ALL NEW MARVEL NOW DAREDEVIL reviewed

ALL NEW MARVEL NOW DAREDEVIL: Matt Murdock has revealed himself as Daredevil to the world. In the process, this gets him disbarred in the state of New York so, along with his friend Kirsten McDuffie, he moves to San Francisco and sets up a law practice there. He also continues his superheroing ways as Dardevil, the Man Without Fear. In his first new adventure, he rescues a kidnapped girl and we discover that his late partner isn’t as dead as we believe him to be. In fact, it appears Foggy has a closed circuit view of Matt and Kirsten’s office. As Matt and Kirsten play nice with the Deputy Mayor, he learns that The Owl is in town and trying to build a criminal empire in San Francisco. But so is The Shroud, who has sunken to new superhero lows since the Superhero Registration Act of a few years ago. The pair decide to work together to try and take out The owl. But the Owl has an ace in the hole and promises The Shroud to reunite him with his long lost love Julia Carpenter if he betrays Daredevil. And that sure is how it looks to go down, but Shroud shows his true colors and helps DD out of the jam. But not before The Owl gets caught and finds himself with new enhanced abilities. And Foggy? He’s not dead and his closest friends know it. They just have him in hiding to keep him safe and went to a lot of trouble to convince the world he WAS dead.

Despite getting renumbered and the move to San Francisco, this is the same great story that Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera/Chris Samnee were telling PRIOR to being labeled an ALL NEW MARVEL NOW title. And that book was an amazing ride for me. We went through the trials and tribulations of Nelson and Murdock, complete with Foggy being treated for Cancer. And it all ended with Matt revealing himself in court to avoid being blackmailed by a member of the Sons of Serpent. As I said, it was a great series and so is this one. Although I don’t like the idea of throwing out the secret identity thing and relocating him, I will deal with it. It’s no different than DC rewriting their continuity. Besides, I’m still pissed off at Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada for giving Karen Page HIV and having Bullseye killing her off Karen Page. So, I can handle changes in a classic character…as long as we don’t decide to give him his eyesight back.

Son of ALL NEW MARVEL NOW Reviews

ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #1:  Meet Robbie Reyes. He’s a mechanic at an East L.A. Auto Body shop, where his boss tried to stiff him on his paycheck. Later, some street punks steal the wheelchair from his disabled brother and, despite fighting with them, loses and has to bring his brother home on his back.  Even later, after his brother goes to bed, Robbie slips out and steals a car from the Auto Body shop to use in a street race straight out of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. Unfortunately, the military corner him in an alley and gun him down, even as he surrenders. Moments later, he becomes Ghost Rider.

I’m sorry. Everyone I know is jumping up and down and calling this the best GHOST RIDER series since the days of Johnny Blaze. Personally, I couldn’t wait to finish it…and be finished with it. Felipe Smith tries his hardest to make us concerned about the gang violence in East L.A., but that didn’t feel real for me, especially since we sort of went down this road in so many movies in the past. Not to mention the obvious nod to THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS. Couple that with Tradd Moore’s very distinct art style, all angles and such, and I found myself totally bored with both the concept and the look. Sorry folks: this just wasn’t my cup o’ Joe!

CYCLOPS #1: Jean Grey from the past had been kidnapped by the Shi'ar. They had made the decision to put her on trial for all the damage she had done as the Phoenix. The Guardians of the Galazy, the Starjammers, Cyclops, and the All-New X-Men banded together and rescued her. During that adventure, Cyclops discovered that his father Corsair was alive. Following the rescue of Jean Grey, he decides to stay in space with his dad.

I have nothing I want to say about this book except that if you are expecting a kick-ass space adventure, you are going to be a little disappointed. Sure, there is some outer space action and they get to fight the big bad Badoon. This is more of a tale of a boy and his dad and Greg Rucka does a wonderful job of writing that tale. It is a story of a boy finding a father he thought he would never see again and going off on pirate-style adventures with him. Unfortunately, this isn’t what I expected. Don’t get me wr0ng, except for Rucka writing Corsair like Johnny Depp, the book is a loving tribute to a boy and his dad. Russell Dauterman does a nice job with the art and Greg Land’s cover is breathtaking. Unfortunately, this isn’t a title I will keep reading only because there is only so much mutant reading that my wallet can handle. With that, I wish Rucka and company good luck.

INHUMAN #1: In Bergen, Norway, Kristian gets into a bar fight before being attacked and enveloped by the fallout from the Terrigen Bomb that went off in New York City. A creature named Lash arrives and transports the cocoon to a place and tells the story of the Inhumans as he waits for it to hatch. When it does hatch, he is less than pleased with the results and eradicates the newly born creature. Meanwhile, Medusa travels to Battery Park where Eldrac is able to transport her to the last place Black Bolt was seen alive. Elsewhere, in Illinois, the mists affect Dante and his mother, who dies during the transformation. Dante is sent into a rage against the newly arrived Lash, but is calmed by Medusa’s arrival, who attempts to convince him to come with her.

In case you were not aware, Attilan was destroyed in INFINITY #3, which resulted in the releasing of a Terrigan Bomb over New York City. That bomb began to transform Inhumans in hiding. So, that’s the back story to this story. Now, you may also recall that Matt Fraction was slated to be the original writer for the series, but backed out of it due to creative differences. That caused the book to be pushed back almost five months. Charles Soule is now writing this and Joe Madureira is drawing it. And I lost complete interest about a dozen or so pages in when Lash kills Kristian, who I thought would be the protagonist in this tale. Instead, we get this kid from Des Moines, get virtually no back-story and he gets to deal with Queen Medusa, who wants him to choose a side. Here’s my choice-not this title.

LOKI AGENT OF ASGARD #1: Loki is given a mission by the All-Mother. He visits the Avengers who, obviously, do not trust him and they battle. At one point, he runs his brother Thor through with a sword, allowing some corruption to escape and be captured in a special jar Loki has made. The brothers patch up their differences and Loki head back to Asgard where he delivers the jar of corruption to the All Mother. Of course, it is opened and, lo and behold, young Loki is gone and replaced by the lying deceiver we all know and love.

To which I have to say: WTF?! Al Ewing and Lee Garbett give me a book I wish someone would buy off be. Or at least hit me over the head to try and drive the foul taste of this thing out of my mouth! I swear, this is the most uninteresting, unimaginative book I have read in quite a while. And trust me: I have read a lot of uninteresting, unimaginative comic books in my lifetime. So, Loki is bad again and now what? Tell you what: I don’t care! Because his heel-turn is all a big tie-in to the future Marvel movie franchise anyway! This was just a plain waste of about twenty minutes of my life and three bucks, both of which I want CCO Joe Quesada to give me back!

MAGNETO #1: In Cape Girardean, Missouri, a barrister is telling how he watched a man snap his fingers and pull a man'’ filling out of his mouth. From there, he threw the man into the street, where numerous street signs impaled him. The murdered man was accused of  “genetic genocide” and “crimes against evolution” because of his involvement with groups like The Purifiers and The Right. The man who murdered him, living in a hotel under the alias of  Mr. Sullivan, is magneto. He is on a mission to avenge those who have done wrong to his people. Next on his list, a vagrant named Colton Hendry. So magneto heads to Mountain Air, California where he learns that the vagrant has had cybernetics grafted to him and turned him into a crude version of an Omega Sentinel. Magneto defeats him and learns that this man was an unwilling victim.

What day is it? Saturday? Okay…so Magneto is a hero! Yeah-that’s exactly how I feel. This man has had more turns than a professional wrestler! He’s a villain who’s a hero who is a villain again and then a hero again and then an anti-hero and now he’s…the mutant version of The Punisher? I respect Cullen Bunn’s work and he writes a good tale here. I just hate the idea of ANOTHER MUTANT BOOK and ANOTHER take on Magneto. I am also not impressed with Gabriel Hernandez Walta’s art. If I wanted to look at something that resembled John Romita Jr., I’d read a book drawn by JOHN ROMITA JR.

MS. MARVEL #1: The tale begins in Jersey City where we have a 16 year old girl named Kamala wishing she could eat bacon, which goes against her Muslim religion. Later, at home, she works on writing Avengers Fan Fiction before dinner with her very strict family. After dinner, she sneaks out to attend a party. After someone tries to get her to drink a Screwdriver, she runs off and is enveloped in a mystical kind of fog. Captain America, iron man and captain Marvel all visit her and tell her that she is going to get a total reboot and it won’t be what she hopes it will be. She awakes and finds herself in some sort of cocoon. When she breaks out of it, she finds herself in the costume of the “classic Ms. Marvel”.

Okay…right off the bat, I was shaking my head and asking myself how Ms. Marvel turns out to be a 16 year old Muslim. Don’t we already have an Arab-Muslim  Green Lantern by the name of Simon Baz, who falls into the category? The book is written by G. Willow Wilson and you might know her from her work for Vertigo and the graphic novel CAIRO and the series AIR. Wilson is a American Muslimn, so if anyone can write about being a 16 year old Muslim, it’s her. What I found about the book was it was so heavy handed that I became insulted by it. Sure, I understand you want to introduce us to the culture and the characters but it was like being hit with a hammer…like being told: “HEY LOOK-THEY’RE MUSLIMS! THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT CULTURE THAN OURS!” And to slam it all down on the reader in the first issue was really pushing the point to the extreme. I don’t care for the character, I don’t care for her family or friends and the only thing I DID like was her appearing in what I always think of as the “classic”, sleek outfit the was epitomized by some beautiful Dave Cockrum work back in the day.  Adrian Alphona is no Dave Cockrum and his work reminds me of some bad attempt at capturing a Manga style. Sorry: this one failed to hit a home run with me.

ALL NEW MARVEL NOW HULK Reviewed

ALL NEW MARVEL NOW HULK: Dr. Aaron Carpenter has been taken to a secret facility that has been secured and instructed operate on a patient with severe cranial trauma. Hat patient is Robert Bruce Banner. Three hours before, Banner was shot twice in the back of the head at point blank range and the bullets are lodged in his brain. As Carpenter operates, a shadowy female figure arrives and receives congratulations from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents there: congratulations for accomplishing the shoot. Before he is finished, the head agent in charge insists Carpenter pouts in an implant that will allow the Hulk’s transformations to be triggered by remote control. The doctor teeters on the edge of making the right choice when Banner wakes up. The anesthesiologist was saved many years ago when the monster Zzax was on a rampage and she refuses to let him be abused. As he transforms, S.H.I.E.L.D. tries to stop him with Adamantium bullets and finally poison gas. Hulk saves the medical team as the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents transport away and then he flees; obviously in great pain. Two weeks later, Hill and Coulson track Banner down to a small town in Kentucky and find out that he has irreversible brain damage. Bruce, now known as Bobby, is moved to a small town in Kentucky, so he can be hidden from his enemies. But someone has managed to rebuild The Abomination and a battle ensues in the streets of the rural town.

Three armed assailants arrive and Hill takes them out with a Sonic Scrambler. Before they transport away, she learns that the Abomination is actually a mindless “drone” with tissue taken from Banner. The Avengers arrive to help and between moments of gibberish and sanity, he decides to change back into the Hulk, even if it means making his brain damage permanent. With Captain America’s shield in hand, Hulk and Abomination square off. As Captain Marvel and Sunspot arrive to drain off some Gamma energy, Hulk hits his enemy with a solid shield shot that transports him to Jupiter. Iron Man takes Bruce to Troy where, with the help of Dr. Carpenter and Tony’s brother Arno, Banner’s brain is again operated on and Extremis is implanted. Success apparent, the question is what are the side effects of Extremis?

Welcome to the latest HULK comic, courtesy of Mark Waid, who was responsible for THE INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK, and Mark Bagley. What you just read was a synopsis of the first four issues, so you can tell the book is a huge hit with me! I didn’t read the last Hulk title as I was just too filled with the constant changes to the character, even IF Mark Waid WAS writing it. But this is nothing that I thought it would be and I was totally blown away by issue #1! Waid is in top form and Bagley? Well, either you like his style or you don’t and I have always been a huge fan of his work. We have a mystery yet to be solved and a nice supporting cast starting to form. But here’s the mess-up that I should have asked for a No-Prize for. In issue #2, we learn that Hulk is in Highston Kentucky. But in issue #3 and #4, we have miraculously moved to Hightown Colarado. And, while references abound to Colorado, including Bruce mentioning he knows it is Colorado by the temperature, air quality and foliage, there is still that glaring third panel on page three of issue #2 that says, in big bold print, KENTUCKY. Not to mention Maria Hill mentioning it to Coulson on page #2 of the same issue.

With the exception of that MAJOR BLUNDER(retcon that, boys!), this title rocks! Banner now has Extremis in his head and anything could happen now. And, by the way, in case you are wondering what the whole thing is with Troy and Arno Stark, here’s the quick answer. Troy was once Mandarin City and Arno Stark is the REAL birth child of Howard and Maria Stark while Tony was adopted. See…that’s what happens when you don’t follow certain storylines in certain armored Avenger books!

SUPERMAN: DOOMED-The initial chapters

SUPERMAN DOOMED #1: A group of fighter jets on an island to take down Doomsday, but the planes are destroyed, forcing Superman to save the pilots. He drops off the pilots on a nearby aircraft carrier and demands that they retreat. When Superman returns to the island, he finds the area ruin and Doomsday is gone. Returning to the Fortress of Solitude, Superman has a discussion with Dr. Veritas about Doomsday now having the ability to enter and exit the Phantom Zone at will. Lois and Lana end up in Smallville where the entire population has fallen into comas. Lois has a telepathic conversation with Brainiac while Lana finds her comatose parents. Doomsday appears in Botswana where he does battle with Steel, which is short lived as his toxins overpower Steel. Superman and Wonder Woman arrive but Doomsday escapes through a Phantom Zone portal. Later, the Justice League meets to discuss the threat. Lex Luthor arrives via hologram and suggests Superman leave Earth to draw Doomsday away. Superman confronts Doomsday in India, but the battle ends up on Venus where Superman thinks he has been defeated. Returning to Smallville, Doomsday suddenly appears through a portal causing Superman to rip Doomsday in half before collapsing.

Okay, so how strong IS the Man of Steel? Strong enough to tear the alien that once killed him into two pieces. Now THAT is a comic book moment. And for those of us who lived through Superman’s death and resurrection, it’s seems pretty satisfying! For all of us who lived through the speculator boom and crash, Superman ripping the beast in two was just what we all wanted to do. Yeah-I remember having a Platinum SUPERMAN #75 go for $10.00 at an auction with people laughing hysterically when they saw it. So we get a decent story from Scott Lobdell. Charles Soule and Greg Pak that sets up the next few months in the life of the man of Steel and the art by Ken Lashley is pretty rocking too!
 
ACTION COMICS #31: CHAPTER 1 of SUPERMAN DOOMED(INFECTED) We begin with Superman dreaming that he has transformed into Doomsday and feels the need to kill. In actuality, all he did was kill Doomsday. Wonder Woman and the justice League arrive and carry Superman away, realizing that that he's not the same boy she dated in high-school anymore. Lex Luthor, sanctioned by Senator Lane, tells Superman that he will have to place Superman under quarantine. That’s when the fantasy of him killing Lex takes hold. Superman flies off to Alaska where he is greeted by Krypto. Later poachers shoot down a wolf and our hero tears their helicopter in half as anger grips him. He feels no remorse-he notes how good it feels. Back in Virginia, Senator Lane contacts John Henry Irons who enters a pool of organic steel which prevents cellular degeneration. When Doomsday exploded, Lane believes that Superman inhaled some sort of mist that came from Doomsday and is turning him into Doomsday. In Smallville, Lois warns Lana that she should leave. But Lana insists that can’t be any danger because Superman wouldn’t have left them if there was danger. Meanwhile, Superman is locked out of the Fortress of Solitude as his DNA doesn’t match. He notes his fists have become bony like those of Doomsday. Despite this, he realizes he will find a way to save the world, even if Doomsday is now within him.

So, Doomsday is dead but is in the process of making his resurrection via Superman himself. What that means is the strongest man on the planet and the strongest beast on the planet has merged. That could be bad-very bad! The next chapter in the Superman crossover epic takes shape via Greg Pak, Aaron Kuder, Rafa Sandoval and Vicente Cifuentes. I mean, we all know that everything will work out in the end. But half the fun is seeing how much this creative team will mess with our hero until then. Fun reading for the whole family!

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #8: CHAPTER 2 of SUPERMAN DOOMED(INFECTED) Wonder Woman arrives at Clark Kent’s apartment door, noticing gouging and scrapes around the doorknob. Clark calls out that the place isn't ready for visitors. Eight hours earlier, Diana Prince met with Cat Grant, who admitted Clark had not been himself lately.  Six hours earlier, Lois Lane got a call from Diana, asking a similar question. She flatly tells her she has no time for that and begs Diana to tell Perry White her location and ask for help. The help arrives in the form of the Goddess of War, who orders the soldiers to release Lois, which they do. Lois tells Diana that she had heard from Clark recently had called Lois late one night sounding drunk. Two hours ago, Batman met with Wonder Woman and explained that a sample of Clark's blood from Smallville was the same as Doomsday’s DNA. They decide that Superman inhaled the mist to save everyone’s lives, not knowing that it would transform him into Doomsday. At this moment, Diana realizes that Clark has been infected. He admits that and then takes her Lasso of Truth, wrapping it around his own neck. Months ago, he told her he loved her. She has yet to say those words to him. He begs her to kill him now before he gets too strong, but she refuses. He attacks her, forcing her to fight him. Ultimately, he fights to resist the change and does…for now.

I’m not a big fan of this title mostly because I have issues with these two being together. I’m sorry: I grew up in a world where Lois loved Superman and, in later times, married Clark. Having the two of them with other people bothers me. That having been said, Charles Soule and Tony S. Daniel do a great job with this issue and probably do on every issue. The title looks great and I like Soule’s work on almost everything I’ve reads from him. Can’t we just make the relationship between these two mega powers go away and give us a SUPERMAN LOIS LANE comic instead?

BATMAN SUPERMAN #11: CHAPTER 3 of SUPERMAN DOOMED (INFECTED) Batman travels to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude to find a cure Wonder Woman and Steel arrive and find a sick Krypto; effected by the same sickness that Steel had acquired when he fought Doomsday. Once inside, the ailing Krypto leaps through the Phantom Zone Portal in search of Doomsday. Batman and Wonder Woman follows, ordering Steel to stay behind to close the portal behind them if something goes wrong. They find the ground covered in skulls. They find Krypto and Mongul and Non, who are trying to keep a tear in the Phantom Zone closed otherwise it will kill everyone in the Zone. Wonder Woman helps to close the rift and asks where Zod and faora are. Non claims he lost track of them after Doomsday attacked. Mongul attacks Diana and Batman but are saved by Ghost Soldier who teleports them to another part of the Zone. He explains how he used to work for The Tower and it was they who set Doomsday loose because they felt Superman was dangerous. Meanwhile, Krypto has found a second tear in the Zone and, while investigating, are attacked by Xa-Du. He explains that Harrow from The Tower with a plan. When that failed, he found and released Doomsday. In the Fortress, Steel opens the portal for Batman and Wonder Woman, but it is Non who comes through. Wonder Woman comes through and sends him back to the Zone just as Batman, Krypto asnd Ghost Soldier make their way out, with a captured Xa-Du in tow.

The next chapter of the Superman “event” storyline continues, courtesy of Greg Pak and Tom Derenik. It was nice to see very little of the infected Man of Steel and more of the team that’s trying to save him. Nicer still was having Wonder Woman and Batman end up in the Phantom Zone and seeing all the baddies from the past float through. Throw in Non, Mongul and Xa-Du and it’s like a villains family reunion. The fun continues next month too, as the infection gets worse and the most powerful being in the universe looks to be a transformed Superman.

SUPERMAN #31: CHAPTER 4 of SUPERMAN DOOMED (INFECTED). Superman has turned himself in to the authorities because his infection grows worse and Batman, Cyborg, Luthor and others try to find a way to stop the disease. Lois visits him, but Brainiac takes control of her and tells him that the Teen Titans are in danger, causing him to break out and try to save them. He finds them fighting Detritus and quickly helps defeat him. The Titans are worried concerning his condition and that causes Superman to come to the understanding that everything is wrong with him.

In the fourth chapter of this mini-saga, Scott Lobdell, Ed Benes and Jack Hebert manage to deliver the weakest chapter thus far. Lobdell writing is typically Lobdell and the art combo of Benes and Hebert is just okay, relying on a bunch of Image style renderings. This absolutely did nothing to move the story along except that Brainiac is really good at mind-control and Superman realizes he is very sick. Wake me when the next chapter starts!
 

Some ALL NEW MARVEL NOW reviews

IRON PATRIOT #1: We begin with Rhodes, in the middle of somewhere, with a mysterious and apparently armored opponent standing over him. Obviously wounded, maybe even dying, he apologizes. With that, we go back two days earlier. Rhodes is testing his Iron Patriot armor, followed by a dining room conversation between he and his father. His father is concerned about Rhodes not being all about the family, having already lost a daughter and afraid he’ll lose tough with her daughter Lila too. But she’s been hard at work doing upgrades to his Iron Patriot armor. The next day, he calls a press conference where he announces that his involvement has gone from Special ops to military operations only on American soil and rescue mission. In response, Lila posts a video condemning critics and it goes viral. It also brings her to the attention of someone who is convinced she needs to be handled “before the media arrive:. At the moment, Iron Patriot is dealing with a crisis in the Gulf of Mexico where he is battling creatures that have been attacking oil rigs and ships. In the middle of the battle, his armor stops working. Suspecting sabotage, he sinks under the sea and realizes that the armor is beginning to leak.

He was once Iron Man. He was once War Machine. Now he is Iron Patriot and Marvel, as part of their ALL-NEW MARVEL NOW! Program, presents James Rhodes as IRON PATRIOT. This first issue did absolutely nothing for me. I have never been a huge fan of Rhodes as, depending on who was writing him, he comes off as somewhere between The Falcon, Steel and Luge Cage. We all know he is African American, but writers’ try way too hard to prove that to us. I remember early Luge Cage when he did all but talk jive! Actually, I think he DID talk jive before he was a transformed. But here we have his niece being Steel’s niece as she tweaks things regarding his armor and such. Yeah…I have seen this before in a completely different universe. I usually like Ales Kot’s writing and love what he is doing on SECRET AVENGERS. But this one just doesn’t grab me at all. And Garry Brown’s very minimalistic art, which is all the rage now after the success of HAWKEYE, leaves me cold. All in all, I don’t know what happens that causes the opening of the issue because I didn’t give this a chance to even be around in my stacks for a second issue. 

ELEKTRA #1: After a bloody battle with The Hand, Elektra ends up at The Matchmaker, in search of a contract. The Matchmaker is the woman responsible for issuing many contracts to the assassins of the Marvel Universe. The contract she gives out is for Cape Crow. Crow once went as far as killing other assassins and stealing their contracts. This upset the Assassin’s Guild who went after him. He took them apart and went into hiding. Now someone has offered an obscene amount of money to find Cape Crow and bring him back alive. But someone else is on the hunt. Someone who is nicknamed Bloody Lips by “the serpent” has broken into a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and found Bullseye. Bloody Lips tells the master assassin, now incapacitated, that he needs a piece of him before he can find and eat Cape Crow. Meanwhile, Elektra skydives onto the place that supposedly houses Cape Crow’s safe house. That place is Monster Island.

W. Haden Blackman is one of my favorite writers and I love what Micahel Del Mundo is doing with his painted art. But this book just didn’t grab me. The dialogue is great and the art is a step out of the ordinary. But there is something missing in this book that makes it feel…empty. Maybe I have just seen Elektra in too many ways, including a stint in the Thunderbolts that left me really uncaring about her character. There are too many blank spots in the first issue’s plot. Who is This Matchmaker, dressed in her best apparel from the days of the flappers, that we see for what I believe is the first time. And Cape Crow? What the hell is a Cape Crow and why does he have such a lame looking costume? The bight spot here: MONSTER ISLAND. But even that tease isn’t enough to get me coming back for more. Sorry gang!

NEW WARRIORS #1: The book begins with what looks to be the death of members of The Zodiac From there, we are right into a battle between Justice and Speedball as they fight  the Salem Seven. It is also a major misunderstanding as Justice and Speedball were just passing through the town when the town’s guardians got involved. They eventually all see the mistake they made and Robbie and Vance make friends with the town’s guardians. Vertigo and Vance go for ice cream and get attacked by three armored beings they refer to as “half breed mutants” that need to burn. Meanwhile, in Mexico, Scarlet Spider and Hummingbird save some tourists. Kaine insists the rescued folks go back home and get out of Mexico. Later, resting on the beach, the pair notice bodies in the water followed by the arrival of  Faira Sar Namora of Atlantis and she is looking for heroes. In New York City, Sun Girl stops a crook trying to rob an armored car but is too late to get to a disturbance at Grand Central Terminal. When she goes into the terminal to help, she is greeted by  the same type of armored beings that appeared in New Salem. In Albuqueque, Nova is battling an alien with the ability to shape shift when three armored arrive and threaten to burn it all. Before they do, the high Evolutionary arrives and announces that these creatures are Evolutionaries and they have just captured a Nova.
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I am so sorry. The epic team I knew as the new Warriors ended following the events in Stanford Connecticut and the Civil War that followed. Chris Yost writes a fun tale and I love marcus To’s art, but I have no real connection to these characters. The Vance Astro I known and love was in the original Guardians of the Galaxy. Speedball was once an innocent character who suffered major changes after his time in prison. Sam Alexander is NOT MY NOVA and didn’t like his origin story, so I dropped his title after issue #1. The Scarlet Spider no longer has a book, so he needs to end up somewhere and who the heck is hummingbird and Sun Girl? These are all third rate heroes who needed to be put together to make a new team book. There are enough lame team book out there without this one in my library.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1: Captain Marvel and her team from the Galactic Alliance are on the Maniacano Outpost where they encounter some trouble in the street market. Flashback six weeks as she and Iron Patriot intercept a capsule with a green alien in it. Later, in her home inside the top of the Statue of Liberty, Carol Danvers sends her friend’s daughter Kit back to bed before having a deep conversation with Iron Man, which results in her being asked to be part of the Avengers formal presence in space. He arranges for her friend Kit to take a ride in a jet before a special birthday party thrown in her honor. Later, she and Rhodey share a moment before she tells him she is leaving for a year. She asks him to feed her cat while she is gone. And off she goes.

Kelly Sue Deconnick strikes again with this truly awful book. I like Carol Danvers character, but absolutely hated the first issue of the last incarnation of this character. I specifically remember a reference to balls that just caused me to put the book down and never look back. Well, I don’t now how the rest of the run went, but this one slides down the same hole. The story is hearts and flowers and no action to speak of and the dialogue is really canned. I don’t believe a single thing any of these characters are saying. The art from David Lopes Lopez is nice, but certainly can’t save this stinker.

BLACK WIDOW #1: Natasha Romanov is in Berlin where she is pursuing a target known as Yuri. She tells him her back-story and promises him to get him out of the mess he is in. At the conclusion of her tale, she dumps him out the window, saying that no one will ever know her full true story. Two days later, she accepts a new job from a man named Isaiah. Three days later, she is in Dubai, doing the job she had been assigned. The book ends with her asking the question of herself regarding how many more missions must she do.

What? What did I just read? What did I just waste three bucks on? Well, Phil Noto’s painted art is cool. Thus ends the good things. Nathan Edmondson’s story is a mess filled with lame dialogue and big plot holes. Sure, I understand that we want there to be mystery. But I also want enough to keep be interest and come back next issue. I found none of that here. It seems that the Black Widow has become the female version of Deathstroke and we don’t need another one of those.

NEW 52 Month 30, Part 2

THE MOVEMENT #11: We begin with a man arriving saying he’s going to find the devil and bring him home. Holly and Sarah go on their first date together while Christopher and Kulap Vilaysack are passing out food at a shelter. Christopher’s brother Jacob arrives, beats up Kulap and tells Christopher he is here to take him home and proceeds to fly him there. The team meets up and discuss their options. Back in Hammond's Dell, Jacob and Christopher arrive and is to face judgement for killing his father. The elders and the rest of the townspeople are prepared to brand him for his crime. Jacob explains, because of his wings, that he was born a gift from God. He tells how he tried to baptize away Christopher's evil and drown him in the process. Elder york brings Christopher’s mother to watch the branding. In actuality, although he can’t prove it, it was Jacob who killed their father. The Movement arrives and Jacob and Katharsis battle until Burden transforms into his demon, forcing Jacob to admit to the murder of their father. He pushes Jacob’s face into the fire and brands him. Their mother sides with Jacob and curses Burden. Virtue tries to explain that the brothers are genetic mutations, not angel, or demon. As the team leaves the burning village, Christopher announces he is gay.

Welcome to the penultimate issue of this series by Gail Simone and Freddie Williams III, who have pretty much been there right from the beginning. Unfortunately, the book never found an audience, the characters never caught on and the book never had sales to warrant DC to continue publishing. I would expect that these characters would find their way into some titles, probably in some version of The Teen Titans. Until then, thanks for the fun. It was an often confusing ride, but an enjoyable one!

THE NEW 52: FUTURE’S END #0: We begin finding that the world or what is left of it, is under control of Brother Eye, is in its final days. In Central City, a small group of humans, including Captain Cold, are waiting for The Flash. He arrives and tells the group that few humans survive. Wonder Woman and Hawk, now turned into mechanical bugs by Brother Eye, break into the hideout and begin killing everyone. Flash and Cold fight back, but Colds' hands get cut off and he becomes infected by virus. Flash is approached by Frankenstein and offered a chance to accept Brother Eye freely. He refuses and Frankenstein removes his coat to show Black Canary's face stitched onto his chest. She unleashes her Canary Cry and Barry Allen dies. At this point, Frankenstein narrates the tale of the rise of Brother Eye. He the Amazons of Themyscicra, killed Deathstroke and most of the Green Lantern Corps. He has infected Aquaman and destroyed Atlantis. Over in Metropolis, Green Lantern John Stewart and Blue Beetle Jamie Reyes are trying to how to Grifter and Amethyst in to shut down the Firestorm Battery. Blue Beetle gets infected by Booster Gold while John is attacked and infected by Superman. Amethyst and Grifter get killed by Superman and John Stewart. As they die, they tell Terry McGinnis to tell Batman that they have failed. Batman and Terry discuss the idea of going back in time to keep Brother Eye from being built by Batman and Mister Terrific. Infected members of Batman Incorporated break in, fatally injuring Batman but not before he sends Terry thirty years into the past-five years from today. Terry lands in Times Square and is told by A.L.F.R.E.D. that what he is attempting to stop has already begun.

Well, DC’s year long WEEKLY epic begins here, in the tradition of such past projects including ACTION COMICS WEEKLY, 52 and COUNTDOWN. This issue, written by Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen and illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Zircher, Aaron Lopresti, Art Thibert, Dan Jurgens, Mark Irwin, Jesus Merino and Dan Green. Is the launching point for a series that DC promises will change the face of the NEW 52 Universe. Critics and skeptics have already begun popping up and fans are sharply divided on the series. Personally, I loved the look and feel of the first issue and, in the tradition of other classic “universe shattering stories”, the whole creation of the NEW 52 eliminated all of that anyway. So sit back and enjoy theride, no matter WHERE it ends up.

THE NEW 52: FUTURE’S END #1-4: In issue #1, Terry’s Batman is five years from now from seven years too late to stop the creation of an Artificial Intelligence that will destroy the human race. At the same time, somewhere on the edge of space, Stormwatch’ ship has been pulled out of The Bleed. Apollo goes outside to look, but is killed. The ship is self-destruct, destroyed by the mysterious enemy, which then continues towards Earth. Meanwhile, Grifter has tracked a family of Daemonites to their home in Conover Cove and kills them all. In New York, Jason Rusch is desperately trying to find Ronnie Raymond. An hour ago, Jason got a message from Green Arrow asking for help. When he finds Ronnie, Jason forces him to join him as Firestorm. When they arrive in Seattle, they find the body of Green Arrow.

As issue #2 begins, Jason and Ronnie are at Ollie’s funeral, where Jason lays the blame for the death of the Green Arrow squarely on Ronnie’s shoulders. Mister Terrific makes a speech to the media saying it was Oliver who inspired him to come out as a super-hero. He runs into Aquaman and verbally spars with him, concluding by saying that if he were a villain, having all these heroes in one place would be truly like shooting fish in a barrel. Animal Man gives a funeral telling how they went from team-mates to best friends. As it becomes time to bury Oliver, Arsenal blames Firestorm for letting Ollie get killed and demands he not be a pallbearer. Ronnie claims they were busy with another emergency but Flash calls him on it. Ronnie flies off in front of those gathered and the world media, further making them feel less secure with their super-heroes. Future Batman is still in New York City, staking out the Terrifitech building. A.L.F.R.E.D. informs him that Brother Eye is already built but has been offline since the war. It’s terry’s job to keep the satellite from getting back online. In Charlotte, North Carolina, King Faraday begins searching for Grifter. That night, Lois Lane tries to write a story about Oliver’s funeral. There is a knock at the door and, when she opens it, she discovers a package with a bunch of odd items and coordinates.

Issue #3 begins in Nunavut, where Frankenstein discovers a polar bear with a surveillance device inside it created by S.H.A.D.E. Having quit them years ago, he is not happy about this and will make them pay. In New York City, Jason begs Ronnie to let him out of the Firestorm Matrix, which he has been trapped in for days, but he refuses. Cole Cash is in New Jersey and annoyed about the non-stop “death of Oliver Queen” news. He and his partner Justin have been converting Daemonite technology for their use. At Terrifitech, Michael Holt watches Future Batman's break-in to his building via security footage. When he leaves, he hands money to a panhandler, who is actually Terry McGinnis in disguise. Lois Lane goes to the Wounded Duck bar and confirms what she had deciphered from the mysterious box. Red Robin is not dead. He is alive and tending bar here.

Issue #4 begins with Frankenstein arriving at the Ant Farm and, when he goes to shoot Father Time, his hand is cut off by their newest agent: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Amethyst believes that whatever destroyed Stormwatch is the storm they have been waiting for. Frankenstein is reluctant to go into space until her finds out that The Mermaid was killed in the attack. Meanwhile, Calvin Corcoran and Madison Payne run through Central Park. While she wants to know about his past, he refuses to reveal it as he says it changed him. She was also changed: her father was imprisoned for betraying Earth during the war. Elsewhere, Key and Plastique meet with Coil who try to convince him that a huge payday awaits if he helps them break into Terrifitech. Over in New Jersey, Justin warns Grifter about King Faraday, but Cash just brushes it off. He gets a phone call from Faraday, demanding a meeting. Faraday appears behind him and shoots him in the back, paralyzing him. Then he dumps a bag of evidence that will make him look like a serial killer in the eyes of the media.

Like BATMAN ETERNAL, this is a LOT to digest in one sitting. Written by the team of Brian Azzarello, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire and Keith Giffen, the artistic team is a rotating one, which will help to keep it on the weekly schedule. Art for the first four issues is handled by Patrick Zircher, Jesus Merino, Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti respectively. This is a rambling story which has another 48 issues to go to reach its’ conclusion. When did this war happen that has left people injured and bitter? How did Tim Drake escape death to become a bartender? Who got this information to Lois Lane and why? So many questions to answer in the next 11 months. I, for one, am intrigued to where this is going and how many ramifications this will have on the New 52 Universe.

NIGHTWING #30: This issue begins in the Democratic Republic of Congo where Doctor Leslie  Thompkins gets rescued from a crazed killer by a woman with a crossbow and wings. Two months later and she is concerned that she has revealed Batman’s identity to someone she should not have. At Wayne Manor, Alfred is devastated between Damian’s death and now Dick’s. In actuality, Dick is in the Batcave, violently sparring with Batman, who sends him off to handles a variety of missions for him, including infiltrating Spyral. By the end of the book, after a number of  jobs, he is part of the organization. From here: GRAYSON #1.

And thus ends the legend of Dick Grayson, former ward and superhero and thus begins Dick Grayson-DC’s answer to the Winter Soldier. This was a great looking issue featuring the art of Javier Garron, Jorge Lucas and Mikel Janin accompanying the story by Tim Seeley and Tom King. I really liked the official introduction of Dr. Leslie Thompkins and, like many of the characters in the NEW 52 Universe, she is far younger than her predecessor. This acted as a nice ending to the adventures of a hero that dates all the way back into the early days of Batman’s career in the OLD DCU. Outed by the Crime Syndicate, now he needs to be dead to the world, including his ex-girlfriend Barbara Gordon. Good luck, Dick. I have fears that this title will not last long. We may need a hero, but a copy of one that already exists may not be the best idea.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #30: In the last issue, space aliens who only wanted the Outlaws’ space ship kidnapped Roy Harper. But for Jason and Starfire to rescue him, they need a space ship. And they steal one from what was once the headquarters of the Blackhawks. Next stop: the S.H.A.D.E.’s Ant Farm. Meanwhile, Roy is using his arrowing skills to defeat the aliens who took him here while the rest of the Outlaws end up battling with Frankenstein and defeat him. They finally contact Roy who is plotting his return home when he ends up being ambushed by Lobo.

Okay, I am a little confused and that is my fault. See, this is the “classic look” Lobo we all know and love. As I recall from STORMWATCH,  before I walked away from it, there was this Lobo and the JUSTICE LEAGUE VILLAINS MONTH book introduced the “real” Lobo who looked more like a metrosexual that a legendary bounty hunter. So, is this the real one, the new one or the one who was metrosexual and is now classic?  Well, according to Wikipedia, because that IS where we all go, this Lobo is “a Czarnian slaver who killed the rest of his race except for his beloved Princess Sheba.” The metrosexual dude is a “mercenary for hire who sets up shop on Earth after discovering his counterpart has been there”. Okay-that makes sense. With that having been figured out, it was nice to see The Ant Farm again, even if that whole thing made NO SENSE to me. And Roy survives his kidnapping so he can fight the classic Lobo next month. Anyway, Wil Pfeifer wrote it and Rafael Sandoval and RB Silva drew it

RED LANTERNS #30: On the planet Primeen, Judge Sheko is about to sentence Prince Karsik to death. But she gets killed by her bailiff instead. As she dies, a Red Lantern ring finds her, giving her new ability to wreak havoc and justice on her home world. Meanwhile, Bleez is in the medical bay, telling Guy Gardner that Atrocitus' has returned and that Rankorr is missing. Supergirl is ordered to guard Bleez while Guy and the Lanterns make the decision to head to Primeen to stop Sheko. The full teams, minus Rankorr are united and head to Primeen while Atrocitus eyes the situation and makes plans to recruit Sheko.

Charles Soule introduces us to a new Lantern and where her allegiance will be when it’s all over is anyone’s guess at this point. We get heartfelt communication between the two female members of the team while Guy Gardner, he of the long flowing bearded Viking look, rallies the troops to investigate the discovery of a new Lantern.. And of course, there’s that nasty Atrocitus waiting around the corner. Why we have a giant Red Lantern cat on the cover that doesn’t really do much in the book, is also anyone’s guess. Oh, the art by J. Calafiore and Alessandro Vitti is what we have come to expect on this title: a perfect fit.

SECRET ORIGINS: #1: In our first story, we see Kal-El father trying to convince the Hall of Science about Krypton’s impending doom. As predicted, the planet begins to collapse. But, because of his being disgraced due to his beliefs, he has only had the funds to build a single prototype ship that is large enough to save only Kal. Kal ends up on Earth and finds a new mother to care for him: Martha Kent. On that first night, Kal accidentally broke her finger with his strength. While Jonathan had wanted to take the him to the police, she convinced him into letting them keep him. She also knew he would grow up to be someone special. And she knew that he would be driven by the voices inside him of one mother he knew and one he barely remembered.

In the second story, we see Dick Grayson giving his mother Mary a bracelet for her birthday: a bracelet with Robins. At the circus, Dick overhears a conversation between C.C. Haly and Tony Zucco. That night, Zucco lived up to his promise that the Flying Graysons would not live through their act. Following the deaths, Dick spends time at the Wayne Foundation facility. Dick had been sneaking out at night and attacking known Zucco associates. One time, Batman came to his rescue and took him back to the Batcave to explain that he too was looking for Zucco. He removed his cowl and revealed himself as Bruce Wayne. After almost a year of training, and on the one year anniversary of the death of his parents, Dick went Amusement Mile and rode the roller-coaster in memory of his parents.

In story #3, Kara Zor-El and two friends who were preparing for The Trials, ran into troubles with a Fireclaw. They get saved by some bots, but lose many points in the Trials. Kara loses the most points as she lied to protect the other girls. Kara's mother told her that no good deed goes unpunished and that she always need to remember that the House of El is one of the most recognized on Krypton. As the end of Krypton approached, her father Zor-El moved his lab underground and used Brainiac technology to shield Argo from the death of Krypton. When Kara’s mother found out Zor-El wanted to send Kara to Earth, she shot her husband. But she was too late to stop him from launching her into space before she eventually landed on Earth. She did her best to help people but, she found it tough to fit in. When she tried to save a space shuttle and was attacked by the North Koreans, Either way, she followed her cousins’ advise and tried her best to do her best.

I have mixed emotions about this title. I like the idea of giving back story to DC’s heroes and always liked the former SECRET ORIGINS series. But cramming three stories in just takes a little bit more energy to read than I remember it doing. The Superman tale by Greg Pak and Lee Weeks is nice and I have no complaints. We have a story by two super talents in the world of comics. The Robin story, with the nice twist as to WHY Dick Grayson wants the Robin identity, is by Kyle Higgins and Doug Mahnke. The third tale, by By Kyle Higgins and Doug Mahnke, had some great looking art. But the whole story really did little to add to the legend. It was an okay story by Higgins, but did little to advance the history of the legend. Will this series succeed? Possibly. But it needs to truly decide who to focus on and how much is NEW INFORMATION versus already known factoids.

SINESTRO #1: Sinestro is in what used to be a temple off in forgotten space where, during his meditations, he does battle with Centitigers that now live there. But before he can’t allow them to kill him, as he wishes they will do, Lyssa, who informs him the Arkillo has corrupted the glory of the Sinestro Corps, saves him. She also shows him that the Book of Parallex is now a part of her. With the help of the words imprinted upon her, she recharges his ring and they head off to Sector 2066, where he invades a spaceship carrying survivors of his home planet, being used for harvesting. With five survivors in tow, he attempts to make peace with the Sinestro Corps, only to find that Arkillo is not about to let that happen. And he has already taken a prisoner: Sinestro’s daughter, Soranik.

Is he a villain or is he a hero. Or is he actually something in-between. Thaal Sinestro finally gets his own title and this first issue rocks. First off, you have Cullen Bunn writing it and it may be some of his best work in awhile. The dialogue, especially Sinestro’s initial monologue, is great and really adds some pathos to this long time bad guy. Add to that the amazing art of Dale Eaglesham and this book just explodes off the printed page. No, I’m not dreaming but I am getting totally fanboy about it. This first issue is what first issues absolutely should be: they should grab your attention and want you dying to get to the next issue. So…here I am. See this bad guy in 30 days!

SUICIDE SQUAD #30: We start with Black Manta being pardoned and returning to his old hideout in Boston. Once there, he finds that his gang has stolen everything he had there, including his money. Later, standing in line at a fast food restaurant, he flips out and beats up employees and patrons, soon finding himself arrested and on his way back to jail again. Meanwhile, Deadshot, Coldsnap and Shakedown are all being readied for transfer to a top secret government facility. But Deadshot’s prisoners are planning an escape, but he warns them is over from the start. Heatstroke and New Wave attack the truck carrying them, but S.W.A.T. officers intercept them and they soon are prisoners too. Amanda Waller is stripped of her powers because she could not protect people from the Crime Syndicate. She meets with the Secretary of Defense who informs her that although she is no longer in charge of A.R.G.U.S., she will still lead Task-Force X.  While she is assigned a list of things he wants done, Belle Reve is being rebuilt When she arrives there, although it is disguised as a U.S. Postal Service depot, she sees Deadshot waving at her and heads to her new office. Later, the Secretary of Defence visits Black Manta, who admits he wants to do something different with his life, join Task Force X.

And thus ends another of the original NEW 52 series-not with a bang, but with a pretty sorry excuse for a last issue. Sean Ryan, Andre Coelho and Scott Hanna collaborate on this pretty lame final issue. What have we learned here? Let’s see: Amanda Waller will run the NEW Task Force X, along with members Deadshot, Black manta and whoever else she and the government decide. So, what happens to all these other great characters, like James Gordon Jr. and Killer Shark? Is DC planning on rolling them into other series or just putting them on the shelf. I’m sad to see this title go, as it was always quirky enough to be one of my favorites.

SUPERMAN #30: We begin with a young married couple are killed when the water in the Bahamas gets so hot that it kills them. In Smallville, all the people there have fallen in a coma. Superman investigates to find out about some crop circles that spell the Kryptonian word “Doom." He finds The Eradicator of Krypton buried on someone’s farm. It explains to Superman that he has come to warn Superman that Earth will be murdered and Superman will be to blame. At the Daily Planet, Lois has been brainwashed into becoming a servant of the Collector of Worlds. Later, at the Fortress of Solitude, Clark tells Cat he won’t be at work for awhile because he is sick. And the citizens of Kandor have finally awakened from their coma, banging against the dome they are housed in. Superman learns from Cyborg that an island in the Bahamas has been destroyed. This leads directly into SUPERMAN: DOOMED #1.

Scott Lobdell and Ed Benes bring us the the third prologue chapter of SUPERMAN: DOOMED. And it’s an okay issue-actually better than most of Scott Lobdell’s work. Of course, there is a new creative team in the form of Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr. They take over on SUPERMAN #32, meaning just one more issue and then a whole new start. Keeping my hope up that this reboot will be as good as the Pak/Kuder jump start on ACTION COMICS.

SWAMP THING #30: Swamp Thing's body, which no longer has Alec inside, has been transported to Germany. Back in New Orleans, Brother Jonah and Capucine track down Wolf and Lady Weeds to help Alec get back into his body. They return to the house in Houma to find that Alec's house had been set on fire. Capucine finds Pistil’s body, poisoned with belladonna. Jonah gathers an antidote and they discover that Pistil is now Alec Holland. He sees the house the Abby built burnt and becomes depressed. He also learns that he must return to his body within days or both he and Pistil will die. Capucine sends for Vandal Savage to help. He says that the Sureen are in India and allows them to use his jet to get there. Alec and Capucine arrive in Bangalore and meet an old man who claims he is the last living Sureen. Those who performed the Locum were impostors. The old man says he knows of a way to slow the process and ask a woman named Miki to join them. That night, Miki visits Alec. She kisses him and he realizes that she is just like him. Meanwhile, two men named Norren and Hoch are examining Meanwhile, Swamp Thing. They have found that eating fruits from Alec's body will create new plant life. Unfortunately, no one has been able to survive this experiment yet.

Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz do what they have been doing so well for such a decent amount of time: tell a killer story. Now, I’m sure we all know that Alec Holland can’t die(or do we), but it’s fun to see where this thing is going. The Sureen , the impostors, Wolf, Miki, Lady Weeds, Jonah-these are all great characters that have been fleshed out beautifully! Saiz art gets better with each issue too! Still a character and a book with a ton of heart to it!

TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #10: Marcus Severin is surprised and mildly reserved to see Pandora is still alive. She tells him that together, they will save the wounded and dying left behind by the Crime Syndicate. The pair go to the coast to see how they can save when Giganta arrives seeking revenge on Pandora. And she gets it by tearing her in half. Pandora's body regenerates and then she turns into the entity of hope, which allows her to see the pain of Doris Zeul’s childhood. Pandora promises to help Giganta, if she wants it. Marcus attempts to take a shot to bring Giganta down, but Pandora stops him, allowing Giganta to leave. Meanwhile, Agent Kincaid of S.H.A.D.E. decides to pursue Pandora, despite orders telling him to do otherwise. And, if things were not bad enough for Pandora, vandal Savage is on a killing spree on his way to see her.

And Pandora counts down to the end of her monthly DC Career as this title is gone as of August. And it rather makes sense, now that we know Pandora’s full story. Everything she thought she was is a lie. So the best Ray Fawkes and Ig Guara is bring this to a gentle ending and allow her and Marcus to walk off into the sunset of happiness together. Nah…this is a comic book: they thrive on pain and heartache.

TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #18: We begin with Superman being haunted by spirits of those who could not save, especially Doctor Light. The Phantom Stranger intervenes and tries to convince the Man of Steel that he cannot save everyone, even as the crack in Creation continues to grow larger. Faced with the ghosts, Superman resigns himself to let them take him until Stranger uses his faith in Superman to wake out hero up. At that point, the ghostly Doctor Light transforms into his true form: The Sin Eater. Meanwhile the wingless Zauriel collapses in Terry Thirteen’s apartment. And, in another location, Cassandra is told that, despite her and her boyfriend being together for the last two years, she and the Stranger will be together very soon.

Just like TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA, this title bites the dust in August, which doesn’t give it a lot of time to finish this story. And they need to finish this story as the Phantom Stranger is getting to be as emotional as Hal Jordan. He beats himself up monthly for things he hasn’t done rather than do what we expected him to do: work at getting those silver pieces off his neck. I cannot remember the last time we saw him do an act that got him one step closer to regaining his humanity. So, let’s let him go back into the background and get this book gone. I recall the first issue being, in my opinion, one of the worst written in history. It got better, but now it’s back down that slippery slope once more.

WONDER WOMAN #30: We begin the issue with Poseidon and Hades deciding to stay out of the turmoil on Mount Olympus for now. On Paradise Island, Wonder Woman has restored all the Amazons except for her mother. Aleka accuses Diana, now declared as Queen of the Amazons, of being responsible for not getting her mother cured. Later, Diana tells Dionysus and Hermes to leave as the Amazons do not trust men. The Amazons argue about whether it is right to follow Diana when a cloaked woman arrives and throws in more seeds of dissent. That night, Diana speaks to the Amazons and implores then to end their isolationism and open their doors. She also insists that all the Amazons act as mothers to Zeke. Meanwhile, the First Born feeds Cassandra with meat that once was Cheever and tells her she will follow him or he will eat her. And Hades has told his father Cronus that he wants to go to war with Olympus. The First Born appears and blows out Hades’ candles. The First Born rules Hell.

What can I say that I haven’t already said? This book is amazing, it breaks all the rules, and it should be on the top of your reading list. It’s by Brian Azzarello and Goran Sudzuka and I love it. To you a Marvel phrase: ‘Nuff said!

WORLDS' FINEST #22: Power Girl is angry the Huntress has destroyed the portal back to Earth 2. They saw Earth 2’s corrupt Superman and she shut the portal to keep him from coming here. Helena later hacks into Batman's computers to analyze data she and Kara stole. Kara finally has control of her powers and orders her lawyers to sell all of Starr Industries except for her lab in Cambridge. Helena tells Kara what she has found: a device her father once worked on before they left Earth 2. Now both heroes are convinced that the Superman they saw WAS from their world. And they decide they need to go home.

So, if this was a movie, our heroes could click their heels three times and be smack in the middle of the current issue of EARTH 2. But, it isn’t. So we have to go through month after month of our heroes pining to go back home. This title is so up and down that it gets tiring some times. Paul Levitz, R. B. Silva and Yildiray deliver another boring issue that does NOTHING to make me like these characters. Can we create a new team: the Whiny Leaguers? We can team Hal Jordan, The Phantom Stranger, Huntress and Power Girl and they can make their enemies SO despondent that they surrender just to shut them up!

THE NEW 52 Month 30, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #30: The mysterious group that attacked Superman in Venezuela has released Doomsday from the Phantom Zone and begins to hunt. Meanwhile, Superman is attacking Tower Control, determined to destroy all of their equipment. A woman named Harrow who explains that she wasn’t malicious in her actions regarding the recent incident with Subterranea. Unable to convince him that HE is the real menace, she leaves and unleashes an army of ghost soldiers from all eras of time. However, Superman manages to make them turn on Harrow who releases them back to the spirit world. Exhausted, she admits that it wouldn’t take much for Superman to end her life. So they agree to work together for a common goal. But she turns on him and leaves, promising that the next time they meet, she will kill him. At the same time, a Tower sub moving through the Mariana Trench encounters a very transformed Doomsday.

This is the opening shot, the first chapter of the Prelude, in the summer Superman story, DOOMED. It will run mostly through ACTION COMICS and SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN but also spills out into select issues of  SUPERMAN,  BATMAN/SUPERMAN,  SUPERGIRL, along with two annuals and a pair of free standing SUPERMAN: DOOMED books which act as the opening and closing chapters. Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder, along with Jed Dougherty and Karl Kerschl on this issue, continue to create one of the most reinvigorated comics on the market today. Six months to a year ago, this was the worst of the Superman titles and now, having officially moved into present day continuity, it is one of the best. The turn-around since Pak and Kuder came on board is amazing! This IS the Superman title to read monthly…hands down!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #30: We begin with Jonah burying Gina, who died at the end of the last issue. He heads to town and runs into his old love, Tallulah Black. Since he is now without his scars, she assumes he is actually Jonah Hex's brother. They sit and drink and he tells her the tale of his traveling to the future and back. Hex asks about active bounties, she produces a key off a man she killed earlier. But this causes everyone in the bar to draw their weapons and demand the key. In the back-up, Jeanne Walker’s father and his partner’s son Henry have been mining and Henry betrays him. He sets off an explosion that traps Jeanne and kills her father. Jeanne finds a glowing pool of water and dives in. This takes her to a place filled with demons. Armed only with her twin pistols, she goes in search of someone called Kerberos.

Well, you won’t have to hear me tell you how much I love this title for much longer as DC has decided to give it the axe in August. Until then, try and the adventures of my favorite gunfighter, courtesy of Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Staz Johnson. The back up tale, by Palmiotti, Gray and the legendary Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is fun but…I mean, I get a little tired of these back-ups featuring bosomy gunslingers and then…we never see them again! Drawing your attention to it is a great looking cover by Dan Panosian. I will truly miss this title as I found it a nice little oddity in the NEW 52.

AQUAMAN #30: Aquaman battles Hercules and the other creatures freed by the trident opening a portal last issue. Eventually, he overwhelms the Olympian and tosses him into the labyrinth, which may take him centuries to escape from. Arthur contacts Wonder Woman and makes her aware that he had to deal with her half-brother. Meanwhile, Mera is attacked and almost killed by forces from Xebel, only to be rescued by Orm’s sister Tula.

Jeff Parker ends this chapter and opens the door to another chapter that will come to us in this summer’s AQUAMAN ANNUAL #2. And what goes on with the former Aquagirl, who is now sister to that evil Orm guy, saving Mera from her own people? Then Triton Base is in the middle of creating a reboot of a Pre New 52 character by inserting brain tissue from The Kraqan. Paul Pelletier handles the art with great skill, as always, but with an assist from Alvaro Martinez. Next month: Swamp Thing comes along as that battle comes to a long awaited confrontation.

AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #1: We begin thousands of years ago where Atlan, the banished king of Atlantis, steals ten magical bars of gold from someone called The Alchemist. Several teams of trained villains attack various members of The Others in an effort to steal their Atlantean artifacts. And it appears that some of these artifacts have now lost their powers. During a mission The Operative is on, his Atlantean relic also fails and he comes under attack, only to be saved by Aquaman. The team convenes some time later to relate their woes and their plane comes under attack Meanwhile, Kahina’s sister Sayeh gets kidnapped as she babbles on about how she needs to be saved before the machines come to destroy everyone.

I was not incredibly thrilled with these characters when they first appeared in AQUAMAN and I am equally uninspired by them now. Dan Jurgens is desperately trying to breathe life into some extremely cardboard and cliched characters that Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are responsible for. Unfortunately, they are so boring and lame, that he cannot. Law Medina’s art is nice-nothing to jump up and down about, but all the proportions look decent. I just cannot find myself caring about these characters at all. I may hang about for the first two or three issues, in an attempt to give it a shot. But Jurgens is going to REALLY have to find a way to give some life to the lifeless.

BATGIRL #30: We learn of a game that Gotham teenagers play where they try to summon someone called the Midnight Man. Batgirl is patrolling the area when her EMF reader goes off. It takes her to a quite house where she finds a monster rising from the floor and about to attack the teens sleeping there. She wakes the teens and they try to flee from the house as the Midnight Man becomes a swarm of bats and blocks the door. Crawling through a ventilation shaft to make her way to the kitchen, she ends up turning on the stove and lights some sage, which she throws at the Midnight Man. Screaming in pain, the creature ends up fleeing the house. Her parting warning to the teens is that they should play Spin the Bottle next time.

Wow! This SO FEELS like a fill-in issue. But, since this is now the second BATGIRL story I have read by Marguerite Bennett, maybe this is what we’re going to be getting in the future. I sure hope not because this was just a plain, boring tale! The art by Robert Gill was okay, but nothing to write home about. I MISS Gail Simone! Can someone get some quality back on this book?

BATGIRL ANNUAL #2: In the not so distant past, Batgirl and Black Canary on a mission where there targets have terminal diseases and answer to a "Mr. Rain." The rest of Dinah’s team shows up, including Poison Ivy, and joins the battle. One of the “terrorists” whispers something to Ivy that shocks her. A week later, Ivy betrayed the team. Flashing forward, Barbara is convinced by her roommate Alysia Yeoh to help her build a garden at an abandoned lot. That night, she goes looking for Mr. Rain. Ivy joins up with her, claiming she is pregnant with a non “flesh baby”. Ivy also explained that the secret she had been told was the Mr. Rain could fix her. Breaking into Mr. Rain’s lab, they found human bodies hung in bags. They worked together for three months before they got another lead. They found a man who agreed to Rain’s experiments to prolong his life. In actuality, he was being used as an organ farm, as were all the others they had previously found. Ivy, who is suffering with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and Batgirl brawl as Batgirl tells her the partnership is over. Ivy returned to the man’s room and, after telling him how her father killed her mother and buried her in the front garden, she put him out of his misery by using her plant pheromones. Three more months pass and the garden has been destroyed, much to Barbara’s dismay. That night, Batgirl receives a message and meets Ivy, who had found Mr. Rain but was also weak and withered-like plants do in the winter. Making their way to the woods, Rain tries to convince Ivy to kill Batgirl and he would make her whole again. Instead, she attempts to kill him, until Batgirl convinces her not to. Ivy also knows this means she will be going to Arkham. Hours later, the Alyia’s garden had regrown, thanks to Ivy.

I probably would have enjoyed this story much more if it had been told during the original continuity. Because of what occurs with Poison Ivy, this issue would have to fall between BIRDS OF PREY #3 and #9. And that would have been at LEAST 21 issues ago. I can’t remember what happened 2 months ago, never mind almost two years. A long, drawn out story that is designed to show how Poison Ivy really isn’t so bad and that the reason she betrayed the Birds was because some crazy guy offered her a cure. Gail Simone and Robert Gill do no justice to the book at all. Simone’s writing is good, yet plodding. Gill’s art is his typical fare. All in all, I wasn’t happy to waste five bucks on this one.

BATMAN #30: We begin with a flashback with Bruce convincing his friend Julie Madison to go with him on a tour of the countryside with him. But as she climbs out the window, he sees her bleeding from the side of her face. Bruce wakes to find he is in an apartment in Bell Towers, where he has been residing in an unconscious state for almost six months. He is now living in Zero Year, as The Riddler has taken down Gotham and begun to build it to his own designs. He calls Alfred and explains that he survived the balloon crash. Alfred tells him that The Riddler controls all that remains of Gotham, complete with having turned it into a wilderness thanks to stealing Pam Isley’s formulas. He has also established a game of sorts. Each night, the Riddler challenges the people of Gotham to present him with a riddle he can't answer. If that happens, he will return the city back to them. That night, Bob Chee of Powers Industries, tries his luck and pays for his failure with his life. Jim Gordon and his tactical team show up and the team leader offers a suitcase filled with fifty million dollars in untraceable cash. His response is to have a wrecking ball begin knocking buildings down towards them in a giant game of dominoes. Telling them that he has Riddler-bots surrounding them, Batman tells them to shoot the robots in the eye. Gordon opts to shoot a camera-drone down, which causes the robots to fire on it. Batman shoots down the water-tower on the top of the building, which creates a bridge for Gordon and the team to cross. Jim reveals his ally to the tactical team.

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue the ZERO YEAR storyline as it slowly rumbles to an epic conclusion. This has been one long story but, for the most part, has been a ball to read. While this may upset those loyal readers who claim this never happened in Batman mythos, I believe that a story is a story and this just adds color to the legend. It’s a comic book, it’s literature, it’s fiction. Deal with it.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #30: Batman arrives on Themyscira and is immediately held at knife point by Aleka. Wonder Woman explains that Batman is here in search of his dead son who was kidnapped by Ra's al Ghul, who has found a Lazarus Pit on the island. Batman offers a Batarang as a gift to the Oracle of the Amazons and is told to find the Lazarus Pit in the Cavern of Neekta. Ra's discovers that the pit is no longer active and uses the crystal he brought to re-activate it. Batman and Wonder Woman intervene, temporarily stopping his plan. He then explains how he got a map from a Spaniard who had found the island. As Batman explains that this is not a true Lazarus Pit, a Neekta bursts forth from it, allowing Ra's and his Man-Bats to escape with Talia and Damian’s sarcophagi. Batman is further driven to find his son and put him to rest.

Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason continue their awesome run on this title. The story is always captivating, Gleason’s artwork is impressive, and I love the whole feeling of this title. And yes, I know it HASN’T been called BATMAN AND ROBIN since Damian died, but I just don’t buy changing it every review. And, if you look it the crystal ball known as the future releases from DC Comics, you will soon see it BACK to being called BATMAN AND ROBIN yet again. In any event, you need to read this as part of your monthly Batman fix.

BATMAN ETERNAL #1-4: In issue #1, Jason Bard is the newest member of the GPCD, having just transferred to Gotham from Detroit. Harvey Bullock introduces Bard to Major Forbes. Captain Maggie Sawyer interrupts Forces rant about how Jim Gordon does not understand how Gotham works, to inform them that Gordon needs backup. Gordon is in a battle with Professor Pyg and his men and luckily, Batman arrives, quickly taking down Pyg and most of his men. Jim corners the last of the men and orders him to drop his weapon. The man claims he isn’t holding a gun but Gordon can see it and fires a warning shot that strokes an electrical box . The explosion that follows knocks both men down and affects the system that controls the trains. Two of them collide, causing destruction, injury, and death. When back up arrives, led by Forbes, Bard is ordered to place the Commissioner under arrest.

In issue #2, we find Mayor Hady visited by a man who reminds him that, five years ago, he said this would happen. At the Gotham Gazette, there is a debate about whether they should run the story. Final decision is it NEEDS to be run and Vicki Vale is ordered to publish the story online.
Batman, visits Gordon in Gotham Central Booking and Jim sticks to his story: that Derek Grady had a gun in his hand. Security footage tells a different story and Batman feels this is all a setup. Down in the subway station, an officer discovers a man wandering around. He straes her in the eyes and insists she won’t remember him being there. Batman breaks into the Gotham Metro Transit Authority  and runs a facial recognition on the crook known as Derek Grady. He finds himself shocked by the results. He tells Catwoman that the man WAS Derek Grady, who was last seen here five years ago when he and his boss were forced to leave town. He and his boss, The Roman, are apparently back in Gotham and we learn that this is the mysterious guest of Mayor Hady. Meanwhile, at Arkham Asylum, Doctor Phosphorus' is screaming in response to the voices he hears. A skeletal finger appears before Sartorius, forcing him to scream the name "Blackfire", before the flames inside him explode.

Issue #3 begins with Stephanie Brown's mother upset that her daughter is out this late in Gotham. Stephanie was back at her father’s place to collect her tablet. Unfortunately, she interrupts a meeting with his super-villain friends and is knocked unconscious. Arthur Brown is told by one of the men there that he needs to kill his daughter and he finds that easy to do as he really doesn’t care for his daughter. Stephanie reaches up, pulls the pin on one of his gas-grenades and makes her escape. She calls her mother to let her know about a secret that her father is willing to kill her for. At the Iceberg Casino, Batman interrupts The Penguin who is torturing one of his croupiers, demanding to know where he can find Carmine Falcone. The Penguin replies that Falcone isn’t in Gotham and Batman gives him the chance to find out if he has returned to Gotham. Secretly, he plans to go to war with Falcone. At Gotham City Hall, Forbes meets with Mayor Hady and Carmine Falcone, telling him he is glad the Roman is back in Gotham and promising to have his officers look the other way so Falcone can take back the empire he once had. Batman finds out that fires are breaking out all over Gotham and it seems Falcone’s making his move tonight. Captain Sawyer orders GPCD to suit up for gang war, but Forbes cancels her order. She challenges the order, but is interrupted by the Mayor. He declares Forbes to be the Interim Commissioner and says that the gang war is not their first order of business. The first order of business is war with Batman.

Issue #4 begins with Batgirl having problems believing her father is guilty of what he has been accused of, including the death of one hundred and sixty-two civilians. Denied bail, he is remanded to serve time in Blackgate Penitentiary. Warden Agatha Zorbatos, a woman Gordon removed from the force, greets him and leads him to his cell, making sure to parade him by many of the inmates he was responsible for jailing. Meanwhile, Stephanie Brown tells her mother that the police are in on whatever it is her father’s gang is planning. She gives her mother her address and hangs up, at which point mom calls her ex-husband and tells him where she is. At GCPD Headquarters, Forbes meets with Lt. Bard, who informs Forbes that his men found some of Professor Pyg's men, apparently captured by Batman. He begs permission to assemble a strike force to be ready to stop the forthcoming gang war and is denied. Batman breaks into the Falcone penthouse, accusing him of setting up Jim Gordon, which he denies. Returning to the Batcave, he finds Barbara working on the case. She has discovered that a Brazilian soap opera star with suspected ties to drug cartels spent thrtee hours waiting around and never boarded a train. As far as she is concerned, Gonzolo Dominguez is to blame for causing the train collision.

This is an AWFUL lot to read in four weeks and an awful lot to digest and write a synopsis for. Welcome to DC’s latest experiment: the weekly. This is either going to be a huge success or a major flop as you have added the monetary equivalent of four new monthlies to your stack.
Between these four issues, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman and Tim Seeley all put their writing input in while Dustin Hguyen and Jason Fabok handle the art chores. One thing that is certain, with stories flying all over the then and now of the New 52, this definitely takes place in current continuity. In one scene in one of the issues, there are notations on a white board in Police headquarters. On it are references to Charise Carnes, Cherry Hill, Icarus, Elena Aguila, Wolf Spider, and the deaths of Dick Grayson and Nightwing. Again, this is an awful lot to swallow in a month and DC will be putting more slow moving titles on the chopping block to support at least one more weekly. Strap in folks: it will be a wild ride.

BATWOMAN #30: The inmates of Arkham are attacking Batwoman while Wolf Spider escapes. Defeating most of the villains, she continues after Wolf Spider, catching up with him on the roof. He pops out a set of wings and flies off, but not before she can attach a tracker to him. She follows him to the Kane Estate where he is stealing the Eisenstadt painting, cornering him and asking what the importance of these paintings are, but is shot in the back by Mr. Grantham before he can answer. She plays plays dead until they leave. Later, she and Bette look at the paintings and, rearranging the pieces, learn the secret is in a location it reveals. Meanwhile, Maggie Sawyer is served a subpoena. Her ex-husband Jay is suing for sole custody of their daughter.

Marc Andreyko continues to try and mold this great character into something of his own, taking threads from previous creative teams and weaving them into his own. Jeremy Haun provides the art this time around and it serves it’s purpose. What I love with this book is the subplot layers throughout. With the main story being the Wolf Spider art thefts, the sub plot involving Maggie Sawyer and her relationship both with Batwoman and her own child runs with it and provides a nice escape from the main action. I’m still loving this book despite the editorial changes that caused the creators to exist in a huff.

BATWOMAN ANNUAL #1: Batwoman batlles Batman, as she has been ordered by Director Bones to discover his identity. But Batman defeats her easily and sets off explosives on his Utility Belt, causing the yacht they are on to sink. Kate tries to swim away, but Batman stops her and tries to convince her to help him stop. She knocks him out with a stray board and takes him back to her base. She explains that Bones has her sister and, as Jake arrives, Batman agrees to help with a plan to free Kate’s sister. Meanwhile, at GCPD Headquarters, Agent Chase has declared martial law on Gotham and has put Maggie and Bullock into cells to keep them from interfering. But Bullock fakes a heart-attack, allowing Maggie to escape. Chase rendezvous with Bones and Agent Asaf warns them that the preisdent himself is now monitoring the DEO. Kate takes Batman to the Gotham Ironworks Factory, Kate meets with Bones and demands he release her sister and her friends. Bones unmasks Batman and finds Jake Kane under the cowl. The real Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl arrive at his side. Bones has his own men to defend him, and as they rush in, Agent Chase warns Batwoman that she didn't want any of this. Kate's response is unmerciful. After kicking Chase in the face, she rushes to Beth and unties her. Before she can get to Bette, though, a DEO agent does. Bones orders his agents to kill everybody, but agent Asaf, knowing the Bones had gone rogue, shoots him in the head. When all is done, a congressional hearing is held to determine whether the DEO should be dissolved. Agent Asaf explains that Bones should never have been put in charge. Bones had thought that Colonel Kane was his father and planned to blackmail Batwoman. Asaf explains he plans to lead the DEO. Kate’s father and sister head off to her grandfather's private island, hoping he can find beth inside of Alice. Bones ends up in jail, having suffered severe brain trauma. Agent Chase quits the -DEO and become a private eye as a civilian. The tale ends with Batwoman and Batman going on patrol together.

So, if this all seems like you have been exposed to part of this before-you have. This story continues from BATWOMAN #24. Only Marc Andreyko and Trevor McCarthy had to step in an finish it after creative differences arose between the creative team and DC Editorial. So, this story is six month away from where it SHOULD have ended and, unless you have a strong memory, you really don’t care or remember where things were in relationship to relationships. This also acts to explain where Jake and “Alice” have gone for the last six months. It would be interesting to see how this would have played out if  the powers that be, the powers who pushed the concept of  their books representing their readership, hadn’t backed away from the marriage of Maggie and Kate. All in all, it was a decent ending to a story that Andreyko didn’t begin.

BIRDS OF PREY #30: The Birds are battling the League of Assassins while they attempt to protect Mother Eve. Black Canary has cut a deal with Ra’s, but she is the last line of defense between Mother Eve and the League. Condor has also cut a deal, as he wants to have Kurt Lance killed during the attack. But he has a change of heart and heads down to the infirmary to protect him. Ra’s arrives outside of Mother Eve’s chamber and lets him know she has changed her mind. One of his assassins attempts to strangle her, but she gets free and Strix comes to her aim. Dinah catches up with Ra’s and lets loose her canary Cry, as she is in a room which amplifies her cry, bringing Ra’s to his knees. Mother Eve steps out of her safe room-a 10 year old Mother Eve. Ra’s and his men leave, as his plan has failed. As it turns out, the fluid Ra’s was going to give Dinah for Kurt was actually cyanide. Hours later, Mother Eve and the Birds go their separate ways.

So, after all of this, we discover that Ra’s cannot be trusted and that Mother Eve is now ten years old? Really!? That is what this whole thing boiled down to? Well, this book is certainly NOT the book it used to be in the Pre NEW 52 . Of course, it doesn’t have the killer creative team it had before the reboot! Christy Marx and Robson Rocha do their best to give us an exciting diversified team but what we get is a bad romance tale with some action here and there. What that means is they have three more issues to wrap it all up as this title, another one of the original 52, bites the dust with issue #34. Do you realize that only 21 of the original 52 are left on the shelves?

CATWOMAN #30: Catwoman decides she has had enough of being Catwoman, so she burns her suit in an effort to change her luck and her life. While working out at the local gym., she spies Trip Winter and it brings back old memories. She later discovers that an invitation in the form of a puzzle box has been slipped into her purse by him. Inside, she finds a USB drive and a bag full of teeth. She goes to work at GCPD Headquarters, when she takes a suicide hotline call from someone she recognizes as her friend Gwen and rushes off to check on her. What she finds is that Gwen has shot up her apartment. As they talk, they end up working on the puzzle box together where they find a video file featuring Roulette on the USB drive. Roulette issues a challenge to all other thieves to enter the Race of Thieves and prove they are better thieves than she is. The teeth belong to children held hostage by him. Using a cat-suit Gwen saved for her, Catwoman steals some dental records from Foundling Hospital and then heads over to Tesla's workshop, where it is revealed that the masquerade party site is on Gotham Beach. Roulette and Trip arrive with Hunt Stone, who is putting up the prize money to save his child. They will have three tasks: a heist at the Monte Carlo Casino is one of the first tasks. As the race begins, Catwoman finds herself lost in the Mirror World. I guess Mirror Master has gone back to the “Dark Side”.

Man, this just feels like a bad SPEED RACER episode! It’s the “Great Race of the Greatest Thieves” episode. This means, we will get two or three issues of this drek with no true movement forward in the pother story lines, like Ricky suing Jim Gordon. It WAS nice to see the team come back together in the form of Alice and Gwen. Maybe they can all be the new Birds of Prey, since the old one is soon to be in the history books. Ann Nocenti and Pat Oliffe give us a truly lackluster issue underneath an always awesome cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson. Now if only the guts was as awesome as the skin. Or, as they say, you really CAN’T tell a book by its’ cover.

CONSTANTINE #13: We begin the issue in Moscow, where Constantine is visiting a mind controlling Russian known as Spellbinder. Constantine has come to warn him that the Cult of the Cold Flame is interested in him. But Spellbinder thinks there is another reason for John’s visit and enters his mind where he sees Nick Necro and Billy Batson warning John not to underestimate Spellbinder. Waking up, he finds that he has aged. He sees a message written in blood that says: "There's something in your head." Spellbinder continues to attack John, hitting him with angry images of Zatanna before going back to the point where Papa Midnite brought him back to life. John lets loose every childhood memory and overloads Spellbinder. Meanwhile, Papa Midnite is summoned before Tannarak and Sargon and tries to cut a deal. He insists that in exchange for Constantine's plans, the cult must stay out of Manhattan.

John Constantine needs to grow a set back and stop being this miserable, lovesick guy I the trench coat. I can’t blame Ray Fawkes or Aco for that. This is DC Editorial’s idea, I guess, of getting him ready to television in the Fall and making everyone forget that HORRIBLE Keanu Reeves movie. Go out, deal with the bad guys, move on, and move back to being a bad-ass, back-stabbing wizard. You’re not Harry Potter!

DETECTIVE COMICS #30: A new drug called Icarus has taken over the streets of Gotham City’s Chinatown and Batmna is trying to keep it off the streets. Later, Bruce Wayne attends a business meeting with Elena Aguila who is showing off her daughter Annie: a motorcross champion. Her business plan is to have Bruce help her revitalize the worst areas of Gotham with medical clinics and drug treatment facilities. The news of this upsets Congressman Sam Young and some other supporters of the waterfront development and they plan to use the contents of a certain suspicious briefcase to gain an advantage. Meanwhile, on the waterfront, a drug runner named Jonny is reunited with his brother, the Squid who makes him watch as someone who stole from the Squid get torn apart by a giant squid. Back at the Batcave, while drinking his tea, the sounds of a woman screaming sends Bruce upstairs to find Elena Aguila, burning up from the inside.

Francia Manapul and Brian Buccellato, who made their names by being responsible for what was a critically acclaimed run on THE FLASH, are turning their talents onto The Dark knight. And, if this issue is any indication, their run on this will be legendary. Now the art is a bit quirky, but that’s the style. Readers of THE FLASH soon grew accustomed to it and you will to. This one issue has dropped so many subplots into place that we will be busy sorting them out for months. Add this to your must read list, if you do not currently read it. This is the making of a beautiful relationship.

EARTH 2 #22: This issue begins Alan Scott is beaten to death by Superman. But now he has been reborn, rising up through the bones of the dead. In the Batcave, the remaining heroes plan and Red Tornado takes Val-El outside and teaches him to fly. But, in the middle of their lesson, Superman and the Paradeamons attack. He beats down Val-El and, just before he is about to deliver the killing blow, Red tornado tells him she is really Lois, his wife.

The current era of EARTH 2 rolls on with Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott paving some killer road! As I have said before, James Robinson seemed to be running out of steam on this book and his last few issues were a bit on the boring and unorganized side. But, ever since Taylor jumped on board, there has been great new life on the book. And the introduction of NEW 52 versions of Jimmy Olsen, Red Tornado and  Red Arrow has given it a nice nostalgic feel. I love how this book reads, what it looks like, and the way it all comes together for me. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

FLASH #30: We are five years in the future as The Flash watches as Iris West loaded into the back of an ambulance. Darryl Frye tells him that they need to identify the kid who was killed in the car crash-a crash that would have been prevented I The Flash had arrived in time. In the here and now, Barry is sleeping at his desk at central City Police Headquarters when he is woken up by his girlfriend Patty. She reminds him he needs to take his psychological assessment to get him back in the crime lab again. Barry visits Dr. Rebecca Janus and they discuss his feelings of failure, even as he jets out mid-way through her conversation to help people as the Flash. Upon his return, she reminds him that it is important he remember that he was a survivor and he needs to work past his grief. We flash forward to twenty years from now. Barry has lost so much and allowed too many to die. Fifteen years ago, he let Wally West be killed in a car accident. He plans on fixing that.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you probably realize I have not been a follower of this title and have only published a handful of individual issue reviews. But now we have a brand new creative team in the form of Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth (the previous team is now on DETECTIVE COMICS). So, I felt it was only fair to give it a shot. And, from first looks, this could be a winner. Venditti and Booth have managed to drop in a whole bunch of potential plots for now and future use. And, if you HAVE read this blog before, you know I am a huge fan of the work of Brett Booth. So, put that all together and…WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!! Add this to your pull list. This title is poised to take off like GREEN ARROW did with its’ creative team change

FLASH ANNUAL #3: Barry Allen has been cleared to go back to work in the CCPD crime lab and tries to share a quick coffee with Patty Spivot. She has a craving for a Guatemalan fruit called níspero. So Barry heads down South, grabs the fruit but comes back to find his coffee cold and Dir. Singh upset that Barry is late. He hands Barry an easy case that involves an escaped Iron heights prisoner named Ernest Flake. Leaving the station, Barry sees Iris Allen who is here to bail out her nephew Wally West. She explains that Wally’s mother disappeared when the Crime Syndicate attacked. Flashing twenty years in the future and we see that Wally is dead, and Iris has a serious spine injury from the result of a car crash. At Wally’s graveside, Iris tells him it is time to move on and stop blaming himself. He surprises her by finally admits that he is Barry Allen and he loved Wally like his son. He also tells her he can fix this. Back in the present, Barry visits Flake in Iron Heights who insists he is innocent, even though the way Walter Hill was killed could have been by a weapon he used when he was "Mogul". But Barry is taking a DNA sample anyway to try and prove Flake’s innocence. Back at the station, David Singh warms Barry that he’ll find himself back in the records room if he doesn’t start closing cases. Barry gets word of a break-in at the Dearbon Gallery and he races to the scene. The thieves hit him with a weapon whose ultrasonic vibrations wreck his speed ability. He is able to save the paintings they throw at him and eventually defeats them, even after they were willing to sacrifice one of their own to get away.

Flashing forward twenty years, Grodd and Barry meet in Gorilla City. He mocks Barry and brags about how he used the Speed Force to go to the 25th Century, kill Eobard Thawne and eat his brain, thus gaining his knowledge. Barry admits the Speed Force is broken and that was caused by Daniel West’s attempt to travel through time. Barry challenges Grodd to a battle to the death. Grodd proves to be the stronger of the two. But Barry plants a micro-bomb into Grodd’s ear, causing the gorilla’s head to explode. Now Barry plans on running back in time and killing himself to keep all of this from happening again.

This new team of Robert Venditti and Van Jensen immediately pick up where the previous team left off and launches a whole new storyline that shows a potential darker side to the fastest man alive. Goodness me: a battle to the death with Grodd and you dispatch him by putting a micro explosive in his ear and blowing his head off? Wow: that is some serious hardcore heroeing! Plus we get the typically nice art of veteran illustrator Ron Frenz and this reboot of sorts is off and running. I cannot wait to see what Venditti and Jensen have in store from here on out.

FOREVER EVIL #7: To keep the bomb that was going to go off last issue, Lex Luthor stopped Dick Grayson's heart by using a cardioplegia pill that paralyzes the muscles around the heart. Luthor injects him with adrenaline, bringing him back to life. Cyborg arrives, having beaten Grid, They head off to free the rest of the team from the Firestorm matrix while Lex, who steals Batman’s Kryptonite Ring, and Bizarro remain behind to battle the Crime Syndicate. Meanwhile, Deathstorm warns Ultraman that Alexander Luthor, who has called down the lightning of Mazahs, will be utilizing the powers of those slain Syndicate members. Superwoman arrives with Mazahs, who she reveals is the father of her unborn child. Superwoman captures Deathstorm in her Lasso of Submission and Mazahs kills him, gaining his powers. Mazahs turns his attention to Luthor, who discovers that this is Alexander Luthor from another world. Mazahs kills Bizarro and takes his powers, filling Luthor with genuine grief. Lex decides to reset Black Adam’s jaw so he can call down the lightning, changing Mazahs back to his human form. Sinestro uses his ring to thrust the lightning rod Lex got from Batman into Mazahs' chest. Adam shouts the word, striking Superwoman before hitting Mazahs. As he attempts to kill Lex, Luthor shouts the word and, covering his other-worldly twons’ mouth, shoves a blade into his chest, killing him. Sinestro and Black Adam and Sinestro disable the solar eclipse, causing the sun to burn Ultraman. Despite begging to be killed, Lex lets him remain alive as the weakest man on the planet. With that, he crushes Atomica under his boot. Meanwhile, Cyborg explains how he defeated Grid and how they need to use the Lasso of Truth to free the rest of the League. Owlman arrives, claiming he has come for Nightwing and to help the heroes. The Gotham he knew is gone and so is Alfred. All he has left is Dick Grayson. Batman uses the lasso to connect with Wonder Woman and pulls out of their prison. But Superman is dying from the sliver of Kryptonite implanted in his brain. Lex and the others arrive and Lex saves Superman’s life regains consciousness, the first face he sees is Lex Luthor's, smiling and admitting that he just saved his life.

The following day, it is decided that the villains who helped save the world would have their records wiped clean. Dick Grayson decides to no longer hide anymore and Batman assigns him a new, dangerous mission. Lex meets with a young Ted Kord and encourages him to run his late father’s company. Nice, considering Lex killed his father. Lex also learns that it will take five years to rebuild the B-0 project. He has also learned that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Oh yeah: there’s a NEW Anti Monitor.

And with that, and after a bit of a delay, Geoff Johns and David Finch conclude this game-changing epic. Game changing? Yep! We have seen Lex Luthor become a hero, which will lead to him becoming a member of the Justice League. Dick Grayson, who has been a superhero for most of his life, now has to change his style and become something else. And Bruce Wayne? Well, Lex Luthor is no dummy and he knows that Batman and Bruce are the same. That knowledge in itself is a very dangerous thing for the New 52 Universe. And let’s not forget that the last page introduces us to a NEW Anti-Monitor. Could that mean a new crisis down the road and another reboot? Now, I will admit that the numerous crossovers and spin-off titles were a bit much, but this one hit it out of the park!

FOREVER EVIL AFTERMATH-BATMAN VS. BANE #1: Following the war between the prisoners of Blackgate Penitentiary and the inmates of Arkham Asylum, Gotham City is a disaster area. Finally, the power has come back on and  it just shows how much worse the city is now that it is illuminated. It is filled with sick and starving people who must rely on the Black Market to get food and medical supplies. But Bane is here and tells the people that they have the power if they want to take it. He meets with William Cobb, who warns that this reign may not last forever, although Talons have captured the Scarecrow. They soon find themselves in a block of ice and the Scarecrowis freed by a pair of Batarangs. That night, Batman arrives at Wayne Tower and declares the war for Gotham City has begun. Claiming that he was only protecting the city when no one was there to do it, Bane attacks Batman in a battle the rages across what is left of Gotham City. Eventually, Batman renders Bane unconscious. The next day, Bruce Wayne promises to make funds available to get Arkham Asylum up and running properly again. Meanwhile, their newest prisoner is kept here until the venom leaves his system.

Peter J. Tomasi and Scot Eaton ring the Battle of Gotham to a conclusion with this very satisfying epilogue to the entire FOREVER EVIL story. Bane is behind bars, Batman is back and town and the rebuilding begins. Poor Gotham City: when you take into account this disaster and those that came before the NEW 52, as we know parts of continuity still exist from the old DCU, Gotham gets wasted almost as much as Tokyo in any Japanese monster film. Anyway, kudos to Tomasi for writing a great ending and allowing us all to move on.

GREEN ARROW #30: Outside of the Cathedral in Prague, Green Arrow is trying to calculate how to get in and attack Komodo without hurting his half-sister Emiko. That is when he discovers his father and Shado, who insist on helping Oliver, followed him The trio burst in to find the corpses of Oliver Queen and Golgotha. The corpse of Oliver rips the arrow from his brian and begins to speak, revealing himself to be Magus in disguise. Onyx orders the loyal clans to kill all of them. Magus calls on the Axe and Sword clans, the latter of which is lead by Katana, to offer support. Komodo escapes with Emiko as Oliver and Robert pursue and Katana chases after Onyx. Oliver and Robert argue, as Robert insists what he had done caused Oliver to become the man he is today. Oliver claims that his mother, who was dying of cancer while his father was gone, taught him love while Robert taught him how to hate. Komodo shoots Shado’s in the arm and her screams bring Oliver and Robert. Emiko begs Komodo not to hurt Shado. He responds that he will kill her, just to keep her away from the Queens. Oliver fires his arrow as Komodo fires his. Oliver's shot hits Komodo in the shoulder while Komodo's arrow pierces Robert’s heart as he was trying to save his daughter. Back in Seattle, Count Vertigo receives a prison visit from Richard Dragon who has come to set Vertigo free. He claims to run Seattle now and insists Vertigo join him in the new order.

If you don’t think this book gets the award for most improvised DC title in the last twelve months then you are NOT reading this title. The Era of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, in it’s own way, stands with Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams run on GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW and has some of the best writing since Kevin Smith worked on the book so long ago now. This is a must read title, even though this Oliver Queen is nothing like his old DCU predecessor. He is equal parts Ollie and Connor Hawke, but is no clone of either. It’s a great read and looks fantastic and you truly need to be reading this book..

GREEN LANTERN #30: Hal and the remaining Lanterns have a funeral for their departed friend Kyle Rayner. Then Hal, Killowog and some others head to Port Bay, where the Lanterns and some Khunds get into a disagreement. This leads, after a customary evening of drinking, to a battle to the death between Bakka Khu and Hal, which Hal wins. Trying to help the wounded Khu, one of the other Khunds slays him and takes him armaments. Meanwhile, back on Mogo, Mukmuk finds the Durlan spy and executes him, later telling Warden Voz that he had transformed into a Caltoosian Sea Draon and forcing him to kill him.

Robert Venditti gives us another so-so issue. I am SO TIRED of Hal being the dedicated Corps man who spends too much time puffin up his chest and then letting his emotions carry him away. Hal Jordan has always been a character with a conscience, but this Hal is just too ineffective to lead a fine organization like the Green Lantern Corps. The art by Martin Coccolo is fine, but the cover by Billy Tan is the best part of this book. Venditti needs to find a comfortable direction with this book or it’ll be leaving my stack quickly.

HARLEY QUINN #5: Harley agrees to help Sy Borgman kill the Russian agents who made him into a cyborg. In exchange, he will help her with the bounty on her head. That night, she studies Sy’s file and suffers a bizarre, chili dog induced dream. The following day, she and Sy begin their hunt.Their first target, Igor Lenivetskin,  is in a coma. Harley takes one of the tubes keeping Igor alive and blows into so hard that his head explodes. Their next target is Ivana Brekemoff, who fires an RPG at them as Sy and Harley try to break into her home. Harley eventually gets her in a headlock but the old woman blows up her house with everyone inside.

Well, this issue was another wild ride from the creative team of Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmitotti and Chad Hardin. I never thought I would see the day where I could read a comic and have someone get the head blown up by someone blowing into a medical tube.Oh wait: Ivana Brekemoff...I want to break them off? SERIOUSLY! The book is like Harley herself: totally out of its’ mind! Do not expect major plot exposition and earth shaking developments that will have an effect on the NEW 52 Universe. DO expect a fun, crazy time with some of the sharpest humor in comics today. Oh yeah: a great, sexy cover by Anamda Conner never hurts!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #30: The world now knows that Lex Luthor helped save the world from the Crime Syndicate. LexCorp stock has skyrocketed and Lucious Fox suggests that Wayne Enterprises partner with Lex's company. Lex shifts blame away from the Justice League but Niles Caulder and his Doom Patrol don’t believe it. In Central City, Captain Cold meets with his parole officer and we learn that Lex is interested in having him with him as he plans ahead. The Justice League continues to search for the remnants of the Secret Society even as Luthor sends Batman an invitation to board a satellite. Teleporting there, the League meets Lex Luthor who greets them with champagne. He claims he is a changed man and that qualifies him for membership in the League. Under the influence of Wonder Woman’s lasso, he explains that he has been making this the new Justice League Satellite. And he knows that whatever destroyed Earth 3 is still a threat to this Earth and the Ring of Volthoom is still out there too. Superman refuses to work with him and Luthor leaves, but not before he gives the control codes to the satellite to Cyborg. Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon Sara Cruz tries to get inside her sister’s house. But Jessica can’t answer because the Ring of Volthoom has chosen her to destroy Earth. Later, Alfred answers the door at Wayne Manor and Luthor demands to see Batman.

Okay: we all knew that Dick Grayson’s identity reveal would be an issue. Well, it has now come home to Bruce Wayne’s doorstep. So, here is my guess on how this story will go. Lex blackmails Bruce to let him into the League, bring Captain Cold with him, and his secret will remain safe. Another brilliantly conceived and executed issue by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke that comes off of the successful FOREVER EVIL storyline. It will be interesting to see how all this unveils in the coming months and just what Luthor’s true intentions are. Let’s be honest: Lex Luthor as a good guy is as silly as The Joker being dead.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #30: Constantine has quit Justice League Dark and finds himself getting drunk in a bar. A waitress comes over and flirts with him. In actuality, the woman is possessed by Deadman, whose is still angry about being trapped in the corpse of Sea King and tells Constantine so. Deadman returns to the House of Mystery, where Zatanna is trying to forget John Constantine and tries to ignore Nightmare Nurse, who seems to desperately be a part of the new team. Meanwhile, Deadman tries to convince Frankenstein and Black Orchid to stay, but they have had enough after the incident at Nanda Parbat and depart. The doorbell rings and Deadman finds Constantine there, drunk and demanding to see Zatanna. When he is turned away, he casts spells on Frankenstein and Black Orchid. Zatanna arrives and he begs for five minutes to explain his actions; claiming he left because he was tired of one hopeless situation after another. With that he kisses her on the cheek and departs, leaving a team made up of Zatanna, Deadman, and the Nightmare Nurse. Zatanna summons Swamp Thing who demands to be sent back after being summoned with his permission. Suddenly Nightmare Nurse bursts into flame and transforms into Alice Winter.

Confused? Yeah…me too! Nightmare Nurse spontaneously combusts and turns into someone named Alice Winter. And should we be canceling this book considering no one is left in it? Hey-how cold is John Constantine to mess with Black orchid’s mind in such a way that she has no idea who she really is? J. M. DeMatteis writes a great story with some nice twists and Andres Guinaldo provides some cool looking artwork. All this under a cover by Mikel Janin. Good stuff, even if it is kind of confusing.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #14: Stargirl tells Steve Trevor about her being imprisoned in the Firestorm Matrix, while he explains how Lex Luthor saved Superman's life while the rest of the Justice League’s defeated the Crime Syndicate. She also learns that the JLA are considered to be as bad as the villains they allege to protect the world from and the government wants to break the team up. Most of the members have been changed by the experience including Catwoman and Simon Baz. Green Arrow wants to keep the JLA together and begins looking for new members, starting with Hawkman. He then meets with Katana, who refuses. Meanwhile, .Martian Manhunter, is searching for Courtney, who is being kept at a safehouse. Amanda Waller turns him that she has been removed from her role at A.R.G.U.S., but tells him Courtney is with Steve, where she is actually interrogating him while he thinks he is interrogating her. Steve tells Courtney he would like to put the team back together but he and Amanda have been stripped of their power and America doesn't want them. She meets Martian Manhunter, telling him that Waller has put her in charge and wants his help. Heading north, she realizes this team was more family than anything else.

And thus, Matt Kindt, Eddy Barrows, Tom Derenick, and Diogenes Neves brings this version of the JLA to an end. But fear not, because the team now morphs into…

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #0: Animal Man and Stargirl doing a meet and greet at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where they meet an anthropologist from the University of Toronto named Dr. Adam Strange. He tells a tale of how he and student Alanna Lewis were on a dig in Northern Ontario two weeks ago when a beam of light came down from the sky and made Alanna disappear. He shows them an unusually shaped skull and suddenly Stargirl, Animal Man, and Dr. Strange are teleported away. Strange leads them to a dig site in Moosonee. Buddy finds a mass grave, full of more bones of a similar shape to those Adam had already found. A group of armed aliens arrive, surround them, and shoot Courtney down. Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter joins the trio and help defeat the aliens and then discover an alien base beneath them. The scientists’ there teleport away, back to the moon of Thalsalla and report their findings to Lord Byth Rok. He tells them to proceed with their plans and lets their jailer Lobo know that they plan on disposing of their prisoners, including Alanna Lewis and Hawkman. Meanwhile, a strange man transforms into a strange creature and orders Miiyahbin Marten to say a special word. She shouts "Keewatin" and transforms into Equinox. He leaves, claiming she cannot run from herself.

So the new era of what was once described as JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA begins here. Acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire and veteran artist Mike McKone gives us a new team for a post FOREVER EVIL world. The United States government has broken them up, so Stargirl forms a new team north of the border with some unlikely choices. As we can see, Adam Strange is just a doctor who will hopefully become the hero we know. Actually, unless they can find a way to make Alanna and Adam come from Raan that will NOT be the pair we know and love. I also noticed that Allanna has changed her ethnicity. This must continue to be part of DC’s way to reflect their readership through diversity. The first issue was fun and I am such a huge fan of Lemire’s work, so I look forward to the story unrolling in future issues.
 
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #5: So Terry has resurrected Firestorm and The Flash(again) while the rest of the Batman and Ariel are running for their lives on the Prison Planet Takron-Galtos as The Convert has possessed all the prisoners. Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman are fighting with the Goddess Kali, who asks Wonder Woman to join The Five. The tables appear to start to turn when the prisoners begin dying, as Kali sucks the life force out of them to feed herself. As it looks like Batman and Ariel are about to meet their fate, the newly reborn Flash arrives to save them. With Firestorm’s arrival, Ariel is horrified as weaving two strands of DNA together led to an unstable matrix that the Wonder Twins were supposed to destroy. With The Flash bringing the whole team together, they find that the Coeval has possessed their Transversal, which means they have no way to get home.

All I know is this titles continues to be one of the weirdest and wildest in the New 52, especially because there is know way to know how much of this is “real” or will be changed by events in the present day universe. Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis write these characters which such energy that it is hard not to like them, especially once they found out they are not our heroes but just their DNA. Although the cover says Howard Porter, the interiors are by “guest artists” Raymund Bermudez and Wayne Faucher. I am alright with that, although everyone looks a little more square than usual. In the end, this book continues to throw curveballs at the reader and I hope it gains a fan following. I would really not want to see it end up like so many other unusual titles in the NEW 52 that just didn’t garner a readership.