gar flips out, because his DNA has been poached and turned into a narcotic. It takes the combined forces of the Titans to stop him and Sister Blood and Company. In the end, a disgusted Tim Drake considers disbanding the Teen Titans.

So…is this an in continuity tale or not? And does it come after the current storyline? Confused! Bored and confused! Scott Lobdell wrote it and Cory Smith drew it. All in all, it feels that this should have been held back until after the final issue of the regular series.

DC REBIRTH Month 1

ACTION COMICS #957: Jimmy Olsen, Captain Maggie Sawyer, and the Metropolis Special Crimes are at Geneticron with a hostage situation going on. Lex Luthor arrives, wearing his Battle Armor, and takes out the hostages while claiming to the television cameras that he is the new Superman. Upstate in their new home, Clark, Lois and Jon see this on the news and that leads to Clark shaving his beard and donning his classic Superman outfit…well, not quite classic, as his underwear is on the inside. While Luthor and Superman battle, Clark Kent arrives on the scene to hang with Jimmy and watch the fight. The thieves steal a large package from Geneticron that breaks loose during the chaos. Surprise: it’s Doomsday. All this happens while a mysterious figure watches it all on multiple television screens. Could this be Ozymandias?

So here comes the first new issue with the old numbering. For those doing the math, the #957 takes into account 53 issues during the NEW 52(52 issues and a Zero issue). Dan Jurgens is at the helm with Patrick Zircher which means you’re getting a nice Nineties feel to this book  I fund this book to be awesome, but then again, I was a huge fan of Jurgens work on the LOIS AND CLARK title. Hey-it’s OUR Superman, with OUR Lois and a super-powered son who will be part of a great WORLD’S FINEST type title later in the year. If this is the start of the new era, count me in!

ACTION COMICS #958: Superman and SuperLex  are battling it out with Doomsday while Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen observe. At the same time, Lois and Jon are watching Superman as is a mysterious stranger who watches on a bank of many television sets. Distraught, Jon flies off to help his father. Meanwhile, Doomsday continues to wreak havoc and Lex decides to take him on one on one. Not a good idea!

Thank you Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher for giving us another killer issue filled with wall to wall action and just enough plot to make things interesting! Bravo!

AQUAMAN REBIRTH #1: Mera and Arthur’s closest friends and advisors are aboard the Spindrift Station Embassy when a group of oceanic terrorists called The Deluge attack, planning to blow up an East Coast city. Aquaman engages them, while we are treated to images that alternately display him as a hero, a villain or a pop culture joke. He defeats The Deluge, which then gives him time to sit in a local seafood restaurant with Mera, sip clam chowder and discuss why the surface world is so important to him. Meanwhile, the book’s narrator, who turns out to be Black Manta, watches him and plots revenge for killing his father. That means killing Mera, destroying the Embassy and the peace between land and sea people.

Dan Abnett, along with Scot Eaton and Oscar Jimenez, combine to bring us the next chapter in the saga of the sea king. Right off the bat, the book looks amazing! I haven’t been this excited about the look since Paul Pelletier was on it. From first page to the last (you only get 20 pages now for $2.99…just so you know), this book screams beauty! On to Abnett’s story: fun, great, and exciting. This is the perfect set-up for what is to come. Of course, we all know that the classic Black Manta was responsible for killing Aquababy, so maybe it’s possible for him to take out Mera and send a nice twist to that story. We shall see. All I know is I’m ready for the ride!

AQUAMAN #1: It’s an exciting day in Massachusetts as Aquamna is allowing surface creatures into the Spindrift Station. Among them are Lieutenant Joanna Stubbs of the British Royal Navy and Ray Delane of the Daily Planet. As folks tour the station , they also get to eat the fancy buffet, including sea slug, which makes Delane ill. When Captain Sark goes to check on him, Delane kills him and transforms into Black Manta, who sets off an explosion that begins to flood the facility. Attacking and injuring Mera, he sets his sights on Aquaman and stabs him in the chest.

This series could be over before it has truly begun! Great writing and action from Dan Abnett with fantastic art from David Walker. This book is out of the gate like a rocket and needs to be on your pull list!

BATMAN REBIRTH #1: We begin with Alfred gardening and Duke Thomas saying he is up for the offer. This leads us to Batman battling the Calendar Man. Thanks to Alfred’s help, Batman takes him down. Next we see Lucius Fox informing Bruce that he has managed to get his company and his fortune back from the government. With Bruce and Duke working together, Bruce explains that Calendar Man ages and is reborn with the seasons. But he has managed to make the seasons speed up so that three seasons have elapsed in three days. Bruce presents Duke with a gold colored Batsuit and insists he wants to try something new and that he’s not training Duke to be another Robin. Batman finds a weather machine that is causing the seasonal changes and manages to disrupt it. Even still, Julian Day gets to be reborn as a new person.  In the end, Batman and Duke continue their training while Alfred feeds the bats in the cave.

Scott Snyder and Tom King set things up for the new era in BATMAN with this story that centers on rebirths. Julian Day is reborn, Bruce gets his company and riches back and Duke Thomas, despite still having parents driven insane, is poised to be Batman’s new sidekick, as the various Robins in his life continue on their own paths. Mikel Janin’s art is his usual amazing work, even though it seems softer than normal, which I have to attribute to his inking it himself. My only complaint is that Duke, who was a teenager during all the appearances thus far, looks far older than we have seen him before now. He appears more as a young adult. But let’s face it: anyone who has been reading the Batman titles up until now KNEW that Duke would end up under Bruce’s wing. From here, it’s King solo. Based on his other recent work including VISION and SHERIFF OF BABYLON, I expect great things.

BATMAN #1: A commercial jet is approaching Gotham and preparing for landing and gets shot at by a stolen surface to air missile. Alfred fills in the details and Duke Thomas does the calculations. The plane is going to crash in Gotham Square unless something can be done. Oh yeah: the Justice League is unavailable. Launching the Batmobile at just the right time and then ejecting himself onto the plane’s exterior, Batman rides and steers the plane towards the Gulf. The correct angle of impact will save the plane but the force of the explosion will kill him. As a mysterious figure, who has apparently killed the Kobra agent that may or may not have fired that missile says “observe the clock”, Batman asks if his parents would be proud and plans for his death. But the plane gently hits the water and Batman is saved by the superhero team of Gotham and Gotham Girl.

Tom King brings us the moment we have been waiting for: the next step in the evolution of The Dark Knight, complete with his new partner in crime-fighting, Duke Thomas. It’s what we all crave-edge of your seat excitement with a cast we know and love! And David Finch’ art is stunning! And, because of the inking of Matt Banning, there are moments when his style looks incredibly like that of the legendary Neal Adams. We get a new pair of heroes, who we first glimpsed in DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH and maybe even a Watchman. As a first issue, this is a winner! Here is hoping the quality continues throughout the twice a month run to come.

DETECTIVE COMICS #934: We begin with Azrael battling “Batman” before being electrocuted in a church by mysterious stranger watching a series of video monitors. When the real Batman arrives and asks him who did this, he replies that it was Batman. Switching gears, Batman intrudes on Kate Kane’s privacy, tells her about the incident and shows off a Bat drone that was not of his making. He also talks her into helping him get the next generation of heroes ready and reveals his identity to her, which she admits she has known for over 18 months. They proceed to bring Spoiler, Red Robin, the new Orphan (Cassandra Cain) and even Clayface into the fold, before having them begin their training. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure stands ready with his well-armed army, prepared to mix it up with this next generation when the time comes.

So, there are a ton of questions here, not the least of which is who are all these mysterious figures? Well, guessers among us, who see a potential conflict brewing between the Watchmen and the DC Universe, think it could be Ozymandias and Nite Owl, although I though those two guys hated each other. James Tynion IV writes a compelling and complicated tale with more questions than answers while Eddy Barrows delivers some amazing art!

DETECTIVE COMICS #935: We begin with our trainees fighting an army of Jokers, which turns out ot be a great big simulation they are running. Batwoman tells them they need to work better as she shows off the fully functional downtown Gotham Batcave known as The Belfrey. Tim isn’t happy the way things are being run, so he goes to visit Batman who takes him to Jean-Paul Valley’s bedside.  Azrael wakes up and calls the bad guys Colony. later, Tim and Stephanie get a little cuddle time while Kate goes to visit with her father, where he complains about the Kanes versus the Waynes. In the end, Batman is crusing the city and Colony finds him and attacks.
So…does EVERYONE KNOW Bruce is Batman? Because now Kate’s father does too! Anyway, James Tynion IV gives us a fun story that even allows Clayface to be human for a while. And Eddy Barrows’ art is totally dynamite! But, if you have seen his other work during the NEW 52, you knew that already.

THE FLASH REBIRTH #1: Barry is at the scene of a crime very similar to the way his mother died when he has a vision of Zoom. With a flashback to Barry’s origin before he runs into Wally, in a scene directly out of DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH. He explains that all of this is not Barry’s fault and that they are being watched. Barry is in a hurry to go tell Iris, but Wally backs him off as he already has seen his wife, who doesn’t know him, and he can’t bear having that happen with his Aunt Iris. Wally heads off to meet up with his former Teen Titans team while Barry goes to visit with Batman, who is analyzing The Comedian's smiley face button. In the end, the police reveal that the husband at crime scene confessed and it just goes to prove that Barry sometimes makes mistakes. All that happens while Zoom observes.

Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico present the first act in a new era for The Flash. Wally West, the REAL Wally West, has made it through to this Universe and is trying to get Barry’s mind back on the right track. Zoom is here, floating around the background and Batman shows up so the boys can investigate the letter from Flashpoint and The Comedian’s button. Die hard WATCHMAN fans are going to lose their minds over this and I’m sure Alan Moore is pissed he’s not getting any credit for this. But this is going to be a wild ride. The fact that these books have been selling out across the country means that there is a ton of interest and DC needs to keep that energy high!

THE FLASH #1: We begin by showing us the accident that gave Barry his powers. Then, after recapping that there has been a 10 year gap in their memories, he races as barry Allen to a crime scene where he works with August Heart, who was with Barry on the night he got his powers. Later, he meets up with Iris and her nephew Wally, this world’s Wally, to help him with a school project, which he already completed. While Barry becomes the Flash and races off to save people from a burning building, August is up against The Black Hole, who may have been responsible for his brother’s murder many years ago. Flash races to the scene to save his friend but the lightning gets there first. Another person affected by the Speed Force?

Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico continue to pave the new road out of the NEW 52 and into the REBIRTH era. While I found it a bit too long and wordy in spots, I loved the introduction of fanboy August Heart and how it looks like he will become another speedster in this new world. Cool stuff!

GREEN ARROW REBIRTH #1: Oliver ruins his dinner date with a Senator's daughter but then gives money to a little kid and his mom. Right after, mom is dragged into the sewers below and becomes one of 17 missing person’s cases. A cloaked individual is then seen with the boy, leading to Oliver intervening and fighting with...Black Canary. They all end up back at his place, where the boy gets cleaned up and Ollie shaves his beard, going back to his classic goatee look. The three head to a place called The Jungle where she criticizes him about how he has neglected the poor people of Seattle as much as he neglected his former “heroin-addicted partner”. His response is to criticize her rock star lifestyle. The boy finds his father among the people in The Jungle but then the Underground Men attack them all. They are told that they have been capturing people for The Auction, where they are being sold for whatever the buyer wants. Green Arrow and Black Canary shut the operation down, but it seems like this is just the beginning. In the end, tomorrow is another day and it looks like this might be the start of a beautiful friendship between them.

Here’s the things that count about this one shot: Ollie has his old look back. Dinah is away from the band and hanging in Seattle now. They both seem prepared to take on social injustice. And it looks like sparks may fly between them-in a good way. This is the return we have all wanted: Ollie and Dinah as a couple. Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt do a great job in bringing us that opening story and taking these two from their former New 52 lives. The bold and brash Oliver Queen, formerly infected but now cured, is ready to be a giving head of industry. And Dinah Lance, former rock star, is now ready to be a true superhero again. Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt are the creators here and are also the creative team for the regular title. Here’s hoping Percy follows the play book that Geoff Johns has written and follows it to the letter. It could be a return to greatness for these two.

GREEN ARROW #1: Green Arrow, Black Canary and Emiko are at the Seattle Docks to take down the Underground Men. After the fight, Ollie pays off the cops and a dock worker, ensuring they will give him information when needed. Next morning, it’s Ollie and Dinah in bed before they get up and Emiko gushes over the famous rock star in their house. Then it’s off for Ollie to Queen Industries, where things are not so kosher right now and will probably come back to haunt him, especially after a visit with Cyurus. That means someone has been sent to take him out and that someone is…Shado and Emiko.

Yeah…that last bit was a shocker! Wait to go, Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. This issue set up multiple storylines, introduced some major villains for the future, and gave us the return of Shado! Not to mention, if you were lucky enough to score one, a great variant cover by Neal Adams and Kevin Nowlan. Yeah…this title is truly poised for major greatness in the new era!

GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1: It seems there is still a Guardian who has been hiding out and creating a new power that he has hidden in a box. As he flees, he opens the box and releases the entire spectrum of colors. Back on Earth, Simon Baz is being hassled because he has missed a check in with the FBI. Luckily, the FBI agent has a heart and helps to clean the foul graffiti branding him a terrorist off his garage. He gets called to duty and at the same time, in Portland, Jessica Cruz gets called to duty too. They both end up in Arizona and are forced to work together to fight a Manhunter. Unfortunately, they don’t do a very good job. Luckily Hal Jordan arrives and calls off the simulation that they both managed to fail. Hal explains he needs to go back into space and that they will be the Lanterns of this sector. At that point, Hal combines their two individual Lanterns into one and send s them up to train with the Justice League. Meanwhile, Atrocitus and the Red lanterns are preparing to unleash "The Red Dawn" upon the Universe.

There were good things and bad about this issue. Geoff Johns and Sam Humphries wrote it and you can almost see where Johns left off and Humphries took over. Humphries is the regular writer with the new series and that scares me because his work is uneven. I also have an issue with the art as Ethan Van Sciver and Ed Benes are the listed artists but it seems like Benes has done far more pages, as you can also see where he stopped and Van Sciver took over. The good of the book is how this intergalactic “Odd Couple” doesn’t like he each and are going to have to work together to defend our sector. Oh yeah: Red Lanterns!

GREEN LANTERNS #1: Our Green Lantern are at a farmhouse where they are having a major shootout with an unauthorized alien who is really a meth addict with a shotgun. After subduing him, they find the alien and a mass grave. Apparently this all has something to do with the Red Lanterns and Hell Tower, as the family of the victims all get that red glow in their eyes and demand justice. The Tower emerges full on from the bar just as Waller and ARGUS show up to take control of the situation. In the end, the Red Lanterns are dying and Atrocitus needs a Rage Seed so Red Dawn will arrive. At the same time, Simon gets Emerald Sight that presents premonitions of the future. One Lantern will serve Atrocitus and the other will die.

I was amazed at how good this issue turned out to be, considering that Sam Humphries writing is usually hit or miss…and unfortunately a lot of miss. The pace was good and the story sets up a lot of future plots. Topping it off was the art by Robson Rocha. Not much more I can same about that except when he is on fire, he is one fire!

SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1: The Pre-Flashpoint Superman is at the grave of the New 52 Superman when he discovers Lana Lang breaking into the crypt underneath the memorial so she can take his body. Lana had promised to take his body and bury it next to his parents in Smallville. Superman planned to take it back to the Fortress and use the Regeneration Matrix that had brought him back after dying at Doomsday’s hands to resurrect this Superman. Arriving at his Fortress, where they discover that this Superman didn’t have a Regeneration Matrix. Pre-Flashpoint Superman takes Lana back to  Smallville, where Lana proceeds to bury her friend. Superman goes back to the Fortress and builds a statue of the New 52 Superman between the statues of the Kents. 

Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason blew me away with this wonderful story! While a good chunk of the book retells the death and resurrection of the Pre-Flashpoint Superman, it does set the groundwork for that Superman replacing the New 52 Superman. Doug Mahnke’s art looks great, as expected. From here, the story continues in ACTION COMICS under the pen of Dan Jurgens and also in SUPERMAN, where Tomasi and Gleason weave their own brand of magic. I expect great things from all of this, especially once our boy shaves and takes his son Jon under his wing to go on missions as…Superboy?

SUPERMAN #1: After visiting this world’s Superman’s grave, where he leaves a bright blue glowing hand print behind. Back at the White Farm, Clark saves a bunch of animals from his burning barn and later makes Jon promise not to use his powers. A hawk grabs his cat Goldie and flies away., causing Jon to give chase and accidentally use his heat vision, which fries Goldie in the process. Not only is Jon upset, the neighbor girl from across the field that saw it is a bit wigged out by it. She shows up at the White home and introduces herself, leading Jon to become extremely paranoid that she might tell. In the end, Jon witnesses Wonder Woman and Batman at the house talking with his father. They see Jon watching, then leave, which results in his father coming to his room and asking him to quickly, and quietly come with him.

I don’t know the full significance of that cliffhanger, but what a moment! Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason do for this title what they did for ROBIN SON OF BATMAN-they blow it away. The writing is strong and so is the art, with inks from Mick Gray. This title is roaring from issue #1 and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us next!

TITANS REBIRTH #1: The once lost Wally West arrives at an apartment the Titans once shared when Nightwing catches him in the act. Dick doesn’t know him but soon a spark flies from Wally’s finger and strikes Dick, making his memories of Wally come back. Soon, Donna, Roy, Garth and Lilith show up and the same thing happens to them, as they all get hit with individual, specific memory flashes. He explains the 10-year gap, which they attributed to Mister Twister. He feels it wasn’t him and believes it will happen again, so they need to be ready for it.

While it seems like Dan Abnett is writing EVERYTHING these days, he’s not. But what he IS writing is dynamite stuff! Add in Brett Booth’s art and you have a true winner. Abnett was responsible for the original Titans coming back into the fold and now he is just running with them. I cannot wait to see what he does with these characters.

WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH #1: Diana is filled with memories of a life she may or may not have had. Was she crafted from clay to rise up and be the leader of the Amazons or is she the daughter of Zeus and have a twin brother? In her anger, she crushes the helmet of  War, which she should not have to be able to do. She exposes herself to the lasso of truth and discovers that she has been lied to, explaining the multiple origins throughout her history. She goes to Olympus to get some answers and finds that it is just as much a lie as her life, as she encounters constructed automatones.

So how much of Wonder Woman’s past will get merged into her present? THAT is the question. Greg Rucks jumps in with both feet as he tries to work with all the different pieces that have made up Diana’s history. Matthew Clark is responsible for the first 14 pages while Liam Sharp takes over on the last six pages. From here out, that will be two alternating stories. “The Lies” begin in WONDER WOMAN #1, by Rucka and Clark while WONDER WOMAN #2 brings us “Year One” from Rucka and Sharp. It’s a good time to be a Wonder Woman fan!

WONDER WOMAN #1: Diana arrives in the Banakane Rainforest seeking answers to the questions involving the lies about her. In the meantime, Commander Etta Candy is monitoring a situation in the same Rainforest where Steve Trevor and his team are looking to take out a warlord named Cadulo who has not only been terrorizing the area, but has also taken all of the daughters of a village as his captives. Etta questions Steve about Diana being in the area, as she believes he may have compromised the operation. He explains that he hasn’t seen her in some time. In the end, and after a battle with the Hyena-Men, Diana comes face to face with Cheetah and begs her to help to find Themyscira.

Greg Rucka and Liam Sharp do a killer job on this issue! Rucka has dropped in all sorts of goodies that are leaving me wondering. Etta Candy is black? And she is Steve’s boss? And Steve is a jungle fighter with a beard? Wasn’t he recently being controlled during the Darkseid War? Anyway…questions. And Sharp just nails every single panel on every single page. This is a joy to read and to look at. Now…just to be more confusing, next issue begins YEAR ONE and then issue #3 goes back to this story.

DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH #1

Wally West, the ORIGINAL WALLY WEST, is stuck in the Speed Force and has been trying to break free ever since FLASHPOINT. He appears in the Batcave, where Batman is mulling the death of Superman and the existence of three Jokers, and explains that Bruce needs to remember how he got the letter from Thomas Wayne to him. Moving back into the Speed Force, Wally relates how he came to be a Speedster, how Barry died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, how Flashpoint came about and how, at the end of that, someone stole 10 years from them, turning the heroes into younger versions of themselves and installing a darker feeling into the world. Wally next appears at the care facility for an elderly man who turns out to be Johnny Thunder and Wally begs him to use the Genie to reassemble the Justice Society. 

Elsewhere Captain Sawyer has a woman in custody who has stolen a sandwich because where she comes from, food is free. The woman is searching for Superman, who is dead, and the decision is made to call mental services on her. The only thing she was carrying was a Legion of Superheroes flight ring. Ryan Choi checks in on Ray Palmer who reveals he is trapped in the multiverse and that his ex-wife’s alimony check may be late. He also tells Choi that he left him a miniaturizing belt and he needs his help. Meanwhile, Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes are working together on Kord’s Beetle ship when Doctor Fate arrives to explain that Jaime's scarab is not an alien artifact, but a magic one. Running for her life from an unknown assailant, Pandora reaches a dead end and reveals that she knows that the heroes will vanquish what her pursuer has done. And then she is disintegrated.

The aftermath of JUSTICE LEAGUE #50 and SUPERMAN #52 are felt amongst the world. On Paradise Island, Grail begins to raise baby Darkseid as she explains that Wonder Woman has a twin brother named Jason. The heroes mourn Superman’s death with many like Green Arrow and Black Canary coming together for the first time. The Pre 52 Clark is greeted by a mysterious stranger calling himself Mr. Oz, who says that he is not what he believed and neither was the fallen Superman. Aquaman and Mera have a long talk and he proposes to her. Wally breaks through and meets reporter Linda Park, who insists that she doesn’t know him and that sends him back into the Speed Force. He tries to make contact with Captain Boomerang, Cyborg and Dick Grayson to now avail. 

At last he sees the New 52 Wally West, who is his Uncle Daniel’s son, as he saves a girl and now realizes that his life as Kid Flash is over. Next he sees Barry Allen, who also doesn’t know him. As Wally starts to dissolve as he is eaten by the Speed Force, Barry remembers and pulls him back from the brink of death. With tears flowing down his face, Barry remembers everything that came before Flashpoint and believes it was all his fault for what happened. Wally tries to convince him that someone else was to blame.

In the end, we see Batman discovering the blood-stained smiley face button that was the Comedian's inside the Batcave.  In the epilogue, we see a dismantled watch, with the phrase “every Second is a Gift” come back together. The words “nothing ends, Adrian” are heard and a clock with a splatter of blood are seen. “The clock is ticking across the DC Universe.” Does this mean Dr. Manhattan changed our world?

This is the first shot in DC’s new NEW era of comics and this will be a talking point, positive and negative, for some time to come. Geoff Johns has put his distinctive stamp on the future of the DC Universe with this massive one-shot that solves issues and lays groundwork for future storylines. Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, and Phil Jimenez combine on the various chapters to give us a truly beautiful looking book. Now this book represents the beginning of the REBIRTH Era, but there are still NEW 52 titles appearing for the time being. So that means I’ll be doing two sets of reviews each month: NEW 52 and REBIRTH. At least for the time being. Personally, I am sad to see some titles go away but am very excited about the possibilities for the future.

DC YOU MONTH 12, Part 2

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #3: In the first story, Firestorm battles Major Force across the entire story until Professor Stein and Ronnie get captured so Danton Black can find out the connection between Stein and the Firestorm Project. In the next tale, Metamorpho and Sapphire find themselves in the middle of a race war in a far off dimension. The white people see Metamorpho as their prophesied savior and are told how the Orb of Ra opens portals to other dimensions, which is how they ended up here. Metamorpho, Sapphire, and a team go off to find the orb. Unfortunately, there is a giant lizard blocking their path. Oh yeah: Kanjar Ro is here too. In the third tale, Sugar and Spike are contracted by Wonder Woman to hunt down a shape-shifter she almost married back in the day and who is now telling the media that they WERE married. Come to find out that he is one of four shape-shifters out to scam superheroes who end up being sent to S.T.A.R. Labs. In the last tale, the Metal Men, in a flying saucer provided by Robotman, go off to fight a possessed Red Tornado that is tearing up an amusement park. They manage to stop his rampage and sever the connection that was controlling him. Unfortunately, the army shows up to take them into custody.

While I found the first issues to be fun, this last batch of chapters was just annoying, as you can tell my lack of enthusiasm in the synopsis. The Firestorm story by Gerry Conway and Edwardo Pansica feels more and more like a television episode with each chapter while Aaron Lopresti’s Metamorpho has drifted into Conan the barbarian land with aliens with spears. Sugar & Spike started out as fun, but Keith Giffen and Bilquis Evely’s tale is now just one unfunny joke…except for Sugar’s parting shot to Spike’s groin. Even my dear Metal Men suffers from an action issue with no semblance of a plot, courtesy Len Wein and Yildiray Cinar. Again, I have been pretty high on this series for the first two issues. But this just felt like a waste of eight bucks.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER #12: Martian Manhunter is trying to enter the beam that Phobos is blasting at the Earth and keep it from colliding with Earth. Mars is dying again, Wessel dies, as Mr. Biscuits already did. Ma'alefa'ak is dead too. Before he dies though, Wessel convinces the Martian child to send Alicia back to Earth to again be a child. Pearl and J'onn, flying in their giant city mechs, crash land on Earth and J’onn becomes his Martian Manhunter self. But this is not a success for J’onn as all the Martians returned back to their place in the past. There are no refugees-J’onn is the last Martian. A psychic image of Ma'alefa'ak appears and tells J’onn that all of these elements, including Ma'alefa'ak and the White Martians, were all made up out of J’onn’s insane mind. Pearl tries to convince him that she is human, but she is not and is re-absorbed. In the end, the Martian Manhunter feels he has failed, but Alicia thanks him for saving her.

Rob Williams and Ben Oliver bring to an end one of the strangest titles in recent memory. I found the ending a bit disappointing, as it almost felt like the whole book was a dream. So J’onn has gone insane over the million years of isolation and he created all of these personalities to give him purpose. The world doesn’t end, J’onn is still alone and quite mad. Not sure how that will play throughout the DC Universe but…if the Justice League is crazy enough to hire him, more power to them. 

MIDNIGHTER #12: Midnighter and Apollo and Helena’s Spyral team are fighting the Suicide Squad in the streets of Modora, while also trying to fight the Unified. Waller takes down Bendix, who has revealed himself as being in this all for his own gains. Unfortunately, most of Waller’s troops are Multiplex, which means it’s Midnighter versus Multiplex.  Bendix wakes up and doors away to fight another day. Apollo throws the Unified at Midnighter who catches the bad guy off guard and blows his head off. With the battle over, Midnighter ends up in Apollo's arms. In the end, Midnighter goes to the God Garden and tells the Gardener that Bendix is still alive. Then it’s back to Earth for more work on the documentary, a party, a kiss for Apollo and Midnighter, and more action for Midnighter.

Steve Orlando, Aco, and Hugo Petrus bring this series to a close and maybe the career of Midnighter. We have noticed that very few, if any, Wildstorm characters appear in any of the advance word about REBIRTH, so these characters made fade into the background, although I expect Bendix to pop up every now and then, especially in SUICIDE SQUAD. This series had great written all over it, but ended up being very uneven through it’s short run. A little more action, a little less romance, and I may have been all over it.

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #20: The Suicide Squad are taking down the Fist of Cain at Castle Fleischhaus while, at the same time, Waller, Captain Boomerang, and Hunky Punk are heading there to save them. The team in the castle head off to find Adam Reed, but find Seraphine’s blood spilled in the image of Rose Tattoo. Some surviving Fist of Cain members corner Harley, who gets saved by Hunky Punk. Rose Tattoo arrives and kills him with an arrow through his eye. Cheetah attacks Tattoo Rose while El Diablo creates a wall of flame and it looks like all will be good. But Waller gets tazered by Adam Reed, who convinces Deathtrap to shoot Deadshot in the head.

Is this the end of the Suicide Squad? I’m sure that Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra have a plan to get this crew out, especially since they have a movie coming out. I do have to admit I didn’t seen Hunky Punk getting taken out, but that is what happens when you remove your helmet to brag about how great you are. The story was a lot of fun and I like Ferreyra’s art, especially at his bloodiest. I can’t wait to see how this gets wrapped up!

OMEGA MEN #12: The war has ended. But the Omega Men have made there way into the Citadel where Scraps is ready to execute the Viceroy but Kyle Rayner convinces her to not stoop to that level. The Viceroy claims they should thank him for allowing him to make them the people they became. The team admits that they are better than the Viceroy, but that still doesn’t keep Kallista from beheading the Viceroy, gain control of the planet and institutes her own corrupt form of government, declaring “I win”. With the war over, things change. Tigorr is on the run from his own people. Primus was made Governor of Ogyptu but he ordered his troops to put down a riot that killed 453 unarmed men and women. Scraps went missing and is still on the run, because she is wanted by the government. And Kyle: he may be set up for being involved with another war and needs to figure out upon which side he will sit.

If you are looking for the perfect mini-series, then look no further than this title. Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda have made this series a true classic for years to come. While king’s other recent work has elevated his stock as a hot writer, this should be seen as the epicenter of his fame as it is truly a beautiful series. It is just so wonderful, telling a story from beginning to end, with twists and turns and a whole lot of brilliant dialogue and heart. This is certainly one of the best books to have come out of 2015.

POISON IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #5: Ivy is now caring for her two children, Rose and Hazel, but also the girl she rescued last month, Thorn. That night, Ivy sleeps and the girls go out on the town, ending up a strip club where they get into trouble until Ivy shows up to bail them out and chastise them too. Back home, she grounds the girls and tries to talk with the Parliament of Trees until a mutated Doctor Grimley attacks her.

Welcome to Thelma and Louise meets the Banger Sisters. While I am excited to see Rose AND Thorn in a DC Comic, this is not my idea of making the use of them. This was just a long, light issue by Amy Chu, Clay Mann and Stephen Segovia that was more filler than anything else. Very disappointing.

RED HOOD/ARSENAL #12: Roy  has been captured by Iron Rule, who are broadcasting his torture live on the Internet and asking for votes as to whether he should live or die. Meanwhile, Joker's Daughter frees herself from the ambulance she is in, just in time to go Iron Rule’s hideout and take over the proceedings, as she has been the person behind Iron Rule all along. In the end, Red Hood finds the hideout and gives Joker's Daughter and the Iron Rule a five count to surrender or else.

YAWN! Really? We go from Joker’s Daughter being bad, to being good, to being the brains behind this whole thing? Oh Scott Lobdell: what are you thinking? Don’t you see that she could have been this team’s Harley Quinn? It’s a fast paced story, with art by Joe Bennett, that could have been so much better if we hadn’t saved Jason’s appearance for the very end. And having Joker’s Daughter taking up so much page count in the issue, it felt more like her book and not Roy and Jason’s.

ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #12: Opening on Monster Island, Maya is fighting with Suren Darga when she take a poison arrow to the back, allowing him to get away. Luckily, Talia made her immune to poison, so she is hurt but will live, even with a bomb planted under her body. Damian is pretty pissed and he and Goliath leave Maya in the hands of Mom and Dad (Talia and Batman) as they head to the ritual area. Suren drops the last artifact from Damian's Year of Blood into the heart of the Lazarus pits and the magic of Lu’un Darga lives again. Damian and Suren fight until Damian convinces him that he is being used to expand his father's legacy. Robin gets Suren to use his magic to stop the ritual and then knocks Suran out because he thinks of him as a fool. In the end, Batman and Talia argue, Damian declares Maya and Goliath as his family and then he plans to breaking Suren out of Talia's capture.

What a fun issue, with surprises I did not expect! Ray Fawkes, along with Ramon Bachs, gives us a fun resolution in the penultimate issue of this title. I loved seeing the touching hug at the end between Maya, Damian and Goliath while Batman and Talia bicker with each other. The art looked cool, the dialogue was snappy and the story reached a logical end…with the last issue set-up for the final caper.

SECRET SIX #14: The team is on their way to the Shiva’s hideout to rescue Strix, who has eliminated all the fake Six team but is not in favor of being a member of the League of Assassins. While Shiva and Strix duel it out, Catman gets run through by Shawna, who leaves Ferdie to die with Catman for being a “traitorous little sh*t”.  But it’s a good thing that Catman has nine lives, as he ends up surviving and tell Shiva to let Strix go or they will have Alice launch her building into the sun. In the end, Shawna ends up in Arkham with a sock puppet while the rest of the team enjoys a family life…even if Catman likes to sunbathe in the nude.

Gail Simone and Tom Derenick bring this quirky epic to a close. Although I’m not happy that Ferdie is dead, I do love that Strix has decided to jettison her mask and live her life in the tree house with a host of lawn gnomes. I loved this series and loved the fact that Simone was always willing to toss a monkey wrench into the plot that the reader never saw coming. Case in point: Riddler as the mysterious person who brought them together in the first place. Then we reunite Ralph and Sue Diney and the end feels like a television sitcom family. Well done, kids…you shall be missed!

SINESTRO #23: The Red Lanterns are attacking the Sinestro Corps because they had sent Lobo after them, resulting in the death of Rankorr. Even with their numbers, they are no match for the Sinestro Corps who quickly send them packing. On the planet, the Sinestro Corps takes the Red Lanterns terraforming device and transform New Korugar into a paradise. All ends well, except Sinestro heads to the cave where he stashed Parallax, thinking it might be time for him to take control of the Fear Entity once again.

Cullen Bunn, along with Martin Coccolo, Oscar Bazaldua, and Scot Eaton, brings the series to an end with a semi-cliffhanger. However, I can’t see how the might Red Lanterns got their butts kicked so severely here. I mean, they ran rampant over just about everyone in their own book but get seriously punked here! Sorry Cullen-can’t swallow that! And having multiple artists throughout the issue was disheartening as the quality of the work shifted every few pages. In the end, DC Editorial couldn’t decide if Sinestro was good, bad or somewhere in-between. It’s a shame because they had the same problem with the old ECLIPSO series.

STARFIRE #12: Kori is back above the sea, but she has lost her job. That doesn’t matter because Key West’s Fantasy Fest is going on and everyone is partying. But she can’t stay in the pool house because Stella’s aunt is now living there because her muscular dystrophy has gotten so bad. But that’s okay, because she understands and besides, she is reuniting a dolphin with his family out in the ocean. And Sol has now fallen in love with Ravena, thanks to Syl’Khee. But that’s okay because she understands. Later, she sets up a beach party where she tells everyone she is leaving and, after saying her goodbyes, she and Syl’Khee head off for new adventures.

I realize that Darwyn Cooke is gone and he was a great influence on the world of comics, but is copying his style now the new thing? If so, then Elsa Charretier is the best imitator. Charretier, along with Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, brings this silly series to a close. And we all breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe now, Kori will gain brains again. I believe that was the most embarrassing part of this series: the dumbing down of Starfire.

SUICIDE SQUAD MOST  WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #5: In the Deadshot tale, Floyd carves the bomb out of his neck and uses it to blast through his cell door, escaping by masquerading as a guard. He then goes to Gotham and visits with his daughter, who he promises he will take to Australia. Meanwhile, the new Deadshot is out carving his own niche, but is mad he is not getting paid what he should. Floyd makes a change in his appearance, by shaving his head and donning glasses. But when he goes to get his daughter, he finds a massacre and a note saying Evans wants Floyd’s life for his daughters’.

In the Katana tale, Kobra is trying to force Dr. Jace to unleash the Aurakle Weapon while Katana and her team of freedom fighters battle his troops. When they reach Jace, they discover that a seemingly comatose Violet Harper has now been infused with the Aurakle and created a halo effect around her. Kobra surrenders and Violet passes out, leaving her a Katana’s mercy. But before she can act, Violet comes awake again and promises revenge.

So, I like the Deadshot tale, as it continues to give Floyd Lawton a personality. Nice work from Brian Buccellato and Viktor Bogdanovic. The Katana tale, by Mike W. Barr and Diogenes Neves is less of a success and I was really pissed off at the way Violet Harper was transformed into…Halo. I mean, I truly saw this coming when we first got introduced to drug addict Violet Harper, and then the Aurakle. After all, I am an old school BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS fan. But did we forget that she is part of the Dead Heroes Club that appeared in BATMAN INCORPORATED?

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #29: THE FINALS DAYS OF SUPERMAN PART 7. We begin with the Justice League Trinity talking with the Denny Swan Superman. When he tries to kill Lois Lane, Superman goes ballistic and it leads to an all-out battle between Swan, Diana and Clark. Diana gets taken out and Swan takes off with a weekend Superman while Kara finds out of the action and heads to help her cousin. Meanwhile, the Pre-Flashpoint Lois, Clark, and their son, Jon go to the Fortress he has created on this Earth, for which Lois chastises him for keeping a secret. To be concluded in SUPERMAN #52.

Peter J. Tomasi and Jorge Jimenez present the penultimate chapter in THE FINAL DAYS OF SUPERMAN arc, leading to a new status quo come REBIRTH. Make no bones about it: DC is definitely killing off this version of Clark Kent. The question is how dramatic it will be and will he be able to defeat this foe. In honesty, those qare the only real questions as this has been the worst kept secret since…the death of Superman.

SUPERMAN #52: THE FINALS DAYS OF SUPERMAN PART 8. A weakened, dying Superman continues to fight Danny Swan and luckily gets help from Wonder Woman, Batman and Supergirl. While still not enough to defeat him, Superman takes Swan into orbit but is too weak to finish the job. The Pre-Flashpoint Superman arrives and the two of them get to the proper atmosphere, before our Superman punches the Pre Flashpoint Superman, telling him the world will need him. Knowing of no other option, Superman absorbs Swan’s upcoming detonation with a solar blast. The blast kills Swan and sends Superman plummeting towards Earth, only to be caught by Pre-Flashpoint Superman and laid among his friends. Superman says his final goodbyes to Lana, Lois, Kara, Steel, Bruce and lastly Diana, who tells him that his parents are waiting for him. With that he burns out, with his body consumed from within. In the end, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman tells Batman that he will find them at a later time and Superman’s friends and enemies worldwide mourn.
 
Peter J. Tomasi and Mikel Janin bring the life of the New 52 Superman to an end with both a bang and a whimper. I certainly hope DC knows what they are doing, as they have now left the door open for the Pre-Flashpoint Superman to take the lead in the SUPERMAN titles. But we also have two Lois Lanes floating about and a lot of options open for him to interact with the supporting cast. The ending was the best part, with individual glimpses of friends and enemies showing their silent reactions to his death. And Lois’ realizing that her job was to write his story was perhaps the most telling image of all. Well done, folks: let’s hope the NEW Superman can live up.

SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #8: While Lois and Jon talk about the guy who is their Superman, their Superman goes off to fight Hyathis, who is after the Oblivion Stone. After a book length fight, she claims she get the other half of the Oblivion Stone "in due time" and leaves. Returning home, Clark opens a trunk and breaks out the classic costume, complete with letting a flying Jon wear the cape

Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks have made this book so wonderful that I can only hope that those who write the forthcoming tales of Lois, Clark and Jon have the same love for these characters as this team did. Weeks is by far doing the best work of his career and Jurgens truly hit this book, which could have been just a lackluster affair, out of the park with every single issue. This was a beautiful gift to fans of the classic Man of Steel and now we get to see him in all his glory in the REBIRTH Universe. I cannot wait!

SWAMP THING #5: Matt Cable Swamp Thing has lost his mind and is trying to take over the world from his Throne of Thorns. He makes the sheriff go on television to tell people to surrender but she turns the tables and tells the world that they need to nuke the town. Alec, who was buried last issue, gets freed by the Phantom Stranger, who takes him to Nanda Parbat. Once inside, he meets with Deadman and they try to figure out a solution. Alec takes the Hand of Fatima, although it apparently no longer has any power. The Phantom Stranger reappears and drops him into Gotham, where The Spectre is doling out his brand of justice. When finished, The Spectre leaves, just in time for Alec to meet with Jim Corrigan, insisting they need to talk about the Fist of Fatima.

OH MAN!!! We get Len Wein, teamed up with Kelley Jones to give us a fun, great looking book. Now, add in the Phantom Stranger, Deadman, Nada Parbat, Jim Corrigan AND The Spectre. Oh yeah: A.R.G.U.S shows up and, not knowing what to do, figure they should call the President for advice. All in all, this was a great roller coaster ride that I’m afraid is coming to an end. I’m pretty sure that this will mean the end of Matt Cable as we know him…at least for now. Until then, I’m totally digging this book!.

TEEN TITANS #20: A satire Internet site called Legion of the Dumb has put out a bunch of memes directed at various villains. Unfortunately, they picked on Monsieur Mallah’s love The Brain and that’s not good! Meanwhile, Red Robin leads the team through an overly long training session. Batman gets involved via a phone call and a meme that makes fun of Red Robin. The team heads off to confront the person behind the Legion of the Dumb website, only to find that guy who runs the site has already been paid a visit by Monsieur Mallah and The Brain and is being mind-controlled. Unfortunately, now Wonder Girl is being mind controlled and that could be a problem for Red Robin.

Here’s the highlight of the book: Ian Chruchill’s dynamite art. Tony Bedard wastes an entire issue with a dumb training mission filled with lots of bad dialogue. Give me the Brotherhood of Evil but this is just embarrassing!

TITANS HUNT #8: As Roy, Gnarrk, Lilith, Hawk and Dove make their way towards Mr. Twister’s tower, Nightwing, Donna Troy, Garth and Mal face him. Mal’s pregnant wife shows up and blasts Twister with her newfound power, proving to the rest of the team that Twister can be hurt. Just in time, the rest of the team arrives but Twister forces Mal to sing and that opens the doorway for the big bad that’s coming. The team remembers how they stopped Mr. Twister in the past by forgetting who they were. They insist they are not kids anymore so he can’t hurt them anymore. When Twister tries to twist Hawk, he recalls how Twister killed his brother Don and goes berserk. Gnarrk grabs Twister and tosses him into the void, thus ending the crisis. Hawk and Dove fly Mal and Karen to the hospital while the rest of the team go out to celebrate and to talk about their future. They also question who Karen was a stand-in for. That’s when the sky is lit up with lightning. Could that missing Titan be…Wally West?

Despite a bunch of plot holes throughout this series, most notably how Donna Troy existed when she was just created in WONDER WOMAN and how Don Hall died at the hands of the Anti-Monitor, Dan Abnett and Paul Pelletier have done a tremendous job in resurrecting this classic team and posing them for their new role and their new series during REBIRTH. The story was fun and Pelletier’s art was smoking! This was a fresh throwback to the good old days. Welcome back the REAL TITANS!!!

WE ARE ROBIN #12: Redbird joins up with a gang that is about to rip off Bruce Wayne because he needs to help his family. He texts Shug-R and lets her know what he’s doing and it isn’t long before she gets word to the rest of the Robins. They join up and bust up the break-in. They let the leader of the group go to save Alfred’s life. He tells them that they need to hurry if they are going to catch the bad guys and Duke remarks how he looks letter without the glasses and the beard.

Oh man: thank you for the end of this. This was a mess from almost issue #1 and never got better. Lee Mermejo’s cover were always top notch but his writing was just too all over the place. I think it’s because he was juggling way too many characters, as they all seemed to blend into one another. And Jorge Corona’s art style didn’t help to delineate these characters either. I think most of these characters will fade into the background of the REBIRTH world, with the exception of Duke, who will probably end up at some point as part of the DETECTIVE COMICS team.

WONDER WOMAN #52: Hecate has kidnapped baby Zeke so she can resurrect Zeus
But Hera shows up and has plans of her own, as she was the person responsible for making Zeke sick in the first place. Diana shows up and Hera immediately lies through her teeth to her, saying that Hecate was trying to kill Zeke. Diana wraps the Lasso of Truth around Hera, which doesn't work on her. Diana stops the ritual just in time to keep Zeke being merged with Hecate and saves Zeke. Then Hera says how she is going to take the throne of Olympus from her husband and uses her orbs to bring the cave down. Hera escapes but Wonder Woman sacrifices herself to save Zeke. In the end, Zeus is reborn because of Wonder Woman's sacrifice and reclaims the throne of Olympus. Zeus gave the cyclopes their freedom and he healed Zola, who will now live on Paradise Island and deal with the loss of her son.

Meredith Finch and Miguel Mendonca conclude this run and it couldn’t come fast enough. The minute the Finch Family jumped on board, the book took a left turn to unhappy land. And David Finch isn’t even here at the end, although I do like Mendonca’s style. What’s worse is that we get to the end of the series and baby Zeke dies! THAT SUCKS! I can’t wait to see where the REBIRTH WONDER WOMAN will go, especially with the revelation that came out in JUSTICE LEAGUE #50. It HAS to be better than this last run. And with Greg Rucka at the helm, I am highly anticipating it.