DC UNIVERSE Month 55 Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1046 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Fico Ossio and David Lapham. Superman goes after the Fire of Olgrum but has to answer a series of riddles from a virtual guardian first. He answers the riddles and gains entry into the chamber but has to battle a descendant of Olgrin. When the young guardian arrives, Superman saves him, forcing the guardian, who controls the creature, to realize Superman’s worth and he gets the Fire of Olgrum. With the magical sword in his hands, Superman returns to find that Kryl-Ux has betrayed the cause and teamed up with Mongul, who has captured Otho and Osul. In the backup, the Superman Family battles Conduit, who is taken down after the Genesis fragment merges with the Kyrptonite in his costume. Steel destroys the fragment as Conduit explains that “he’s coming.”

AQUAMAN & THE FLASH: VOIDSONG #3 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Vasco Georgiev. Arthur and Barry take on the alien armada that is trying to consume all of the Speed Force, which Aquaman and Mera had been using as a possible power source for their Atlantean exploration ships.  They out aside their apparent differences and make their way inside the Voidsong and, with the eventual help of all the Earth’s heroes, defeat the creature.

BATGIRLS #9 by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad and Neil Googe. The Batgirls have a day off before they end up fighting the KGBeast. After defeating them, they discover a trash barrel with Mr. Greene’s mail and a cache of wooden legs. They also find the slain body of Mr. Greene and that he has a missing eye replaced with a fake one. The fake eye is eventually opened and it contains a cipher. While they try to break the cipher, Killer Moth looks on.

BATMAN #126 by Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez and Belen Ortega. Batman and the Bat-Family battles Failsafe with less than great results. Failsafe visits Lelsie Thompkins while Tim takes Bruce to the old Batcave. Bruce goes into another part of the cave and reemerges as Batman Zur-En-Arrh. In the backup, Catwoman is still trying to find the children of Cobblepot. But all of them are now dead. Except Addison and Aiden Cobblepot show up and they are apparently the lost children of Penguin and they now own the Iceberg Lounge and all Cobblepot’s property.

BATMAN BEYOND: NEO-YEAR #5 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Max Dunbar.  Terry has defeated the Sword of Gotham  and takes Officer Booma to the old Batcave. Once there, he sees Gestalt there and Gestalt uses its’ tech to assist Terry in uncovering how Booma was possessed. After some time, Booma awakens from her possession and a renewed Terry is preparing to put on the classic Batman Beyond costume and finish this.

BATMAN: FORTRESS #4 by Gary Whitta and Darick Robertson. Batman and Lex team up to make their way into the Fortress of Solitude. That leads them into direct contact with the aliens seeking Superman and Luthor’s tactics force them to abandon the  mission. Later, Green Lantern D’ayl meets with Bruce and offers his help, despite the wishes of the other Green Lanterns. They head to Nepal where they meet with a retired Detective Chimp, who is just happy to run his bar. With his reluctant help, he finds that the key to the Fortress is hidden in the Marianas Trench.

BATMAN: KILLING TIME #6 by Tom King and David Marquez. On March 1, Riddler and Catwoman meet with Clock King. On March 6, Riddler calls Clock King to tell him about the meet at Moldoff Park and Clock King calls the Penguin. On March 7, Clock King takes out a government sniper that is attempting to kill Batman. He takes the eye during the chaos and leaves, while Riddler shoots Espinoza. Batman drops gas pellets onto the battlefield while Catwoman battles The Help. Riddler, Catwoman and The Help get away, leaving Batman with the dead. On March 8, Cock King is on a plane, playing with the eye and claiming it is just something to help him “pass the time”. On the same day, someone shoots The Penguin. On April 8, Catwoman and Riddler meet, but Batman arrives, as Riddler has left clues about their meeting, which results in them being back in prison. On April 11, Espinoza continues her rehabilitation with her aim being Batman.  On April 17, Batman duels with Ra’s al Ghul, who tells him he does not know where The Help is. On April 21, Batman meets Clock King at the Parthenon. On November 7, a pawn shop owner sells the eye to Vera Angleton.

BATMAN: THE KNIGHT #8 by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Bruce continues his training, even as it appears that Anton is killing off his various mentors. Bruce is now with Dr. Captio, who manipulates Bruce into thinking that Anton has killed Alfred and Dana. In actuality, it’s all a ruse to get Bruce to focus. Later, they find a wounded Anton, who has been injured by The Still. Bruce battles The Still to a draw, allowing Bruce to go back to Captio and confront him about the ruse. In the end, he and Anton head off in search of their next mentor: Ra’s al Ghul.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #18 by Brandon Thomas, Henry Barajas, Chris Burnham, Tini Howard, Blake M. Howard, Greg Hahn, Alberto Jimenez Alurquerque, Serg Acuna, Max Raynor and Mike Norton. Duke Thomas joins The Outsiders, but his real focus is on finding and saving his mother. Batman steps in and tasks the team to make finding her their prime focus. In the second tale, Batman teams up with Etrigan to battle Lord Scapegoat. In the third story, Alfred gets involved in trying to solve the mystery of the theft of a jade earring. In the fourth tale, Batman and Robin team up to battle Doctor Destiny, whose nightmare fueled illusions affect both Bruce and Tim. In the final story, Belle and Beau pull off a series of heists designed to make their lives better, only to run into Batman.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #6 by Mark Waid and Travis Moore. In the past, Robin cuts a message into a rock. It’s 1892 in Corto Maltese and Robin finds himself working in a circus. In the present, Batman, Superman, Supergirl, and the Doom Patrol find the stone at the tomb of the Devil Hezha. The rock says ‘Hey guys come find me’. This leads to Batman and Superman joining the circus, where Superman becomes the resident strongman. Robin is intent on investigating the death of two circus workers that the circus community believe was caused by Simba the lion. Later, a fire breaks out and Superman and Batman team up to rescue the people, including Boyce. Robin heads to Cesar’s wagon where he explains that he knows Cesar was responsible for the murder of the two men in an effort to get the money they stole. Boyce was his partner but now Cesar wanted it all for himself, thus setting the fire and locking Boyce in Simba’s cage. In the end, the murders are solved and Robin suggests this may be the place he wants to stay.

BLACK ADAM #3 by Christopher Priest and  Rafa Sandoval. In the distant past, Black Adam faces off against Dessad, who turns out to be Ishtar. In the present, Black Adam is seemingly dead, meaning he is facing his own battles in the afterlife. But Malik White uses the ring and his newfound powers to bring him back from the brink of death. He deduces that Adam is in this state because he drinks his tea from a enturie’s old cup that contained some sort of virus. In the end, Malik learns to embrace the new power even as Black Adam awakens, having dreamed he was fighting a much older Malik Adam.

BLOOD SYNDICATE: SEASON ONE #4 by Geoffrey Thorne and ChrisCross. Holocaust goes on a rampage and it takes two groups of super-powered street gang members to come together to try to stop him and save their city. Holocaust ends up on the bridge to Paris Island and decides to blow it up, trapping people on both sides.

CATWOMAN #46 by Tini Howard and Sami Basri. Selina battles Amygdala and gets some help from Valmont. Later, Black Mask continues his thirst for revenge while Selina cuts a deal with Eiko. Selina makes the decision to get out of town and knowingly accepts an offer to meet with Eiko on her yacht, even though she knows it’s a trap. Once there, Black Mask and his team blow up the yacht, believing that Catwoman is dead. But she is moving on, as it seems Eiko will be the new Catwoman.

DARK CRISIS  #3 by Joshua Williamson Daniel Sampere. Nightwing sits by gar’s side as he fights for his life. Meanwhile, Black Adam’s team is fighting against Deathstroke’s army. Later, he shows up at the Hall of Justice where he wants to hang Count Vertigo’s body in front of the Hall as a warning to all villains. Frustrated, he leaves just as the Justice Society arrives. At Deathstroke’s headquarters, Ravager arrives and challenges his father, who uses the Great Darkness within him to influence his team. In space, Hal and the Lanterns encounter Pariah. Hal tries to interact with Pariah’s created worlds and finds himself powerless in a new world, which is considered Sector John Stewart. In the

DARK CRISIS: WORLDS WITHOUT A JUSTICE LEAGUE-GREEN LANTERN #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Jeremy Adams, Fernando Blanco and Jack Herbert. After a glimpse of a battle in space where Kyle calls out for help from John Stewart, we find John working on a farm while his mother and his baby sister talk. The call comes in and it resonates through his sister. He reveals that he took the power battery to keep it safe and hid it within his once dead baby sister. John heads into space and teams ith what is left of the Lanterns to fight the Bright Revenant. John destroys the creature and returns back home, promising to never leave again. In the backup, Hawkgirl goes to the Temple of Life to find the Vase of Mortality. She drinks from the vase and finds that all of her memories of past lives are gone. She is attacked by skeleton creatures, whom she defeats. As she leaves, Pariah laughs.

DARK CRISIS: YOUNG JUSTICE #3 by Meghan Fitzmartin and Laura Braga. The team fights Boomerang, Deathstroke and Luthor and then fight with each other while Cassie watches. They defat the villains and then go off on their own ways, with Cassie meeting with each of them and trying to convince them that they should find their place in this world. Eventually, she tells them that this is what “he” wants and that leads to the Justice League arriving to force them to accept this world.

DEATHSTROKE INC. #12 by Ed Brisson and Dexter Soy. Slade continues his first mission to kill Campbell but has to get through Green Arrow first. Wintergreen ends up completing the mission for Slade, as he is being captured by Green Arrow. When he attempts to flee, Arrow shoots him, causing him to fall of the rooftop and apparently die. Meanwhile, Addie learns that she is pregnant.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1063 by Ram V., Simon Spurrier, Rafael Albuquerque and Dani. Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne meet in a nightclub, where Harvey explains that he is no longer controlled by Two-Face and wears a partial gold mask to conceal his damaged face. Meanwhile, Shavhod, Arzen, and Neang discuss the land title deed for Gotham and there seems to be a connection to Arkham.  Batman breaks into Blackgate Prison where he meets with the Maestro to ask him about the mysterious music box. Maestro explains that the music is Black Noise that has been used to change people. In the end, Dent is attacked by Shavhod, Arzen, and Neang who gas him with Azmer and that seems to resurrect Two-Face once more. In the backup, Gordon continues his strange journey and his meeting with Annie Redding’s missing child.

DUO #4 by Greg Pak and Khoi Pham. Maya discovers another location where there was a mysterious explosion and calls David, but he doesn’t have time to talk as he finds himself battling enemies sent to him by Emris Tinker. Tinker explains that he doesn’t want to fight him, but want to work together. He decides to side with the Immutables, but then Morien stabs him, before sounding a retreat. When he awakens, he finds himself in Tinker’s lab, where he explains how he wants to put Kelly’s consciousness into a new body. Kelly takes control of the body and fights back, aligning herself with Tinker’s creations and stating that he/she wants to save the world by his/herself.

THE FLASH #785 by Jeremy Adams and Amancay Nahuelpan. Despite Mr. Terrific’s objections, Linda jumps into the Multiversal wormhole to find her husband.  Her children have met a young boy who tries to tell them they need to hide from the villain Night Flash, but it turns out that Night Flash is the hero and the boy, actually crime boss Knives Mahoney, is the real villain. Luckily Jay Garrick arrives to save them. Elsewhere, Barry fights Wally, believing he is Reverse-Flash. Linda arrives just in time to set him straight. In the dystopian world, Max and Jesse team up to help this version of Barry destroy the ‘pearl’ and save his universe. All the heroes come together to free Wallace from his dream world. All except Barry head home, as Barry goes on a search for the League, who are all trapped in Pariah’s dream words.

THE FLASH 2022 ANNUAL #1 by Jeremy Adams and Serg Acuna. Wally is back home and sits down to read the novel Linda has written, which turns out to be a highly fictionalized version of their life together. In the end, he tells her how much he loved the book and Linda hints at being pregnant again.

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #4 by Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams, Xermánico and Mikel Janín. Gilda Dent is in Arkham where she is talking with the person in the next cell. Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne performs an autopsy on Eobard Thawne, where he discovers a piece of a clock inside him, leading him to try to solve the mystery of the Clockwork Killer. He discovers that the piece is from the clock in Wayne Manor. Dexter Dent, now dressed as Robin, breaks into Arkham and meets with his mother just as the woman in the cell next door breaks free: Martha Wayne-The Joker. In our world, things are happening as Corky Smith reveals that there are things about Martha Wayne that Bruce does not know.

FUTURE STATE: GOTHAM #16 by Dennis Culver, Cyrus Voris, Chris Bachalo and Geoffro. Damian, under the influence of Hush/Batman, tries to burn Jace Fox/Batman but Mother Panic and Red Hood show up to join the fight. Bruce Wayne/Batman arrives with Talia and reveals himself to his son, making him question who to believe. Elsewhere, Dick Grayson/Batman fights with the rest of the Bat Family and uses his new Brane powers to take down all but Barbara, who he professes his love for. He leaves Barbara and shows up at the fight between all the Batmans, claiming he is the ONLY Batman. In the backup, an Arlham inmate is told that Batman is really Bruce Wayne by a demon. But she is in Arkham and who is going to believe her?

HARLEY QUINN #18 by Stephanie Phillips and Georges Duarte. Harley joins up with a new version of Task Force X  and is sent to the moon to stop a mutating sample of Element-X from Apokalips from taking over the world. The team, put together by Luke Fox, consists of Harley, Solomon Grundy, Killer Frost, Bronze Tiger, Dreadbolt, Lashina and Verdict, who Harley just got done defeating. As they get closer to the moon, they find themselves targeted by a missile.

HARLEY QUINN #19 by Stephanie Phillips and Georges Duarte. Dreadbolt leaves the safety of the ship and blows up the missile, at the cost of his own life. The team lands on the moon, but it is not long before Element-X corrupts Lashina.

HARLEY QUINN  #20 by Stephanie Phillips, Georges Duarte and Simone Buonfantino. Luke reveals that he is responsible for letting Element X loose, after he sent it to the moon. The team argues with each other until they find ashine, who has been possessed by the now sentient Element X, Grundy goes to her and he is also absorbed by the creature. Frost is able to temporarily stop the creature and she reveals that she has the ability to drain the life force from anything she comes in contact with. The fleeing creature manages to transport itself to Earth where it finds Luke and proceeds to take over members of the military before addressing his “father”.

HARLEY QUINN  #21 by Stephanie Phillips and Simone Buonfantino. Luke flees from the creature as the team tries to figure out how to transport to Earth to stop it. They successfully transport and are forced to fight the mind-controlled military, with an assist from Luke Fox in a new costume. Back at his lab, he outfits the team with his best weapons and they prepare to take on the creature. Continued in HARLEY QUINN  2022 ANNUAL #1

HARLEY QUINN  2022 ANNUAL #1 by Stephanie Phillips, Simone Buonfantino and  Georges Duarte. The team deduces that the creature is going to Blackgate Prison, where it can control all of the prisoners and creature a super army. The team breaks into Blackgate and fights their way through numerous villains until Frost uses her powers to stop the creature. In the end, the team celebrates their win ith ice cream. In the epilogue, Harley reunites with Kevin and fight an FBI Agent ho wants something that Harley has. That something? The Element X creature.

I AM BATMAN #12 by John Ridley and Christian Duce. The Question is in town and meets with Batman and Detective Chubbs as part of her investigation into the murder of Lonnie Machin.  That leads to Batman and The Question seeking on Morris Caulfield, who shot Anarky but was acquitted and moved back to New Jersey. They later meet with a group of militants who say Anarky helped protect them and they are upset that one activist was arrest and found dead. This leads the pair to investigate Detective Keenan.

JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #5 by Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski. As the Legion of Doom headquarters, seen previously in a swamp, crashes into the future, the combined heroes, now all back in the future, discuss what they have encountered. This leads to the deduction that the person responsible for The Great Darkness is…Vandal Savage, who shows up in the end to confirm it.

Another batch of first issues

ABSOLUTION #1 by Peter Miligan and Mike Deodato Jr. Another AWA series involving a modified assassin and her quest for revenge. It’s got everything you would want: a great story, killer art, a super cyborg-like assassin and a serious amount of action and gore. I have to hand it to AWA as they keep turning out (mostly) great mini-series and this has the looks of being another one!

ANT-MAN #1 by Al Ewing and Tom Reilly. This mini-series will take readers through the various people who have been Ant-Man, ending up with the Ant-Man of the future. In the first issue, it’s Hank and Janet, AKA Ant-Man and The Wasp, as they battle villains from his past. I love the quirky art style of Reilly and Ewing’s tale is a cool little nod to the past, complete with documenting where these long forgotten villains first appeared. It’s truly a love letter to the past.

AVENGERS 1,000,000 B.C. #1 by Jason Aaron and Kev Walker. Journey back in time to the beginnings of the Marvel Universe where the first Avengers lived. Yeah…Prehistoric Avengers in the form of Odin, Starbrand, Agamotto, Black Panther, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist and The Phoenix. Learn the true story of Thor’s birth, as previously hinted at in THE AVENGERS. Cool story that totally changes what we thought we knew. Spoiler: Odin is an A**HOLE!!!

A.X.E.: EVE OF JUDGMENT #1 by Kieron Gillen and Pasqual Ferry and . A.X.E.: JUDGMENT DAY #1 by Gillen and Valerio Schiti. Marvel’s next big event series is here. The Celestials are coming to Krakoa to handle those they consider Deviants. In this case, al mutants. This is the start of a many month reaching story that runs its’ way through a host of Marvel titles, one-shots and mini-series. If you are a true Marvel Zombie, you know you are going to grab them all. Will it change the status quo? Possibly. But let’s be honest. Who really stays dead in comics?

BATMAN: ONE BAD DAY-THE RIDDLER #1 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads. The first in a series of one shots highlighting some of Batman’s greatest villains. Does this book really fit into continuity? I’m unsure, but if it is, it basically gives us the origin story for The Riddler. From his earliest days in school where his father is the headmaster to his current turns as a villain, it is typical King, with lots of dialogue and some great story twists.

BATMAN-WHITE KNIGHT PRESENTS: RED HOOD #1 by Sean Murphy, Clay McCormack and Simone Di Meo. Murphy’s White Knight saga has been a huge success for DC and this mini-series is just going to continue to fuel the fire for readers. All Jason wants to do is forget his past and drink some beer. But he runs into Gan, who has decided to pick up the mantle of Robin. So what’s a former Robin to do? Train your replacement. The story is fun, the art is cool, even if Murphy isn’t doing that lifting, and it will certainly appeal to fans of the core title.

BETTY AND VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER: SUMMER SURF PARTY #1 by Jamie L. Rotante, Francis Bonnet, Frank Doyle, Mike Gallagher, Dan Parent, Dan DeCarlo, Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy and Doug Crane. A fun collection of Archie stories for the fans out there. The biggest reason to grab it is the introduction of Stacy Banks to the Archieverse. While it is brief, e all know what new characters can do to a comic’s value!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY #1 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Carmen Carnero. Cap is back in action in another new #1. He has moved into new digs, is taking up art classes and reunites with some of his old Army buddies to try to investigate what is later referred to as The Century Game. Bring in the Winter Soldier, a mysterious crystal and a shadowy villain and tis book looks like a winner designed to add new details to Cap’s origin.

DAMAGE CONTROL #1 by Adam F. Goldberg, Charlotte(Fullerton) McDuffie, Will Robson and Jay Fosgitt. Was I the only one by the way that Damage Control was portrayed in the MS. MARVEL television show? I always loved the DAMAGE CONTROL titles and this is no exception for me. It’s decidedly fun and silly as new intern Gus has to save the world by finding a piece of mail he shredded. Like I said, fun, and decidedly silly and filled with plenty of guest appearances. Remember kids: comics don’t have to be serious all the time!

DAREDEVIL #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto and Rafael LaTorre. Again, Marvel decides that it’s a good thing to finish a certain story arc and then reboot the title with a new Number One. Case in point: This run of DAREDEVIL comes on the heels of the last one and picks up the same dangling plot threads. Matt Murdock is “presumed dead”, although it’s really his “brother” Mike. Fisk is in exile and we have TWO DAREDEVILS now as Elektra has decided to keep the mask on that she wore while Matt was in prison. So…yeah. You’re all caught up!

DCEASED: WAR OF THE UNDEAD GODS #1 by Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine. Welcome to the final chapter in DC’s epic undead collection of series. The survivors of the old Earth, wiped out by this outbreak caused by the Anti-Life Equation that took out most of the population and most of their heroes, have settled on Earth-2 and preparing to get their lives in order. But, of course, there is a problem that will need solving. And it appears to be the dead Gods coming to finish the job. I have been a huge fan of the other series and greatly look forward to the final chapter. Fun story, great art and a completely different take on Earth’s heroes.

DEFENDERS: BEYOND #1 by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez. Marvel’s favorite “non-team” is back again with a new team consisting of a female version of Loki, Tigra, Taaia, America Chavez, and the Blue Marvel. The universe needs saving and this is the team to do it. But wait? The Beyonder is the baddie? Cool! If you enjoyed the last series, you’re sure to enjoy this one.

FLORIDA MAN #1 by Mike Baron, Todd Mulrooney, Elias Martin and Marcelo Salaza. Legendary creator Baron adapts his FLORIDA MAN novels into comic form and it’s a wild ride. That’s about all I can say. It’s a weirdly disjointed read with a bunch of crazy Redneck characters engaging in all sorts of stupid things. The art is cool though.

GHOST RIDER: VENGEANCE FOREVER #1 by Benjamin Percy and Juan Jose Ryp. Johnny Blaze seeks out Necro the tattooist to get some special ink. What he does not know is that Necro has the ability to tell the tales of all those who have been Ghost Rider, beginning in Texas in the late 1800’s and continuing through to the present. The bottom line: all the various Spirits of Vengeance are all connected to each other and vengeance is forever. This was a fun story that can act as a jumping on point for new fans and a nice, heartwarming nod to older ones.

GIANT-SIZE GWEN STACY #1 by Christos Gage and Todd Nauck. In the days before the pandemic, Marvel launched a five issue Gwen Stacy mini-series, telling a tale from before she met Peter Parker. But, after two issues, the pandemic shut it down and fans thought they would never reach the end. Finally, Marvel collected those two issues and the final three and it was worth the wait. Meet Gwen: part student and part detective. What I loved, in addition to the story and Nauck’s killer art, was dropping in so many classic characters, ranging from The Enforcers to Jean DeWolff. This was so much fun, I could almost take this as a regular series. It was a blast to read and great to look at!

GUN HONEY: BLOOD FOR BLOOD #1 by Charles Ardai and Ang Hor Kheng. My favorite gun for hire is back in an all new, totally cool mini-series from Titan. I’m a huge Hard Case Crime to begin with and own so many of the Noir novels that the first series was a no-brainer for me. This one picks up from where the last series ended with our girl on the run. Ardai knows his character well and Kheng’s good girl art fits the bill perfectly. If you love gritty Noir stuff, this is for you! Now go find all those cool variant covers!

HARLEY QUINN: THE ANIMATED SERIES-THE REAL SIDEKICKS OF NEW GOTHAM SPECIAL #1 by Tee Frankin, Alexis Quasarano, Conner Shin, Jimmy Mosqueda, Jamiesen Borak, Max Sarin, ONeill Jones, Erica Henderson, Logan Faerber, PJ Holden and Jon Mikel. Holy smokes! A monstrous book filled with all your favorite characters from the HARLEY QUINN animated series. A whole bunch of stories sewn together by the Tawny Talks television show. If you are unfamiliar with the animated series, this will be a definite kick in the crotch! If you have binged those seasons, and thanks for Season Three, you will totally dig this book!

THE LAST SHADOWHAWK by Philip Tan. Marc Silvestri’s legendary hero meets his end in this one shot that ends with the death of(spoiler) Shadowhawk. Well, it’s a pretty looking way to end your association with a character, but not much else. While it serves a purpose, I found it kind of disappointing.

LOVE EVERLASTING #1 by Tom King and Elsa Charretier. Okay…it’s a romance anthology where it seems every story is connected. What? Yeah: this is a weird one! King totally nails the genre and Charretier’s art fits it perfectly. The fact that our main character seems to be experiencing different lives is a great hook and enough to hook me in for the net issue.

MAN GOAT AND THE BUNNYMAN: GREEN EGGS & BLAM #1 by Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini, David Wohl and Jordi Tarragona. Four writers on a book usually makes me nervous but I have to say I was hooked in by the cool Blink-182 inspired cover art and the concept. Bunnyman and his partner Man Goat are on the hunt for the scientists responsible for messing with him and his family. The art is decent and the story is fun. Don’t expect Earth shaking stuff here. Like I have said: sometimes comics are just read for the fun of them.

NEW FANTASTIC FOUR #1 by Peter David and Alan Robinson. Come with us now to a previous version of the Fantastic Four starring Gray Hulk, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and Wolverine as they find themselves fighting demons masquerading as humans. It’s a great throwback to a fun run from back in the day with a cool story from David and art very reminiscent of Art Adams, who did the original run. While it will upset newer fans, the older ones will love it.

PARKER GIRLS #1 by Terry Moore. Okay, we all know how much of a huge Terry Moore fan I have been for the last 30 years and anytime he turns something out, I’m all over it. But give me a story featuring some of my favorite STRANGERS IN PARADISE characters and I will love it that much more. The art rocks and the story is just beginning to get going. What is the endgame here for Tambi and the rest of the girls? You’ll have to tune into the next issue to see where this goes. As always, my highest recommendation!

PREDATOR #1 by Ed Brisson and Kev Walker. Marvel gets its’ hooks into another big name property and cranks out another book. And it’s really freakin’ good! Set in a different time from the past movies, but making note of those instances, it is a revenge tale that pits a girl, whose parents were killed by the creature many years ago, against the creature or creatures. The story is tight and the art looks great. I was a big fan of their take on ALIEN and now I have this to look forward to. A surprise gem here!

PUBLIC DOMAIN #1 by Chip Zdarsky. What happens when two brothers fight to gain control of the superhero that their father created? You end up with PUBLIC DOMAIN. If you’re expecting a big battle book, you will b disappointed. As is typical with much of Zdarsky’s work, it’s a story about people that just happens to revolve around superheroes. I enjoyed it.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL: BLITZ #1 by Torunn Gronbekk and Lan Medina. The first in a series of semi-regular one-shots featuring a Frank Castle who is now a member of The Hand. Here, he hunts down members connected to the Hate Monger. It’s a cool tale with a bunch of back and forth between then and now.

SACRAMENT #1 by Peter Milligan and Marcelo Frusin. It’s 2999 and Earth has been deserted. Religion is outlawed and a lone priest, who may have a sketchy past and questionable morals, finds himself on the run. But he gets called into service after a series of what appear to be ritualistic murders occur. This is a typical Milligan jaunt that drops bread crumbs and gives us some of his personal thoughts on religion and society. And Frusin’s art is beautiful! It's from AWA and that means it’s only a five issue mini-series, so you don’t have a super long investment in it.

SAVAGE TALES #1 by Scott Bryan Wilson, David Avallone, Mariano Benitez Chapo, Will Rios, Al Barrionuevo and Hamish Munro-Cook. A quartet of fur tales fill this one-shot from Dynamite. Vampirella, Allan Quatermain, Red Sonja and Captain Gullivar Jones all get their turn at showing their stuff. Nothing earth-shattering here and I feel it’s strictly for collectors.

SEVEN SONS #1 by Robert Windom, Kelvin Mao and Jae Lee. It’s 1998 and the world is awaiting their religious savior. The problem is, there may have been seven of them but they are slowly being taken off the table. Will any of them be left in the end to provide salvation for us all? This is a very weird concept with some amazing art by Lee. I truly cannot wait to see where the series takes us, as it’s filled with some interesting takes on man and organized religion.

SHE BITES #1 by Hedwig Hale and Alberto Hernandez R. This gem comes from the folks at Scout Comics. You’re eighteen years old and you are looking for a job as a babysitter. Except no one told you that you would have to babysit a 134 year old vampire child and also look at a penis(yeah…that happens!). I don’t know where this book is going in coming issues, but this first one was a hoot to read. It’s filled with laughs, quirky lines of dialogue and a little bit of blood. I love the crazy concept and can’t wait for the next issues.

SINS OF THE BLACK FLAMINGO #1  by Andrew Wheeler and Travis Moore. It’s a mix with a “gentleman thief”, some reborn folks from the past, a golem brought back to life, some dead folks and an angel. Weird stuff! Looks promising for the next issues!

STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN #1 by Rodney Barnes and Georges Jeanty. Marvel continues to mine the STAR WARS license and finally gets into the hottest of the television shows. It’s filled with action and a great story and, before you ask, the “child” does make an appearance. Barnes story is free-flowing and seems to fit in well with continuity. But the highlight is Jeanty’s art that shines on every page. This is essential for STAR WARS fans but should also be picked up by casual fans too.

SUPERMAN: SPACE AGE BOOK 1 by Mark Russell and Mike Allred. This is a book which will have some people loving it and other’s made about it. The origin of Superman is retold in a truly loving way. In 1985, Superman and his family endure what appears to be the end of the world. In the past,  a young Clark Kent questions when the time is right to use his gifts. He gets an idea the assassination of President Kennedy. From there, it’s a whirlwind trip through the recent past with appearances by Presidents and statesmen, Pariah, Hal Jordan, Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor and even the late John Lewis. In the end, we see the beginning of the Justice League. I know some people have been absolutely disappointed by this book but I love the way it weaves history into the narrative and I’m a big Allred fan. I personally CANNOT WAIT for the next installment.

VAMPVERSE PRESENTS THE VAMP #1 by Tom Sniegoski, Jeannine Acheson and Daniel Maine. A Thirties version of Vampirella, flying around in a dirigible and fighting demons and other creatures. I was aware this one shot was coming after a conversation with Sniegoski and Acheson earlier this year. It was a fun little romp that doesn’t tie into continuity but was cool either way.

THE VARIANTS #1 by Gail Simone and Phil Noto. Jessica Jones is back and, apparently, so are a bunch of versions of her, including a Captain America Jess. An interesting first issue that pants seeds for the rest of this mini-series. Nice to see Simone back on a Marvel book and Noto’s art is as cool as ever.

WILD CARDS: DRAWING OF CARDS #1 by Paul Cornell and Mike Hawthorne. Back in the Eighties, George R. R. Martin was the gamemaster for a role playing game called Superworlds. That led to some of the players taking those elements and, with Martin’s help, created an anthology series that currently has over 30 novels in print. It follows an alternate version of post-World War II Earth where an alien virus is unleashed on New York City and affecting thousands of people, who develop superhuman abilities. This comic tells that story. It’s a great introduction to the novels, if that’s your thing.

X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1 by Gerry Duggan, Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli and CF Villa. It’s that time again for the annual Hellfire Gala, where a new team of X-Men is formed. The new team, when all is said and done, is Cyclops, Jean, Synch, Forge, Firestar, Magik, Iceman and Havok. But let’s not forget that Moira is still out there causing trouble and really…who can you trust. This will set up the status quo for the next twelve months in the mutant end of the universe…provided they still exist after JUDGEMENT DAY.

DC UNIVERSE Month 54, Part 2

THE JOKER #15 by James Tynion IV, Sam Johns, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Sweeney Boo. Gordon is back in Gotham and tells Batman that he doesn’t know where the Joker is. He reveals the highlights of what has happened for the last 14 issues. We see what happened on the plane where Cass was fighting Talon, who turned out to be a reanimated James Gordon  Jr. Barbara breaks the planes window and the cold deactivates Talon. With Vengeance in hot pursuit, the group lock themselves in a chamber that contains the remaining members of the Sawyer family, who are quickly detained by Jim and Cressida. That leads to a face-off between Jim and Joker and Joker insisting someone has to die, kills Cressida. In the backup, Bluebird battles Punchline and she has one of the Roya Flush Gang film it and release it to the web, meaning she has found a way to reenergize her followers.

JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #4 by Brian Michael Bendis and Scott Godlewski. The teams are still split into different time periods. In the future, but the League’s past,  Brainiac, Mon-El and Naomi are with Kamandi where they investigate an old Leviathan compound. In the Thirties, Gold Lantern meets Green Lantern Alan Scott. At Oaxam, Batman, Black Canary and the other Legion members meet with President Brande. In 1962, Colossal Boy, Dawnstar and Wonder Woman receive a message from Computo, as do the other groups, that they should all hold hands and they will be tethered back to the future. It works, but brings them back to the 21st Century, where the sky has gone completely dark..

MONKEY PRINCE #6 by Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang. Shifu Pigsy, realizing that Marcus has a dread fear of water, tries to teach him how to overcome his fear. Marcus's parents help Black Manta infuse a hermit crab with a silver-horned demon, turning it into a bio-weapon that attacks the city. Marcus becomes the Monkey Prince and defeats the creature. He also learns he can breathe underwater and thus loses his fear. Elsewhere, the monsters of the Trench are preparing to attack Atlantis, even as we see that there is a section of Atlantis populated with Chinese dragons. In the end, we learn that the Monkey King is trapped in the Phantom Zone 

MULTIVERSITY: TEEN JUSTICE #2 by Danny Lore, Ivan Cohen and Marco Failla. Gigi continues her journey with the church while Raven and Troy go undercover. The rest of the team continues to train on Amnesty Island before heading to Zandia, where they find that so many of the residents have had their life energy drained. Later, team members discover that the heads of the Church are dead with their life drained and Raven reveals that his soul self, Troy and everyone else are gone.

NAOMI: SEASON TWO #5 by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. Naomi, now imbued with new powers including “second sight”, fights the invaders from her home planet. In the end, Brustus and Zumbado are down for the count, as it Naomi and the invaders awaited the Justice League.

NIGHTWING #94 by Tom Taylor and Geraldo Borges. Mayor Zucco calls Commissioner McLean and tells him that the feds are coming for him, making him head out with the Blockbuster files. Then she calls Oracle and tells her that McLean took the bait. Nightwing jumps into action and takes down McLean and secures the files. Later, Maggie Sawyer is announced as the new Commissioner and she has brought Dan Turpin with her.to help clean up Bludhaven. Blockbuster calls the Mayor and informs her that he is at her mother’s house. He takes her to his hideout, where he reveals that Lester was the rat in his house. The Mayor calls her brother Nightwing and she learns that Lester is just a plant, revealing her as the rat. Lester blasts her and Blockbuster tells Nightwing that his sister can’t come to the phone right now.

NUBIA: QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS #2 by Stephanie Williams and Alitha Martinez. While recovering in the hospital, Nubia recalls her past life in ancient Madagascar. She discovers her issues are from the distant past and involve the goddess Sekhmet. And the amulet Nubia wears The hospital she is in is attacked by mercenaries, it's up to the Amazons and Hawkgirl to stop them. In the end, Zillah arrives and demands the amulet..

POISON IVY #2 by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara. Pam is still on the move to fins herself and initiate her plans for taking over the planet. She goes to a diner and meets an artist named Jenny, who has drawn an image of the Ancestor Tree that she wants to get a tattoo of. Pam recalls seeing it in the realm of the Green Man. The police sow up to arrest Jenny and Pam does her thing and kills the police. On the way out of town, she sees someone has painted the symbol of the Ancestor Tree on a wall and wonders if she is being followed to her next destination.

ROBIN #16 by Joshua Williamson and Roger Cruz.Connor and Damian interrogate a captured Lord Death Man, who explains that Flatline tried to kill him, as she has changed following the Death Tournament. After observing how things have changed on the island, Damian tells Mara that he and Connor are going off on a mission that takes them to Tokyo. A meeting with Hiro leads to investigating one of Lord Death Man’s hideouts, but that leads Damian into a confrontation with Flatline. When she asks where Lord Death Man is, Damian tells her that he is still on the island. On the island, Lord Death Man slips his bonds and meets with Mother Soul, who he shares a long kiss with.

SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL #13 by Nicole Maines, Tom Taylor and Clayton Henry. The “Truth” is out about Jay, so Jon takes him to the Fortress of Solitude, where he discovers Nia Nal, also known as Dreamer, inside the Fortress. Days later, the Bat Family discovers that the Joker has been killed and Batman is searching for the killer. Bendix drops a giant Joker Gas creature on Gotham and that leads to a call out for the heroes to help evacuate the area. They do their best but The Rising arrives and battles them. Wonder Woman calls out for Superman and Jon comes to help. But it’s already too late as he is affected by Kryptonite particles in the gas and he is forced to watch Bendis assassinate Batman. It turns out this is the future from a week from now, thanks to the vision presented by Dreamer. Armed with this knowledge, Jon is ready to make the League aware. In the end, Bendix has captured Jay’s mother and is preparing to use her as a bargaining tool.

THE SWAMP THING #15 by Ram V and Mike Perkins. Swamp Thing, now powered by Green Lantern, meets with his brother Jacob, who is the current Avatar of the Green. Levi calls for a truce between the two and Jacob restores Levi’s connection to The Green. The Pale Wanderer arrives and tries to convince Levi that his efforts are useless. Trinity arrives and the pair start to work together to destroy the machine.

TASK FORCE Z #10 by Matthew Rosenberg and Eddy Barrows. Langston tries his best to resurrect Bane but finds this may be more difficult than thought; much to the dismay of Bloom. Bloom pays Jason a visit at the new headquarters of Task Force Z to gain hat is referred to as the “missing piece.” He uses a form of memory replacement to gain control of most of the team before leaving with a kidnapped Delia. In flashback to several months ago, Waller introduces The Thinker to Dent and company with the plan being to have him put Bane’s memories inside of a corpse there. In the end, they succeed in bringing “Bane” back to life. But this is not Bane, it is a resurrected Hank Clover Jr.-Gotham-with Bane’s memories.

WONDER WOMAN #789 by Michael W. Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jordie Belaire, Emanuela Lapacchino, Eduardo Pansico and Paulina Canucheau. A giant version of Dr. Cizko, actually an illusion, is loose and his milk followers are with him, causing Diana to believe that the Duke of Deception is the newest member of Villainy Inc. She ends up battling Dolos. Sweetheart arrives with the crystal lens but it gets too hot and she drops it, meaning Dolos goes back to fighting Diana and loosing. Siggy and Steve get involved and Siggy has to subdue them as safely as possible. Doctor Poison arrives and subdues the heroes. At Checkmate Headquarters, Etta gets a visit from Professor Calculus, who subdues her and feveals that Dr. Poison has a cure for Steve and Siggy. Meanwhile, Cizko reaches out to “management”. In the backup, Diana has listened to Antiope’s messages and has decided to follow her on path. But what is Hippolyta going to say about it when she hears?

WONDER WOMAN: EVOLUTION #8 by Stephanie Philips and Mike Hawthorne. Wonder Woman battles Silver Swan and discovers that she had been infused with Diana’s DNA in an effort to create a new human race. To save her friend, Diana agrees, Diana agrees to a blood transfusion which moves the nanites into Diana’s system. In the end, Diana looks to the future with the nanites still in her system.

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 54, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1045 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Will Conrad and David Lapham. Mongul and his Unmade have attacked the Citadel and freed the Teacher. Now it is up to Superman’s group to fight back by dividing into teams, with Natasha, Leonath and Orphan going to Engine City One to “hot wire” the Star Forge. But they run into unexpected trouble while there in the form of Darling. Superman and Kryl-Ux go to find the Fire of Olgrun, but Byla is determined to stop them. In the backup, Lois and Steel have a plan to be able to connect to Warworld but Conduit arrives and steals the Genesis Fragment. That leans it’s time to call in backup in the form of Jon, Kara, Conner and Kong Kenan-the Superman Family.

AQUAMAN & THE FLASH: VOIDSONG  #2 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Vasco Georgiev. Aquaman and The Flash continue to fight the alien threat that they learn is consuming the planet’s kinetic energy. They stop the first wave but Aquaman reveals that he may have been responsible for activating Typhon: a cousin of Zeus. Another ship appears and the pair need to work together to stop Voidsong. The Flash agrees and states that, when they finish, he never wants to see Aquaman again.

AQUAMEN #6 by Brandon Thomas, Chuck Brown and Max Raynor. The battle is done and here is the aftermath. Arthur is dealing with discovering that Mera had killed him before he leaves on a League mission. Manta and son agree to continue working together. Tula and Garth rekindle their relationship. The government is looking to to eliminate any possible threat from Atlantis. In the end, everyone learns of the death of the Justice League.

ARTEMIS: WANTED #1 by Vita Ayala and Skylar Patridge. Artemis is on the run after killing Hippolyta and ends up in the town of Hither where she discovers that monstrous creatures arrive every night. The next day, she meets Freya, who left the Amazons many years ag and settled here with her daughter Skylar. One day, Skylar had ventured into one of the town’s old mines and soon the curse overtook everyone in the town every night. As she tries to find a solution, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl arrive, leading to a battle between Troy and Artemis. Before Donna can give a killing strike, Hippolyta appears and explains that she needed Artemis to kill her to stop Chaos and for her to elevate to Olympus. That night, Donna and Artemis take Skylar into the mine and slay the beasts there. In the end, Artemis is welcome back to Themescira.

BATGIRLS #8 by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad and Robbi Rodriguez. Babs and Dick have infiltrated the Iceberg Lounge and, with the help of the Batgirls, who take down a sniper before getting into a tussle with a sword swallower, are looking to liberate Seer. Dick and Barbara end up under the Lounge and save Seer, but her computer is destroyed in the process. As they all escape, Seer stabs Tarsus with a gimmick computer mouse in payback for destroying her computer and her life. In the end, the Batgirls end up back in headquarters for a quiet night and Babs and Dick get romantic.

BATMAN #125 by Chip Zdarsky, Belen Ortega and Jorge Jimenez. A new villain is on the horizon and is targeting Gotham's wealthiest. He discovers that Penguin is responsible for hiring the killer and that leads him Tim Drake going to a charity event where he discovers that Clayface is masquerading as Penguin. In the process, Tim is shot through the throat. Bruce gets Tim to a hospital and the seeks out The Penguin, who he finds dying in a hospital bed from Mercury Poisoning. Cobbleot takes a pill that kills him, bringing in his nurse and the police, who believe Batman killed Penguin. With Batman on the run, Failsafe activates in the Batcave. But what is the connection? In the backup, Catwoman discovers that the Iceberg Lounge has been taken over by new owners, including Underbroker and The Executor. Later, The Executor arrives at Selina’s apartment and tasked her with finding Cobblepot’s ten children.

BATMAN BEYOND: NEO-YEAR #4 by Collin Kelly, Jacksom Lanzing and Max Dunbar. Batman faces off against the Sword of Gotham, who stabs him with his sword, disabling his system. Batman throws a kinetic Batarang at him and takes the Sword of Gotham down. What he discovers is that the Sword of Gotham is really an old man hiding behind holographics. Later, he visits Officer Boonma and tells her about the rogue A.I., which transform her into the Sword of Gotham. He again defeats the Sword of Gotham and takes Officer Boonma to a safe place: the remains of Wayne Manor.

BATMAN: FORTRESS #3 by Gary Whitta and Darick Robertson. With technology shutdown, Superman missing and an alien invasion looming, Batman reaches out to the Guardians for help. They turn him down. Aliens show up at the Daily Planet and threaten Perry White in their hunt for Clark Kent who they believe to be Superman. Batman visits President Lex Luthor and convinces him to help break into the Fortress of Solitude to find solutions and answers.

BATMAN: KILLING TIME #5 by Tom King and David Marquez. On March 6, The Riddler makes a deal with Agent Espinoza for “the package”. They agree to meet in Moldoff Park. Later, she calls the President, demanding she find a way to get this stone eye. That night, The Penguin meets with various associates and Joker Goons and proceeds to bus them to Moldoff Park. Outside, Gene Andrews sends a text to Batman and pays for it with his life. On March 7, Batman and The Help travel to Moldoff Park while all the other pieces in this puzzle also do the same. Riddler, Catwoman and Espinoza meet in the park. Catwoman knocks out Riddler and double-crosses him. She give Espinoza the option to take the stone and claim it for the government and to give her the money and let her flee. Espinoza double-crosses Catwoman and tells her there is no money. Catwoman tries to flee and Batman saves her from Espinoza while the battle between Joker Goon’s and members of the FBI continues. Espinoza tells Batman she lost the package and tells the helicopters overhead to “drop the bomb”. The stone eye is picked up by the narrator of this story-the Clock King.

BATMAN: THE KNIGHT #7 by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine DiGiandomenico. Bruce Wayne starts training with Zatara while having a close relationship with his daughter Zatanna. Bruce and Zatanna see her father speaking with a lesser demon and Bruce now understands that there are worlds beyond this one and that magic is real. He insists that he now ones to learn magic and Zatara refuses to teach hm. However, Bruce and Zatanna summon demons and that leads to Zatana using his powers to expel the creature. .

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #5 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Supergirl explains that Nezha can be sealed in his tomb but it needs to be done from the inside. Superman and Elasti-Girl get possessed by Nezha and it take Robotman to break the spell. Superman heads to his Fortress of Solitude and returns with a Phantom Zone projector, temporarily sending Nezha to the Phantom Zone. He breaks free, leading to Superman forcing him into the tomb. While Batman yells at Supergirl for not saving the now lost Robin, Negative Man uses his powers to force open the tomb and the heroes pull Superman out. In the epilogue, Robin finds himself, many years later, at Nezha’s tomb, also non as Lazarus Island. To be continued in BATMAN AND ROBIN #1.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #17 by Ryan Cady, Joey Esposito, Alex Paknadel, Dan Watters, Gleb Melnikov, Serg Acuna, Amancay Nahuelpan and Riley Rossmo. Batman and the Flash team up to take on and take down Mr. Freeze. In the second story, Aquaman and Batman work together to counteract the effects of Joker Fish. In the third tale, Batman goes to Khandaq, where he is forced to battle Black Adam to save the life of a girl. In the last tale, Batman tries to find The Riddler and his unsuccessful journey leads him through The Penguin and Catwoman.

BLACK ADAM #2 by Christopher Priest and Rafa Sandoval. A month ago, Black Adam meets a young boy with powers and, when he follows him, it leads him into a trap where he battles Darkseid. Today, Adam is in Kahndaq and is dying. He bequeaths his ring and his legacy to Malik White, who becomes the White Adam. He uses his new powers to transport Adam to a hospital in Washington, where Black Adam dies.

BLOOD SYNDICATE: SEASON ONE #3 by Geoffrey Thorne, Tom Raney and ChrisCross. Sara has a vision where the Milestone heroes are fighting some sort of demon. An armored woman declares the Sara is not her Sara and she is out of time and tells her to warn Carlos. She wakes two minutes after the explosion that ended last issue. AquaMaria uses her power to help Sara get away, telling her to find Carlos at their new safehouse. At the safehouse, Silke shows up where Rolando and Carlos are joined by AquaMaria, where they discuss forming a super team to fight Holocaust. At the police station, where Holocaust arrives in an attempt to recruit Bull, just as the team arrives.

CATWOMAN #45 by Tini Howard and Sami Basri..Catwoman and Valmont bust up some doings on the dicks and find the criminals are trafficking women. Later, after being patched up, Catwoman meets with the Batgirls, mirroring a scene in BATGIRLS #8. Later she and Valmont go undercover at Milk, where she runs into Dick Grayson and they gain intel that Ibanescu was getting in a big delivery on the docks-Amygdala.

DARK CRISIS #2 by Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere. Amid the ruins of Titans Tower, the surviving heroes try to rescue Nightwing and realize that Chupacabra may be dead. Deathstroke and his Secret Society arrive and drop the badly injured body of Beast Boy at their feet. Nightwing and Deathstroke battle with Nightwing gaining the upper hand. After Deathstroke wants this battle to go to a second round, Dick offers himself as a sacrifice and Deathstroke pulls the trigger, but Jon steps in and stops the barrage. Deathstroke retaliates by bringing Cyborg Superman in to battle Jon. Slade gets a message from “The Darkness” telling him not to kill the heroes. They retreat and Cyborg takes out Cyborg Superman. Black Adam arrives and tells Jon he is not ready to lead a League, but he is. Elsewhere, Kyle Raynor escapes from his captors just as Hal Jordan and Jo Mullein arrive to save him. They tell him that the League is dead and informs Kyle that he will now be part of the Green Lanterns Corps.

DARK CRISIS: YOUNG JUSTICE #2 by Meghan Fitzmartin and Laura Braga. The team, with an assist from a version of Cassie, battles and defeats the Mighty Endowed. Later, Cassie meets with Arrowette and tries to convince her to become a hero again. Elsewhere, Cassie and the team meet with an older version of the Justice League, with Cassie trying to convince the heroes that they will be the replacements for Batman, Superman and The Flash. Tim explains he is dating Bernard but Batman insists he needs to be with Stephanie and she is his destiny. Cassie also fights Red Volcano and gets saved by Arrowette and Red Tornado. In the end, the boys end up facing zombies and run into Deathstroke, Captain Boomerang and Luthor, who have captured Cassie. But which Cassie is it?

DARK CRISIS: WORLDS WITHOUT A JUSTICE LEAGUE by #1 by Tom King, Brandon Thomas, Fico Ossio and Chris Burnham. The Justice League is dead and Pariah has created new worlds. In this one, Jon Kent is his father’s sidekick and dressed like Robin. Over a period of six years, Jon grows up, fighting with nightmares about Dakseid and alongside with his father against Orion. At age sixteen, he gets his own super cycle. At age seventeen, he comes home badly beaten. At age eighteen, he jumps on his Super Cycle and heads out to find himself. In the Aquaman backup, the extended Aquaman family attends daughter Andy’s wedding. Although Aquaman awakes in the end and realizes that he has been dead before and he needs to figure things out.

DEATHSTROKE INC. #11 by Ed Brisson and Dexter Soy. Slade’s origin story continues as  he goes off with Wintergreen to find one of the few remaining men involved in the experiments on men, including Slade. He discovers that the government has been paying people to cover it up. They meet with Isherwood, who presents Slade with his first Deathstroke suit. The team goes off to eliminate the last surviving doctor, but Slade runs into trouble when Green Arrow shows up. Elsewhere, Slade’s wife goes shopping with their son Grant and she may be pregnant.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1062 by Ram V, Simon Spurrier, Rafael Albuquerque and Dani. While out patrolling, Batman encounters Bruno Maroni, who is apparently now some sort of zombie. Batman encounters chest pain and it is Talia who ends up saving him and giving him a warning that “they’re coming”. Later, Batman runs diagnostics to see what could be wrong with him. Even Nightwing is concerned. Bruce examines a strange, antique box he purchased recently. In Coronis, a mysterious woman presents her son Arzen with a deed dealing with Gotham and Edouard Arkham. She sends him to Gotham where Gael is already making his resence felt. In the end, Bruce dreams of the Bat-God and the strange box opens, revealing it is a music box. In the backup, a depressed Jim Gordon investigates the remains of Arkham looking for a junkie named Jonas and discovers a strange, naked individual eating a rat.

DUO #3 by Greg Pak and Khoi Pham. David meets with his underminer friend Henry and tries to get him to use the nanobots to create a new body that he can place Kelly into. She begins to fade inside of him, so he allows her to take control of his body. She also reveals that she can use the nanobots to create hands in the shape of claws. “David” meets with Marius and his men, leading to a fight between “David” and Morien. Following the fight, he is introduced to the Immutables, who try to convince him that his plan would result in an entire world filled with immortals, leading to an environmental disaster. In the end, a group arrives and tells David he cannot trust the Immutables.

THE FLASH #784 by Jeremy Adams and Amancay Nahuelpan. Max Mercury and Jesse Quick have ended up on a post-apocalyptic Earth where Barry Allen is battling Terramongus. Irey and Jai have ended up on an Earth where they are hunted by Night-Flash and have lost their transporter in the process. Wally and Wallace end up in Barry's dream world where Barry attacks Wally who he believes in Reverse-Flash. Wallace finds Barry’s home and gets a new costume before joining the Flash family for dinner, meaning Pariah has now corrupted his mind too.

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #3 by Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adam, Tim Sheridan, Xermánico and Mikel Janín. Superman faces off with Batman, knocking him out and taking him to Ivy. It is revealed they are in the Oasis and that Jason Woodrue is the Swamp Thing. There, Superman shows them the crystals that were found in Metropolis, revealing a message from Jor-El, explaining that Kal-El must use his powers to disarm the humans so the father and son can conquer Earth and will arrive in five days. Ivy and Superman try to convince Batman to join together and stop the invasion. Batman turns them down, saying he has his own mission to complete. Meanwhile, Gilda Dent is recovering from her wounds and continues o hear voices. Elsewhere, the police find Reverse-Flash: dead and filled with clock parts. In the end, the Time Masters reveal they are aware of Hypertime, the Omniverse and what Thomas Wayne is doing to bring it all to an end.

FUTURE STATE: GOTHAM #15 by Dennis Culver, Guillaume Singelin, Giannis Milonogiannis and Ben Abernathy. Jason meets with Bruce and Talia, but he is convinced that THIS Bruce is Hush in disguise. Talia runs a sword through Jason and then she leaves with Bruce, where they get attacked by Mother Panic. Meanwhile, Damian is with the person he THINKS it is father, but actually Hush, who tells him there were three imposters and now those ghosts have returned. Elsewhere, Dick meets with Babs, who professes her love for him. The rest of the family shows up and try to convince him he is behaving badly because of the Brane, but that leads to them fighting him. Jodi removes the sword from Jason, just as Damian and Hush arrive and prepare to kill him. In the backup Cass battles remnants of the Magistrate and eventually gets help from Batman.

HARLEY QUINN #17 by Stephanie Phillips  and Riley Rossmo. Harley wakes from being shot last issue by Verdict and finds she was saved by Kevin, Leslie Thompkins and Batwoman. She also discovers that she has been evicted from her place and all of her belongings are at Kevin’s. Verdict goes to City hall and holds Mayor Nakano hostage, forcing him to blow up City Hall and kill everyone in it, including Verdict. Harley arrives and Kevin has a heart to heart with Verdict, who discovers that her bombs have been diffused. In the aftermath, Verdict is arrested and Mayor Nakano says he will issue a press release and a pubic apology to Harley. In the end,  a pair of villains break Verdict out, saying their boss wants to meet her.

I AM BATMAN #11 by John Ridley, Christian Duce and Tom Derenick. During the capture of Manray, Detective Chubbs has shot Detective Keenan, which has gotten her in hot water with the rest of the force. Meanwhile, the Mayor is looking to hire Renee Montoya as the new police commissioner. Later, she meets with Chubbs and explains that she is thinking of taking the job, which disappoints Chubbs who left Gotham because of Montoya. That night, Chubbs and Whitaker follow a hot lead, only to learn it’s an ambush. Although they radio their distress, the rest of the cops in the precinct refuse to go help. Batman comes and saves the day and then observes a late night meeting between the Mayor and a shadowy figure who may have been responsible for sending Manray after him. In the end, The Question meets with Batman and wants t know who really killed Anarky. Also, it seems more evident that Tiff Fox may become the next Robin.

DC UNIVERSE Month 53, Part 2

MILESTONES IN HISTORY #1 by Reginald Hudlin, Alice Randall, Amy Chu, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Pat Charles, Karyn Parsons, Toure, Melody Cooper, Leon Chills, Jahnoy Lindsay, Eric Battle, Maria Laura Sanapo, Ron Wilson, Don Hudson, Jamal Yaseem Igle, Arvell Jones, Francesco Francavilla, Ray-Anthony Height, Dominike “Domo” Stanton and Denys Cowan. A comprehensive of African American history featuring tales about Dinkinesh, the Queen of Sheba, Hannibal, Alexander Dumas, Eugene Bullard, Katherine Dunham, Prince, Bessie Coleman and Mae Jemison. In the end, Hardware steals a crate from an underground government facility to discover it is a time machine built by Benjamin Banneker. To be continued in ICON VS. HARDWARE.

MONKEY PRINCE #5 by Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang. The Shugel-Shen family has moved to Amnesty Bay and now Marcus is forced to try and fit into a new school. His parents are asked to unlock an ancient artifact by Black Manta. They agree but want to do it their way. One of Marcus’ new classmates turns out to be a demon and is forced to channel his powers to fight back against her. In the end, she meets with the man pulling the strings: someone from The Trench.

MULTIVERSITY: TEEN JUSTICE #1 by Ivan Cohen, Danny Lore and Marco Failla. On Eath-11, a girl named Gigi finds herself in the middle of a battle between Teen Justice and H.I.V.E. and lends a hand in saving Dr. Stone. Later, Gigi attends  a meeting of the Church of Blood, run by Sister Blood. .Gigi later receives a letter from the church saying she has been accepted. It is revealed that Killowog is monitoring the situation for her boss, Sinestra.

NAOMI: SEASON TWO #3 by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. Hawkgirl visits Naomi’s adoptive parents looking for her but she and Cyborg are at S.T.A.R. Labs fighting an interdimensional creature. After defeating it, she reveals that she is looking for her friend Dee, who apparently went off to her home planet to fight the Zumbado, who destroyed her home world and killed her parents. Later, Dee returns, badly beaten.

NAOMI: SEASON TWO #4 by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. Finding Dee, she commandeers an ambulance and takes him to the Hall of Justice for treatment. He reveals that she was born with a blessing and a curse and only he can remove that curse. In the process, Dee opened a rift to Earth and Zumbado and his army are coming. When they arrive, Naomi finds that the League is not available and she is forced to fight the villains alone.

NIGHTWING #93 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. Heartless tells Blockbuster he wants control of the city, which Blockbuster refuses. The two fight and The Heatless threatens to remove Blockbuster’s heart, telling him that if it won’t be given to him, he’ll just take it anyway before Blockbuster throws him out of his office window. The next morning, Dick is trying to clean the damage in Haven when he gets chased away by the police. Later, the police hold a press conference blaming the damage on the residents of Haven, but Dick confronts them and shows off surveillance footage that implicates the police in the damage. In the end, a badly injured Heartless is cared for by his man Gerard, who plugs him into devices and gets another heart off the shelf to replace the one that is failing on him.

NUBIA: QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS #1 by Stephanie Williams and Alitha Martinez. Nubia and a team of Amazons take a floating island on the start of a world tour to reacquaint the Amazons with the rest of the world. First stop is at the Hall of Justice. Late they go to Brazil to stand with protestors trying to stop the destruction of the rain forest. But someone sets off explosives, causing an avalanche that traps Nubia. Could this be connected to the mysterious person who is looking to acquire the special pendant Nubia is wearing?

POISON IVY #1 by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara. Ivy has been reunited with her other half and is now on a mission to return this world back to the Green, killing anyone who gets in her way. It’s all a part of her Sixth Mass Extinction plan, here everyone will become food for the Green.

ROBIN #15 by Joshua Williamson and Roger Cruz. Talia has turned herself in to the D.E.O. but Director Chase is more concerned with making contact with her son and where she can find him. At the moment he is battling Jokers and is getting an assist from the Bat Family. While eating pizza, Babs reveals that Talia has escaped D.E.O. custody. Batman and Damian interrogate her, revealing that Talia overpowered her and escaped. They find her t the docks waiting for her private submarine to come and get her. Batman insists on taking her in while Damian just wishes his parents would stop fighting and requests that she be allowed to leave, as his desire is to find his own way in the world. She is allowed to leave and later gets into a specially provided car, courtesy of the D.E.O. who now have a Lazarus Spy working for them. She has to work off her debt to Chase, who promises to leave Damian alone. In the end, Damian and Connor Hawke decide to turn Lazarus Island into a refuge for folks like them. Lord Deathman appears, saying that Flatline has gone crazy and is trying to kill him.

SUPERMAN: SON OF KAL-EL #12 by Tom Taylor and Cian Tormey. Superman returns Lachlan Shrapnel bac to his mother and then races off as he hears that the hideout where his mother, grandparents and Batman are holed up is under attack. He races there to find the “attacker” was only Krypto. He explains what he knows about Bendix’s plans and how he is working with Luthor. So Dick Grayson meets with Luthor, who plants a bugging device in Luthor’s office. Later, Luthor talks with Bendix, who reveals his forces are ready and a certain U. S. Senator, Faultline out of S.T.A.R. Labs, is under their control. Jon and Jay meet with the politician and reveal everything they know, including being involved with the people who were doing the human trafficking. Krypto notices something amiss and blasts the Senator, who transforms into one of Bendix’s drones. During the battle against the creature, Jay enters its’ brain and removes Bendix’s controlling device but at a cost as Jay loses his mask in the process.

THE SWAMP THING #14 by Ram V and Mike Perkins. Levi Kamei takes to with the help of Green Lantern to talk to a group of invading plant aliens looking to wipe out all traces of humanity on Earth. He learns that they have been called here by The Green who see humanity as a cancer that needs to eliminated. This is all caused by Palmer and the Parliament of Gears. Levi convinces Hal to let he and the alien being, that he calls Endeavor, to go to Earth, but needs more power, which Hal provides by giving him the power of the Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Trinity watches and plans.

TASK FORCE Z #9 by Matthew Rosenberg and Eddy Barrows. Spoiler meets with Jason and questions his actions. The team heads to the Snyder Ice Rink, where they find Sundowner who was left there as a trap for the team. They band together to defeat her, leaving Hanna dead again. When a mysterious sound is played, it causes bane to revolt and forces the rest of the team to flee to a new headquarters owned by Black Mask. Once there, they infuse the dead, including Sundowner, with Lazarus, bringing them back to full power. Meanwhile, Bloom continues his experiments and even does some detective work, getting into Powers’ files. In the  end, he reveals that he has discovered the device put into the brains of Dr. Archeron’s patients which overrides their free will and calls them to the source of the sounds. To prove it, Bane arrives.

WONDER WOMAN #788 by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, Jordie Bellaire, Emanuela Lupacchino and Paulina Ganucheau. After Steve secures samples of Cizko’s special milk he has been peddling, Etta examines it at Checkmate H.Q. Meanwhile, protestors at the Hall of Justice who want Wonder Woman out of the League are injured when Sweetheart, Cizko’s Wonder Woman, sets off an explosive device. Steve, Siggy and Etta try to help when Steve gets attacked by Dr. Poison, leading to Siggy assisting him. Later, Cizko broadcast his fake news, that Wonder Woman was responsible for the explosion. While Etta gets her hands on critical information involving the connection to Professor Calculus, Cizko gets a present in the form of Dolos-the Duke of Decption. In the backup, Young Diana continues her escapades with Antiope, who continues to show she has her own agenda for the future Wonder Woman.

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 53, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1044 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici and David Lapham. Superman, Manchester and the team speak with Orphan, who eveals that during the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE,  a group of space travelers encountered the breach of the Source Wall. Weeks later, Mongul discovered the child and decided to make use of it for his own purposes. Orphan explains that Superman must use the Genesis stone to defeat Mongul. Later, the team heads off to free Enchantress, leading them into direct conflict with Mother. Orphan’s power sends Mother back to Mongul who shows his displeasure by killing her. Mongul decides to Lightray to make his plans come to final fruition. In the backup, Lois, John Henry Irons and Supergirl try to stabilize Thao-La with Kara taking her to the sun to try to recharge her life force. Natasha reaches out from Warworld to tell her uncle that Genesis is the key but it needs to be refined.  At Belle Reve, Amanda Waller meets with someone she wants as her new recruit and become Conduit.

AQUAMAN & THE FLASH: VOIDSONG #1 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Vasco Georgiev. An alien fleet arrives on Earth with the power to freeze everyone and everything in time. It seems to effect everyone except for Flash and Aquaman, who need to work together while also thinking of how to save their loved ones, specifically Iris and Mera.

AQUAMEN #5 by Chuck Brown, Brandon Thomas and Sami Basri. Jackson meets with Ha’wea, promising to fix everything after the attack Ha’wea was caught in the middle of. Mera and Jackson try to use their powers construct a broadcast tower which will send out the cancellation code that will shut down the sleeper agents.  Meanwhile, Arthur and Manta use their team to try to capture Moss. But Manta goes rogue and attempts to take down Scavenger, which leads to the pair battling each other. Their battle brings them to where Jackson and Mera are, breaking Jackson’s concentration but his father convinces him to continue and let him be. The combined forces defeat Scavenger and take down the sleepers, except for Moss who gets away and still has plans.

BATGIRLS #7 by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad and Robbi Rodriguez. The Saints are chasing after Seer, which leads to Cassie and Steph to intercept. But they tell the Saints how Seer tricked everyone into thinking Simon Saint was still alive and they allow to Saints to take Seer. However this was all a plan to allow Seer to be bait to capture the Saints. It is revealed that Seer, whose given name is Kiara, was the daughter of someone who worked for The Penguin. Left alone, she developed the Seer persona. She is being held at the Iceberg Lounge and Barbara and Dick Grayson go undercover to try and save her.

BATMAN #124 by Joshua Williamson, G. Willow Wilson, Howard Porter and Dani. In Badhnisia, Abyss is very much alive and still terrorizing people. Oracle contacts Batman and asks if he wants Batman Inc. to investigate but Batman is already in Badhnisia. What he discovers during a fight with Abyss is that THIS Abyss is really Detective Cayha who is using the Abyss character to investigate the disappearance of her parents. That leads him to tell the story of his meeting with Joe Chill, just so he could scare Chill. Together they go after the hit man who was responsible for what happened to her parents and he reveals they were long dead. Cayha attacks the hit man and looks poised to kill him but does not. Ultimately, the skeletal bodies of her parents are discovered. In the backup, Poison Ivy meets with The Gardner and reveals she is going to find the one person who gave her the powers that she lost. To be continued in POISON IVY #1.

BATMAN BEYOND: NEO-YEAR #3 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Max Dunbar. Most of Gotham’s elite have gathered for Commissioner Barbara Gordon's retirement party.  Terry is there disguised as Neil Gibson and is shocked as almost everyone when Lumos that Wayne-Powers will be personally funding the Neo-Gotham Police Department. At the same time, Gibson learns that the Mayor is missing. Later, he chats with Detective Beam Boonma, who wonders if he is part of the crew that kidnapped the Mayor. When he goes to investigate, he ends up trapped and attacked in the Mayor’s office.

BATMAN/CATWOMAN  #12 by Tom King and Clay Mann. In the past, Bruce and Selina discuss her relationship with Joker and why Selina has broken her ties with the villain. She explains that she has decided she doesn’t have to change for anyone and she can be Catwoman and still be with Batman. Later, during a battle with Killer Croc, Bruce tells Selina that he loves her. In the present, Bruce and Selina get married in the Gotham Wedding Chapel, with Clark and Lois as their witnesses and an officiant in a ’66 Batman costume performing the ceremony. In the future,  Selina gives a present to her daughter, Helena, which contains the last piece of evidence to link Selina to The Joker’s death. Selina leaves Gotham, ending up on the beach with Andrea Beaumont/Phantasm, where she explains how she wishes Andrea had been there when she killed The Joker.

BATMAN: FORTRESS #2 by Gary Whitta and Darick Robertson. Batman gathers Hawkman, Aquaman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg and Wonder Woman to join in an attack on the alien invaders. Things go badly as the most of the team becomes cocooned inside the ship and Cyborg dies from his injuries. After this, Batman has a plan and it involves Cyborg disembodied head. In Kansas, the aliens land on a farm , where they confront a family that has just moved into the farmhouse there. They explain they must cleanse the place as the person who lived here did to their home. They burn the farmhouse down-the farmhouse that belonged to the Kents.

BATMAN: KILLING TIME #4 by Tom King and David Marquez. On March 5, Penguin meets with Two-Face and arranges to hire some of his men. On the morning of March 6, The Help kills a worker at a gas station and takes his phone, as he is in need of GPS.  A short time later, The Help rescues Batman from the tiger he is tangling with. They reach a truce and The Help now accompanies Batman on the search for the object. Seven years earlier, he was with Ra’s al Ghul as Bruce Wayne trained. That afternoon, The Riddler meets with Nuri Espinoza who works for the U.S. Government. He tells her he doesn’t have the item and cannot get it until he gets the money. Unbeknownst to him, Espinoza had cleared out the diner earlier and replaced the customers with her people. Catwoman, who had been hiding in the restaurant, reveals herself and takes out Espinoza’s backup. She tells Espinoza that they will meet again tomorrow and the fee is now double. Many hours later, Batman and The Help arrive, finding the restaurant had been cleaned up and no one had any useable information.

BATMAN: THE KNIGHT #6 by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico. In Northern Canada, Bruce and Anton have made their way to their next trainer: Luca Jungo, "The Swiss Mark."  Anton is a natural with the bow and arrow, while Bruce cannot seem to get the hang of it. This leads Anton to want to learn more deadly techniques. Luca tells his students that he quit the business after being forced to kill his target, but also the man’s wife and son. Later, Luka calls Anton a natural killer, which leads to Anton killing Luka. Anrton and Bruce fight, with Anton getting the upper hand. Saying killing him is too easy, Anton leaves Bruce behind to dwell on what has happened.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #4 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Batman and Superman are forced to battle a mind-controlled, magic enhanced Green Lantern. The pair use their concentration to draw the Lantern ring off Hal’s finger, resulting in the pair being combined into one superhero. But Kezha has now controlled many other heroes including Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Firestorm, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl. Meanwhile, in 16^th Century Chna, Supergirl and Robin learns the price that was paid by the Warriors of Ji to trap Nezha the first time. They head back to the present time and explain what must be done to get Kezha back into his tomb. The Superman/Batman hero defeats the others and, with the help of Supergirl, they subdue Kezha. That’s the good news. The bad? The tomb must be sealed from the inside. So who is going to sacrifice themselves to jail Kezha?

BLACK ADAM #1 by Christopher Priest and Rafa Sandoval. Black Adam battles Darkseid, only to learn this Darkseid is an illusion created by Desaad. Later, Adam learns that Shakur Nassar, the leader of the reform movement in Kahndaq, has been murdered. This leads to Adam to go to a hospital where he meets a “doctor” named Malik who may have been the last person to meet with Shakur Nassar. He is arrested and later released and, after that, he is brought to Kahndaq, where he meets with Black Adam. He reveals that Malik Adam is his director heir, that Black Adam is dying and Malik will be bequeathed the power of Black Adam.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #16 by Vita Ayala, Josh Trujillo, Che Grayson, Mark Russell, Nikola Cizmesija, Rosi Kampe, Serg Acuna and Karl Mostert. Batman, Zatanna and Constantine team up to lock away the conjured creature and seal it back in it’s own dimension. Later, the patch up their friendship and enjoy dinner with the Wayne family. In the second tale, Alfred goes undercover at an assisted living facility to solve the series of murders being conducted by a corrupt doctor. In the third tale, the Birds team up to take down the Memory Lane app., but not until they learn Miracle Molly has an ulterior motive and betrayed her teammates. In the final tale, the Bat Pets break up the auction for Batman to save him.

BLOOD SYNDICATE: SEASON ONE #2 by Geoffrey Thorne and ChrissCross. After the escape last issue, Carlos explains how many folks got powers after the Big Bang. Hannibal is having trouble adjusting as his parents are having issues with him, the mother of his child refuses to let him visit and doesn’t understand his military absence or his converting to Muslim. Meanwhile, the Blue Street Gang is gathering all its members, including Hannibal, as they set their sights on owning the city. the make preparations to own the city. But a visit by Holocaust ruins those plans as they go up in smoke and fire.

CATWOMAN #44 by Tini Howard and Bengal. Red Claw battles Selina while the Gotham City Siren continue their Roller Derby battle. Selina and Harley escape but that doesn’t end, as Red Claw comes after them again, along with the guy who tried to attack them last issue. They all come together as Selina reveals that this guy wasn’t hired by Black Mask. In the end, Black Mask is sure he has been delivered the captured Selina, but it turns out to be the guy who had attacked them. The issue ends with Harley and Selina still on the road together.

DARK CRISIS #1 by Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere. The Justice League is dead and the heroes of the world gather at the Hall of Justice. Later, as various villains all over the world step up their game, Wally West and Jon Kent battle Kobra. Hal Jordan arrives and learns that the League is dead. Black Adam tells them what had happened, as best as he could recall. Dr. fate, D.E.O., The Atom and others explain that they find no evidence of the Great Darkness. In Brazil, Jon meets with Wonder Girl and tries to get her to join him in building a new League, which she declines. He later goes to New York and tries to convince Jace Fox to join him but is told that the last time a Batman teamed up with anyone it cost him his life. He manages to attract a new league made up of Supergirl, Dr. Light, Haley Quinn, Robin, Aqualad, Killer Frost, both Blue Beetles and Frankenstein. Elsewhere, Deathstroke and his team attack Titans Tower and he apparently executes Beast Boy. In Multiverse-2, Pariah plans on using the deaths of the Justice League to destroy the Mutiverse.

DARK CRISIS: YOUNG JUSTICE #1 by Meghan Fitzmartin and Laura Braga. With the League dead, Young Justice meets to figure out what to do next. During their meeting, Connor, Robin and Impulse disappear into the past where they learn that computer records do not go beyond the death of Superman. The trio fight the Mighty Endowed. In the present, the heroes search for their missing colleagues to no avail. That night, Cassie convinces herself that she will find her friends and somehow ends up in the past with the trio.

DEATHSTROKE INC. #10 by Ed Brisson and Dexter Soy. In the distant past, Slade Wilson is being operated on, suffering from effects of the experimental A.C.T.H. derivative. He is discharged from the military and takes up a job with a security company, but he still has the itch to go back into action. Some time later, he is approached to take up a job to kill Dr. Francis Campbell, which he readily agrees to.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1061 by Mariko Tamaki, Nadia Shammas, Sina Grace, Ivan Reis and David Lapham. Talia meets with Edward here it’s revealed Talia used Riddler to get at Darby Turner while Riddler used her to get to Deb Donovan. In the past, Dr. Chase Meridian runs a group therapy session where she encourages those in attendance to confesses their crimes. In the present, Caroline disappears in a puff of smoke after she admits killing Perry was the right thing to do. Batman goes after Riddler as he puts the pieces together. Caroline threw out cases for the D.A., who was a client of Chase Meridian. He deduces the Chase is at the center of all of this. This leads him to finding Caroline and Chase captured and being held on a statue of the Lady Justice.  With the help of Cass, he saves them both. But after her confession, she breaks free and falls into Gotham Bay. In the end, Talia meets with Bruce, explaining she worked with Edward because she needed some favors. In the backup, Gotham Girl and Chase find the person behind the relaunching of Project A.A. While that does not bring back Andre, all of this plays into Talia’s plans to create her own Superman in the for of Gotham Girl.

DUO #2 by Greg Pak and Khoi Pham. David deals with the murder of Kelly, which has resulted in her consciousness merges with his and also his gaining super powers. Later he gets attacked by drones while members of the family of immortals looks on, realizing that this is not of their doing. At Kelly’s funeral, a detective meets with him and  arranges to meet later. At the meeting, she begins quizzing him about Kelly’s death, insinuating that he may have been responsible. After that meeting, he realizes his connection with Kelly is gone.

THE FLASH #783 by Jeremy Adams and Amancay Nahuelpan. The search for Barry Allen starts here as Wally, Wallace, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, and Jesse Quick decide to breach the Speed Force to track down Barry signature throughout the Omniverse. But Irey, and Jai decide that they need to do it too and everyone ends up in different spots in the Omniverse. Irey, and Jai end up in a dark looking world where there is a shadowy Flash who may or may not be Barry. Max and Jesse end up in a desert here it seems Barry is in some sort of Post-Apocalyptic road race. Wally and Wallace observe Barry and Wally capturing the Rogues. Is this the real Barry living in Pariah’s perfect world?

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #2 by Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams, Xermánico and Mikel Janín. Dr. Wayne visits the remains of his casino, where he learns that Psycho-Pirate was in Arkham saying he came to Hypertime to take refuge from a Dark Crisis. Wayne makes his way into Arkham and discovers that Psycho-Prate is dead from an apparent staged suicide. He also discovers that Hayden left cryptic notes including saying he did not think he was the real Roger Hayden. He talks with Dent’s widow who explains that she heard Hayden strangled with his own bed sheets. After she taunts him, he assaults her, turning her into Two-Face. Later, he breaks up a robbery being engaged in by the Rogues. Just as it seems he is going to execute Boomerang, this version of Superman arrives, telling him that “everything matters”. On our Earth, Corky Smith tells Bruce that there are Tachyons on the snow globe that he took from Rp Hunter’s vault. He warns that the person who owns that globe is coming and that will mean trouble.

FUTURE STATE GOTHAM #14 by Dennis Culver, Tim Seeley, Giannis Milonogiannis and Juan Fereyra. A new Batman is in town in the form of Damian Wayne: Batman 666. Jace Fox Batman is working with Red Hood and Hunter Panic to make things right while Nightwing meets with Oracle, examining he is Batman now. That leads to a fight between Jace and Dick. Bruce Wayne is back as Batman and tells Talia that he is going to find Damian. Meanwhile, Hush has a new plan: he’s masquerading as Batman. He meets Damian, disguised as Bruce, and tells him they can burn don Gotham together. In the backup, a future version of Damian fights his way through Gotham, dealing out death and destruction to his enemies.

HARLEY QUINN #16 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo. Sam reveals how she was a police officer who was part of a group of officers transporting Harley to prison. But it seems some of the officers were on Joker’s payroll and the arranged escape results in two of the officer’s deaths, including her partner. Later she discovers her Captain was also in on it, leading her to kill the surviving officer. In the present, Harley shows up at Kevin’s apartment, leading to Sam shooting someone.

I AM BATMAN #10 by John Ridley and Christian Duce. Jace Fox continues his hunt for Manray while also attempting to warn Mayor Villanueva that he may be the next victim. Later, Manray goes after the Mayor, wiping out his entire security detail. Luckily Batman arrives to save him, resulting in a face-off between the two. Chubbs and her partner arrive on the scene, but so does Keenan and Desante. Keenan goes up to a defeated Manray but, before he an kill Manray, Chubbs shoots Keenan.