More new #1's from a host of places

Some miscellaneous new titles:

AMERICAN MONSTER #1: First off, it should be noted that Aftershock Comics is a new kid on the block that has been making some serious waves with talent such as Garth Ennis, Marguerite Bennett, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Paul Jenkins. Add to that list Brian Azzarello who, along with artist Juan Doe brings us AMERICAN MONSTER. It’s a gritty tale filled with a kidnapping, two murders, some crazy teens and a scarred military veteran. It is a dark tale with twists and turns and a mystery or two…and that is just the first issue. If you were a fan of 100 BULLETS, then this series is for you.

CRY HAVOC #1: When you have a book that touts a main character who is a lesbian, that is nothing new in the world of comics. A lesbian in the military? That’s a little different. A lesbian in the military who is a werewolf? Now you’ve got my attention. Simon Spurrier writes a compelling little tale with dynamic art from Ryan Kelly. This is a great first issue for this new Image series and I look forward to seeing where Spurrier and Kelly go from here.

DKIII: THE MASTER RACE #1: This may well be one of the most anticipated titles of the year and if it could stay on schedule, that would be the case. Andy Kubert handles the art chores while Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello have written this sequel to 2001’s THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, although Miller has publicly stated that most of this book is Azzarello’s doing. It’s three years after the events in that book and it seems that Carrie Kelly is the NEW Batman, as she declares that Bruce Wayne is dead. The book features appearances from Wonder Woman, her daughter Lara, and a frozen Superman. In addition, there is a 12 pages mini-comic bound into the book featuring The Atom. Written by Azzarello and Miller, with pencils by Miller and inks by Klaus Jansen, the advance art for this sent shock-waves through fandom as the proportions on the figures seemed a bit…off! Is it as good as the previous efforts? Not really. Does it have potential? Sure…sure, let’s see where this goes.

LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS SURVIVING MEGALOPOLIS #1: Megalopolis, protected by a host of superheroes, used to be the safest city on the planet. But that was then, as a noxious cloud has turned the heroes into murderous maniacs. The city has been quarantined, but a bunch of the residents have managed to escape. Now those freed residents are trying to make their way back into the city and fix things. This is a sequel to the previous mini-series that set up the “heel turn” by the heroes. Gail Simone cuts loose with an awesome, action packed script and Jim Calafiore turns in another great performance on the art. Seek out the original series, although it’s not essential, as there is enough material that discusses that series. This is a fun ride and a great riff on the dangers of super powers.

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #0: Leave it to Boom Studios to once again tap into pop culture for a comic series. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ADVENTURE TIME are among the series currently being pumped out by Boom and now they dive into the legendary hit sensation that still packs in crowds at Cons all over the world. This book, which came out with seven different covers (the 1:100 copy White Ranger fetches upwards of several hundred dollars). The book features three stories by a variety of talents including Kyle Higgins, Hendry Prasetya, Steve Orlando, Corin Howell, Mairghread Scott, Daniel Scott and others. If this is your bag, dive in. It won’t make you a fan if you’re not one already. It’s a nice little love letter to a legendary franchise.

RINGSIDE #1: Here is a book that is set in the world of professional wrestling but it’s not about wrestling per se. There are no less than a half dozen characters introduced, premier among them is Don Knoussos, who was once known as the Minotaur. Don’t expect to see ring battles or bloody action. This is a story about people who happen to be connected to the wrestling world. Joe Keatinge  has written a truly character driven story that relies on great dialogue to push the story along. Nick barber’s art is minimalist at best and that seems to be the style in many of today’s books. Is it a great book? Well, it’s a very intriguing tale that moves slowly and delicately to bring us the nuances of all the players. This is truly a book with potential.

THE SHERIFF OF BABYLON #1: Set in Baghdad 10 months after the Fall of Baghdad, this is an eight-issue, highly charged, rather dark tale written by Tom King, who was there. The story follows Christopher, who is training Iraqi citizens to become police officers, along with Sofia and Nassir. At any given time, any one of these people can be responsible for lighting the fuse to a powder keg. Mitch Gerards handles the art and it is so moody and fits perfectly with this tale. This is not a bang up action tale, so if you think this is going to be a 21st Sgt. Rock styled tale, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a Vertigo tale

UNFOLLOW #1: In the blink of an eye, or actually a single keystroke, a dying billionaire decides that he’s going to share the wealth between 140 random people. So social media mogul Larry Ferrell sends his $17 billion fortune to those 140, which works out to be $120 million apiece. You also have to know that some folks need to have more than that, so expect to see people dropping like flies, as happens in the first few pages. Now you have less than 140 and more money in your pocket. This is a brilliant little Vertigo book from Rob Williams and Mike Dowling that plays with the concepts of fame and popularity and how much is your life worth.

DC YOU Month 8, Part 2

MARTIAN MANHUNTER #8: Martian Manhunter has been reborn and so has Mars. Now it’s on a collision course with Earth. Alicia, who has lived on Mars for the past twenty years, has locked up Agent Wessel. She was consumed by the Martian Man-Eater and transported there along with everyone who was on Wessel’s plane. We learn that Alicia has grown up fighting Ma'alefa'ak, and that J'onn J'onzz was created by the Martian Elders to be a great Martian weapon. Ma'alefa'ak launches an attack on the Martian Manhunter with a giant robot, leading to Alicia and her forces bringing in a entering the battle with their own giant robot.

This is not the easiest book to understand but it is worth it! Rob Williams has written an amazing story with all sorts of confusing elements. How did Mars and Earth exist in a parallel space during the last twenty years? Why did it take Martian Manhunter so long to get himself together? Eddy Barrows is back on art and the book just pops! Again, it’s a puzzling tale that Williams is giving us, but possibly one of the best reads in the DC line.

MIDNIGHTER #8: Midnighter is being interviewed for a documentary when Asset 1907 informs him of an incident in downtown Rochester involving a giant leopard/elephant creature. He transports there to subdue the creature when Dominic Mndawe, the Freedom Beast, joins him and splits the two creatures apart. He explains that the Sportsman’s Ambition is responsible, which leads the two of them to team up. They take down the hunters and the head guy gets merged with a mosquito and meets his end in the mouth of a bat. In the end, Marina gets out of jail and Midnighter joins Spyral to help retrieve the Perdition Pistol. That means our boy is off to track down the Suicide Squad.

And WHY does this issue work? Because Steve Orlando and guest artist David Messina only spent three pages dealing with Midnighter’s “off the clock” persona. The rest of the issue is action, action and action, even if the merging of man and mosquito was straight out of THE FLY. THIS is what this title needs: kicking ass and taking names!

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #16: Bonnie is looking for Vic Sage and finds him meeting with the recently freed Black Manta. Unfortunately, that means Sage needs to handle this and executes her. Waller, the team and the FBI show up and come inside, even though Sage has released all of the prisoners in Belle Reve. As the FBI and Belle Reve’s guards take on the prisoners, the Squad fights Manta while Waller battles Sage. Manta takes down the Squad and goes after Waller, but Deadshot, even badly injured, takes him out. In the end, the bad guys are taken away and Waller has the Squad locked back up, even though she promised to free them.

Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones bid goodbye to this title to make way for the new team of Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra. Ryan’s story does a great job oif wrapping up months of plotslines while Briones art shines. I have loved what this team has accomplished and look forward to what the new team brings to the table. My hope is that they stick to their guns and NOT cater to the upcoming movie.
 
OMEGA MEN #8: While Kyle Rayner brings the Omega Men to Voorl where he is shown the genocide that was committed by the Citadel. Scrapps was a young child when the Citadel attacked and over 7 billion inhabitants died here. Calista says that they kidnapped Kyle so he can murder the Citadel’s Prime Minister with a Lantern bomb. In the end, Kyle doesn’t know if he can do it, even despite Calista’s pleading.

Wow! This is one of those books that will go down as a classic cult title. Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda continue to weave a story of terrorism. Now it seems like the terrorists are the Citadel. There is a great back-story regarding Scrapps and how she was rescued after surviving the genocide. I have repeatedly said that this is not your father’s OMEGA MEN. It’s better.

POSION IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #1: Dr. Pamela Isley is in Lower Angola, where she and Dr. Nepolo are looking for a plant known as “the Living Fossil”. Finding it, she gets permission from the two-thousand years old plant to relocate it. Local bad guys show up to stop them, but the plant kills them at Ivy’s bidding. Two days later,  she is at work at the Gotham Botanical Gardens, when a field trip from Gotham Academy arrives. Then Dr. Quinzel shows up, leading to she and Ivy going to Bobby’s Biker Bar where they discuss their ongoing relationship before beating up the bikers. After Ivy insults Harley, she splits leaving her to herself. The next day, she discovers that the Living Fossil samples she had there have grown greatly. She rushes downtown to tell Dr. Cruz about it, but she’s dead.

This was far better than I expected it to be thanks to the writing of Amy Chu and the incredible art of Clay Mann. Actually, I think that should be a team effort getting credit as Seth Mann’s inks are there but subtle enough to not be over the top. And Ulises Arreola’s colors are beautiful, giving this book the appearance of being colored with colored pencils. The story is compelling enough to have me coming back again…willingly!

RED HOOD/ARSENAL #8: Back in 1923, Gotham flooded the Nethers to eliminate the less-than-desirable residents there. Today, Jason finds a secret entrance to the Gotham Underground and is attacked by the residents living there. Elsewhere in the Underground, Arsenal is being tortured for information about why Roy is partnered with Joker’s Daughter. She has had her false face removed and is tied up in front of Charon and his lava monsters. Jason convinces the mob to help him find Roy and Duella. But Iron Rule is here and they mean business, although Jason lets them know that he's their worst nightmare.

So we have another fun issue here from Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez, although I am confused why we got this great story about the Nethers only to use it as a means to get Jason in the Underground. Personally, I would like to see more of the ancient history of Gotham…hint, hint, hint. I have become used to having Duella as part of the team, although Jason is not keen about it. If the book gets renamed as part of the June REBIRTH, maybe we can just give Jason his own book and let this be the Roy and Duella show.

ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #8: In this flashback issue, Damian tells Alfred how he and Maya returned the Spear of Bing Lei to it’s proper owners.

This was, quite simply, a fill-in issue by Ray Fawkes and Ramon Bachs that does a nice job of filling in the details of a past mission. Nothing to write home about, but a nice issue none the less.

SECRET SIX #10: The Secret Six are at the point where they are ready to grab the last two alabaster pillars when Superman shows up to stop them. Meanwhile, Black Alice tells Scandal Savage to kill her to save the universe and Savage does. Unfortunately, Alice isn’t Alice anymore. In fact, Alice was never Alice, as Lori died in the car crash that killed her parents. At the time of death, she prayed to pagan gods and demons and they answered her. Alice heads off to the Secret Six and thanks Ralph Dibney for saving her and keeping her from destroying magic. With this crisis ended, the Children of Arion rejoice as the Elder Gods return, led by Thrumm. But Thrumm is hungry and likes to eat the Children of Arion.

I found this issue a little disappointing for a book that I have been raving about since the beginning. On the plus side, Dale Eaglesham’s art looks as fantastic as ever. On the downside, Gail Simone’s ending fell flat. We have this big build-up with the introduction of the Children of Arion and Thrumm and then the Children of Arion get eaten in one panel on the last page of the book. Where it should be a big deal, it comes off as more of a throw off…an afterthought. In addition, we waste the first four pages of the book with Superman fighting a robot and talking to Zatanna about the impending magic problem. Again, I’m really disappointed by the way this storyline ended and hope next issue will be back to its normal top notch form.

SINESTRO #19: Sinestro’s Fear Lanterns now have new members in the form of  Superman and Wonder Woman, who are in battle against The Paling. Sinestro directs the Manhunters to send out more Yellow rings to recruit even more Lanterns. Among those recipients are Deadman, Spectre, John Constantine, Black Manta, and Etrigan. Saint Walker shows up and boosts the energy levels of the Lanterns, allowing Black Adam to gain the upper hand in his fight. In the end, Sinestro uses an Indigo ring to bring the fight straight to the Pale Bishop.

The battle continues and this book, so long drifting in a lackluster storyline. But Cullen Bunn, with the artistic talents of Brad Walker and Neil Edwards, has lit a fire under this character and made him cool to be a heel who is also a good guy. And you throw in the possibility of all these other DC characters now wearing the Yellow Lantern rings and it just means this upcoming finale could be the coolest thing to hit this title to date…even better than the SINESTRO WARS, which is where the revitalization began.

STARFIRE #8: Dick Grayson and Starfire have gotten together and someone in a helicopter is trying to kill him, but a bright light causes the chopper to crash. That means Kori and Dick are forced to save the woman who was trying to shoot him. Meanwhile Sol and Rave get closer than Sol expected while Atlee is make an offer to have Sheriff Stella visit her world. Later, Kori and Dick go out on a day but get attacked by a trio that were hired to take back the trigger device that got destroyed last issue. Dick lets her know he needs to leave and take care of business. No sooner is he gone than Kori and Sol are sharing a kiss in the pool when this sparkling thing I the pool begins to transform.

Ugh-why must Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti write Starfire as a total ditz? From the moment that she and Dick went of their date, I could feel my I.Q. dropping. She is naive, not stupid. The plus about this book, as always, is the art of Emanuela Lupachino, who gets an assist this issue from Marco Pierfederici. Reading this book is like watching a car accident: you don’t want to look but you feel compelled to. I don’t WANT to keep reading it, but I feel compelled to hope that it is going to get better.

SUICIDE SQUAD MOST  WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #1:Deadshot:Out of the Past. Deadshot is in South America hunting down drug lord Guillermo Lapaz. Later, Amanda Waller sends Deadshot and Will Evans to Gotham to kidnap Lapaz’ daughter. During a gun battle between Waller’s men and Falcone’s, Deadshot heads off to investigate some information Waller gave him earlier. Apparently his father is alive and Floyd wants him dead.
 
The second tale is Katana: Dawn of the Age of Chaos. Kobra is attempting to rule Markovia and Katana gets shot down as she travels through Markovian air space. She has come here to meet with Dr. Jace, who is an expert in astrophysics, in hopes she can help her release the souls in her sword. But the townspeople convince her to stay and help them fight against Kobra. During the battle, Kobra kidnaps Dr. Jace and their leader tells them if they continue to resist, they will all die.

This was an interesting first issue, but I’m not sure how well received a $4.99 mini-series. It will be interesting to see as there is a LEGENDS OF TOMORROW series coming that will be $7.99 a month! The DEADSHOT tale is written by: Brian Buccellato and illustrated by Viktor Bogdanovic. I have to admit it was a fun, bloody time that hopefully will have a nice payoff character wise at the end of the series. Comic legend Mike W. Barr teams with Diogenes Neves to bring us the KATANA tale. It looks great but I have to admit that, despite Barr’s skills, I have seen SEVEN SAMURAI and this tale of the sword wielding Katana coming to the rescue of the townspeople sure feels like the Kurosawa film.

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25: Superman is critically injured and Wonder Woman brings him to her Olympian family, begging them for help. Their answer is to engage the Man of Steel in a variety of tests. Artemis sends him out to hunt while Strife forces him to walk through the insults of the people who used to respect him. Hephaestus offers him the opportunity to climb into a rocket and leave Earth. Eros taunts him regarding Clark and Diana’s relationship. Having passed all the trials, Superman is healed. Unfortunately, he is now completely mortal.

Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke combine for an interesting issue that saves the life of the Man of Steel but renders him completely powerless. I love Tomasi’s writing and Mehnke’ art is equally impressive. What makes this work so well is the various vignettes, representing everything Supes has been going through over the last several months. We all know there are changes coming to the Big Blue Boy Scout at the end of this storyline, including what is believed to be getting repowered and possibly getting to wear his undies on the outside again. Personally, I can’t wait to see it. heck-maybe we can even get him hooked up with the woman who betrayed him again.

SUPERMAN #48: Coming out of  SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25, our completely mortal hero teams up with Steve Trevor to take down a political assassin named Kingslayer. Later, Steve agrees to let Superman expose himself to a deadly amount of Kryptonite to help him jump-start his powers. But that all goes bad as Hordr_Root's brother, The Puzzler, shows up at ARGUS. In the ending, it looks like Superman is dying of Kryptonite poisoning.

How is it the Vandal Savage always seems to know where the Man of Steel is heading? Are we REALLY supposed to believe that he knew Clark would be going to ARGUS to get his Kryptonite fix? Sorry Gene Luen Yang: that’s just WAY TOO MUCH DISBELIEF to have to suspend! Howard Porter and Ardian Syaf share the art chores and, unfortunately, you can see exactly where one leaves and the other takes over. Not the best issue in this recent series of events in this book, but it could be worse. Actually…it is worse!

SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #4: In a flashback to several years ago, Clark and Lois are spending a day in Metropolis. Lois buys a Superman shirt for Jon, a blind street performer recognizes Clark’s voice and they almost run into Jimmy Olsen, who is off to Bibbo Bibbowski’s Ace O'Brews. As an anniversary present, Lois gives him his black costume. Back in the present, Lois and Jon go to visit her publisher, but she has been kidnapped, causing them to flee. In the process, they run into Bruno Mannheim. Meanwhile, Clark battles Blanque and Hank Henshaw and Blanque buries Clark under a mountain of snow. This leads to Blanque and Henshaw going to California. If that wasn’t enough, the Oblivion Stone is about to make a collision course with Earth.

I cannot sing the praises of this title enough! Dan Jurgens is writing a story that is so much fun, that it makes me want to forget this world’s Superman. This Clark is truly the Clark Kent we left behind when the New 52 was created. Lee Weeks and Marco Santucci handle the art and it’s awesome looking! We bring in characters from two worlds and hint at others. Again, I cannot rave enough about this title.

SWAMP THING #1: The Phantom Stranger visits Swamp Thing in his swamp, telling him that the Parliament of Trees is looking for him. Shortly thereafter, he saves Frank and Grace Wormwood, who almost drown in the swamp. They beg him to rescue their son Lazlo from the Crowley College of Evolving Arts. When Swamp Thing gets there, he finds that Lazlo’s friend accidentally turned him into a zombie and he looks to gain his revenge by killing them. When Swamp Thing tried to stop him, Lazlo tears him in half.

The good thing about this book: SWAMP THING co-creator Len Wein and Kelley Jones, the person whose art MOST looks like Bernie Wrightson’s, are the creative team behind this book. The worst thing is Swamp Thing’s dialogue that is a bit clunkier than we are used too. And I’m kind of okay with that, considering that it harkens back to the old days of the character. I am totally thrilled that this book will entertain like it did in the beginning. Don’t expect Alan Moore or Steve Bissette here. This is going to be like it was back in the Seventies!

TEEN TITANS #16: Red Robin returns to the team after the ROBIN WAR and they are immediately attacked by Durlans who have come to retrieve Chimera. In the end, she agrees to leave with her people and Kid Flash also has gone off to handle his problems. With the police closing in, the Titans leave and take up residency in Heaton, Pennsylvania.

All I can say is that the June relaunch of DC titles can’t happen soon enough as this book needs an enema! While Miguel Mendoca’s art shines, Will Pfeifer’s story is just silly and full of holes. Red Robin shows up to a reunion, we get a full issue fight, followed by characters beating feet and the whole team heading to Heaton, Pennsylvania. Sigh! This book really needs a revamp. It’s kind of sad when the BEST TITANS book on the market is the one that follows a little further down.

TELOS #4: Telos is battling drones that Brainiac created allow Computo to get back the the piece of Brainiac's old shell. At the same time, Techne, Captain Comet, Stealth, and K-Rot are also fighting drones along with Validus. When all seems lost for our hero, it turns out that Brainiac wasn’t really in partnership with Computo. He sends out a signal that disabled Validus and Telos tears Computo apart. Unfortunately, the data Techne downloaded about the location of Telos' family was corrupted and it may just have been Brainiac playing Telos. The Citadel Fleet is on their way to stop the rebel uprising that destroyed Computo, leading to Telos heading out to meet them.

Jeff King throws us a swerve with the whole “Brainiac is bad/Brainiac is good” storyline by eventually making him good…sort of. I’m so glad this is a six issue limited series as I don’t think I could handle a full dose of Telos and his version of Guardians of the Galaxy meets the Zoo Crew. Carlo Pagulayan and Igor Vitorino handle the art on this issue and I could take it or leave it.

TITANS HUNT #4: We begin with a weird flashback memory of an earlier time when a younger team hears Herald’s song. In the present day, Garth, Donna and Dick have all heard the sound and wonder who is behind it. Mal’s wife heads to the hospital to see how Mal is doing only to find out he isn’t there. The ambulance never arrived at the hospital and Mal is in the woods where he meets the ghostly Mister Twister. While Hawk and Dove continue to work on the Harvester, Dick changes into his Nightwing costume because the villain is looking for someone in a mask.

Dan Abnett and Stephen Segovia deliver another strong issue here as the team starts to come together and I get excited for a full-on reunion! This title is so much better than the TEEN TITANS book. The characters are engaging folks I grew up with. There was a point that we all thought CONVERGENCE was a big joke that meant NOTHING to the NEW 52 Universe. Seems we may have been wrong, what with the Titans arriving, along with Lois and Clark, and Parallax. Thank you Dan Abnett for caring enough about these characters to make them fun!

WE ARE ROBIN #8: We meet Johnny “Smiley” Bender, who we saw in the first issue beating up Duke Thomas. Johnny had something called Moebius Syndrome that affects the muscles in your face. So his parents had surgery performed but that left him looking like his idol The Joker. Once he gets out of lockup, he goes home to parents that have nothing good to say to him. He dresses up like The Joker and executes them. Meanwhile, Duke finds his parents at last. Dad doesn’t remember him and his mom’s facial paralysis is apparently permanent.

Let’s see where Lee Bermejo takes this next. He has resolved Duke’s search and introduced a new villain. I think. This was an interesting in-between issue as the previous ROBIN WAR story line has been put to bed and stray plot pieces from the first seven issues are touched upon. Jorge Corona, with breakdowns by Rob Haynes, provides the art and it looks okay. I am curious to see where Bermejo takes Johnny in the months to come.

WONDER WOMAN #48: Diana saves the President of the United States from an attack at the G8 Summit Meeting by Dr. Maru. But the good doctor unleashes a poisonous version of PCP that turns the citizens of London against Wonder Woman. When Maru tries to shoot Diana, she hits one of the affected, which snaps the others out of their trance. Diana captures Maru, but she breaks one of her poison gas teeth and escapes. Meanwhile, over in Olympus, Zola wakes Hera because something is wrong with Zeke.

This was a fast moving issue that gives us a new villain. We don’t have a ton of drama except that Dr. Maru is bad and Wonder Woman needs to stop her. This may be Meredith Finch’ best issue to date. And David Finch’ art is possibly his best since he climbed on-board. Overall, this was the best issue we have seen of the Amazon in some time.

DC YOU Month 8, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #48: Coming out of last month’s SUPERMAN ANNUAL. Superman, the Supremacists have taken down the Justice League including Wonder Woman. Vandal, telling Wrath how she disappointed him with failure in Houston, unleashes an attack on Metropolis that keeps the Man of Steel busy. Luckily, the Justice League United arrive to lend a hand. When Steel and Lana show up with Ray Palmer in tow, Clark gets set up with a super suit powered by Kryptonite. He frees Wonder Woman first, but before Vandal Savage can make the final strike, Wrath attacks him leading to an explosion and the JLU gets captured. Tune into SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #25 for the next installment..

Greg Pak turns the heat up and makes this one of his best issues to date. Besides all the action going on, we get version 5.0 of Metallo’s suit, which not only gives Superman something close to his powers, but also means it’s killing him too. Then we toos in Steel, The Atom and the JLU and this book was action packed from beginning to end. And we get a cool cliffhanger too! Aaron Kuder and Rafa Sandoval do the art duties and this book looks great! As we race to issue #50, the status quo is about to change again!

AQUAMAN #48: As much as The Drift, Garth, Tula, Swatt and Murk, want to not believe it, seeing Mera versus Mera convinces them that Aquaman has ben telling the truth about her doppelganger. She and Arthur share a kiss and then it’s back into battle. Aquaman uses his trident and the powers Poseidon gave him to have our world to consume Thule. The world is saved, Wonder Woman says she'll talk Poseidon about giving Aquaman his powers back and now he has to figure how to rule a kingdom now filled with the refugees from Thule.

And thus ends Cullen Bunn’s run on this title; a run that was never embraced by fandom. So Bunn has decided to step down and Dan Abnett prepares to step in. This was an okay wrap up to the plot threads that Bunn has been weaving. Vincente Cifuentes handles the art and it looks really good. So, where does our hero go from here? He gets to reunite with his wife, rebuild his kingdom, and try to figure out how to be Aquaman again without the powers of Poseidon. Should be a fun ride, provided that Abnett decides to address those issues.

BATGIRL  #47: Batgirl teams up with Spoiler and Bluebird to try and figure out how GCPD obtained information from her. Disguised as police officers, Spoiler and Batgirl infiltrate GCPD and discover that police reports say it was Barbara who tipped them about the Forster Lane Gang, leading our heroine to wonder if she is losing her mind. The duo gets caught and is forced to change into costume and fight the cops. A wrinkle comes into play when Corporal Punishment gets in the middle of it all and fights with the duo. It takes Bluebird to come to their rescue. In the end, a mysterious figure from Barbara’s dreams convinces her to go on with Luke’s plan to create a company to bring the world renewable, sustainable energy.

Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher continue their stint on this title and introduce what feels like a new version of the BIRDS OF PREY. But what should be a big event is slightly hampered by an uneven art job. I am not now and haven’t been a fan of the cartoony art of Babs Tarr. But she is not here this month and BATGIRL fans are crying about it! Instead, we get Eleonora Carlini and Moritat sharing the art duties. Now, we haven’t seen Moritat since ALL STAR WESTERN went under but the style is truly morphed to look like Tarr. DC has recently Tweeted out an image of a blue curtain with the word REBIRTH on it. Rumors have been flying about DC rebooting their line AGAIN. If that happens, maybe we’ll actually lose the Batrgirled Batgirl!

BATMAN #48: Bruce and the Joker continue their park bench conversation, with the Joker, who may or may not realize who he realize is, begging Bruce not to go back to his own life. Just when it seems that the Joker is going to shoot himself, Gotham errupts with explosions as a giant Mr. Bloom unleashes his attack on Gotham City with Jim Gordon in his clutches. As he reveals Gordon’s identity to the world, he tells the citizens to go searching for his seeds and them inplant them in their skin. Unfortunately, it causes them to morph and explode. When Liv explodes in front of him, Bruce tracks down Alfred and demands he take him to his cave.

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo gear up towards the big finish of this story. You know the one-the one that brings Brcue Wayne back into the suit. As always, the book looks great and Snyder's’story is amazingly complex but subtlety simple at the same time. Does the Joker know who he really is? How does either Batman stop Bloom? What happens to Jim Gordon with Bruce back in action? What happens when Baba finds out her dad was Batman? I’m sure a lot of these questions will go unanswered for a time. But this much is sure: BATMAN IS COMING BACK, BABY!

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #14-17: In issue #14, the flashback has Batman and Robin break up a chemical plant in Prague. During the fight, Batman gets a private call from the Scarecrow, who wants to set up a face to face meeting with him regarding Mother. At that meeting, Batman informs Scarecrow that he now works for the Dark Knight. Back in the present, the bomb in the Nursery is still ticking as Orphan tells Dick, Harper, and Cassandra that the children here were killed because they were imperfect. He activates the defense system for the Nursery and they get attacked by hundreds of laser firing robots. Harper can’t disarm the bomb, but Dick defeats Orphan and manages to shut down the robots. The Nursery blows up and Dick informs everyone they are heading to Spyral Headquarters in England.

In issue #15, Tim and an unconscious Red Hood arrive at Gnosis-the Secret City of St. Dumas. Once brought inside by Azrael, Jason is put into a prison hole while Tim is given a tour of the place. As Jason breaks free, Tim meets the current Saint Dumas and is forced to fight Azrael. Both our heroes find out about Project Ichthys, where Jason gets visited by the apparition of The Joker with a crowbar. In the Prague flashback, Scarecrow meets with Mother and Batman tells Robin that Scarecrow is on his way to Cairo.

In issue #16, we see that Batman and Robin had tracked Scarecrow to Cairo, where they have captured him. This led to Batman retrieving a gun from a trashcan and heading off to pass Mother’s final test. In the present, Tim is still trapped in Gnosis by Azrael and St. Dumas while Ichthys is still making Jason fight the Joker in his mind. Tim talks enough to dig up a memory for Jean Paul that turns him around and sets him into attacking St. Dumas and his monks. This allows Tim to convince Jason not to fight his fear but experience his death at Joker’s hands all over again. With the order defeated and Azrael in control of Gnosis, Jason and Tim head off to join Dick, Harper, Cassandra, and Orphan.

In issue #17, we see Dick and Helena Bertinelli unsuccessfully attempt to interrogate Orphan. At the same time, Harper spends some time at St. Hadrian’s before having a conversation with Orphan, who tells her he knows secrets that she needs to know. In the flashback, Batman has shot the parents of a boy in Cairo. But Mother has figured out that he shot them with rubber bullets and sets the boy and Orphan after him. But she has a plan and that will involve orphaning someone in America. For now…she orders Orphan to kill Batman.

With two months to go, we race towards the conclusion. Who was the target in America? Who was Sculptor supposed to kill? Will our team get the answer in time to save more kids? Again James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Jackson Lanzing  and Collin Kelly provide the story while Fernando Blanco, Christian Duce, Andrea Mutti, Roger Robinson, Scot Eaton, and Goran Sudzuka give us the art. This series has been a fun ride and, since it isn’t running 52 issues like BATMAN ETERNAL did, it has managed to maintain my interest.

BATMAN BEYOND #8: Batman Beyond is turning Neo Gotham upside down looking for the missing Matt. Meeting with Micron, he tells of how Brother Eye converted Warhawk and Barda and that he survived because he went miniature. The story gets interrupted when thousands of people arrive looking for sanctuary, but Mayor Luke Fox isn't letting them in. Meanwhile, Matt has John Stewart's ring and has made his way to Metropolis and is making his way to the remains of the Justice League Watchtower. He is being watched though, by a group of animal men.

Okay…now I am REALLY excited about this! While the back story that Micron tells manages to fill in some holes in the story, the really exciting piece of it has to do with the final page revelation. By the looks of it, we are going to find out that what happened in the future is what was The Great Disaster. Now, as someone who absolutely loved Jack Kirby’s legendary KAMANDI series, I would be thrilled to have this lead to that character making his New 52 debut. That would also mean that these animals had been given doses of Cortexin and that is what made them intelligent. Maybe we can get the whole cast in here: Ben Boxer, Steve, Renzi, Dr. Canus, Tuftin, Great Caesar and Mylock. Yeah…thank you Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang for giving me hope that part of my childhood will find itself into my adulthood.

BATMAN SUPERMAN #28: Commander Randall is on a space walk outside of the lunar space station when an explosion puts her life in jeopardy and Superman saves the day. A giant reptile space traveler has turned up dead on the moon and that leads Superman to help his pal Batman defeat Clayface and take the World’s Greatest Detective to the moon to investigate. Batman believes that the alien has been murdered and the fact that a drone is watching them seems to prove it. It seems that the traveler was searching to meet with Superman, but she came across something from Krytpton.

Well, that is quite a set up. And I was totally thrilled to see Superman teaming up with the Bruce Wayne Batman and not the Jim Gordon one. Tom Taylor wrote a great story that ends with a nice little cliffhanger. However, Robson Rocha’s art is uneven and I want to lay the blame on three different inkers. This book has been a bit of a disappointment with the TRUTH story stepping into it, so this was a welcome change.

BLACK CANARY #7: The aged Kurt Lance is the record label owner behind everything that has gone on with the band. He explains that Ditto is an alien who is the physical embodiment of sound and when Dinah and Bo sang together it caused she and Kurt to go to another time and another dimension. When they came back, they did so at a different point in time and with Kurt older. A monster named Quietus can eat sound and is responsible for most of what has gone on since issue #1. Amanda Waller shows up and wants to take Ditto. Kurt says if she lets Dinah and Bo defeat Quietus, he will give her what she wants. Bo and Dinah team up and defeat the creature. Kurt’s deal with Waller is to take HIM, as he now has in his DNA what Ditto has in hers. The only problem…Dinah is missing and ready to have the mysterious woman in white

Brenden Fletcher and Annie Wu bring this art to a conclusion…but not really. We get an origin story for Ditto and a semi-origin for Kurt Lance’ aging. But that also gives us a bit of a time dilemma. How could old Kurt be the guy who was pulling the strings about all this at the same time young Kurt was running around helping the band? You can’t have two people in the same space and time, can you? That would be like having two Hal Jordans or two Clark Kents or two Donna Troys…oh wait: never mind!

CATWOMAN #48: Catwoman is in New York City and Detective Vincent Scagnetti and his officers have walked into a murder scene and think she is responsible. Well, Scagnetti admits that she is the patsy. With her guile and a little slight of hand, she gets away and makes her way to one of her safe houses, where she has Tesla do some investigating for her, finding out that Scagnetti likes to play cards at The Iceberg Lounge. She pays Penguin a visit and demands he arrange to get the murder charges off her back, but Clayface intervenes. She gets away, but Tesla lets her know that she found out there is a bounty on Selina’s head…and Croc may be the first to try and collect.

Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda have certainly managed to cut a lot of Selina’s mob ties and dropped her back into the suit and in the game of stealing and dealing. But the mob ties still play a supporting role in this title. Miranda’s art shines and Selina looks super attractive. Oh yeah: she has also cut her hair and now she’s a blonde and Tesla reminds her that she now looks like Michelle Pfeiffer in LADYHAWKE. Now THAT is a pop culture reference!

CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #8: With John’s current boyfriend captured, Papa Midnite and Constantine infiltrate Papa’s building and nightclub in an attempt to get it back from Mr. Rumor. Constantine discovers that Papa has a portal to hell that powers a pocket dimension. But Rumor has a partner in the form of Neron and it looks like the boys are screwed.

This book continues to be an uneven ride, although this issue was a bit better than most. Riley Rossmo and Brian Level are resposnible for the kicking look of this issue and having five gorgeous two-page spreads is the reason. Trippy, sexy and cool is the buzz words for their work here. Oh yeah-Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV’s story is pretty neat too, although having a rooster-snake be the one torturing John’s boyfriend is just a little...weird!

CYBORG #7: The government claims S.T.A.R. Labs and everyone in it, including Cyborg. In the meantime, Victor’s mom, a ghost in the machine, visits with him and he fills her in on events since her death.

Short review for this issue. David F. Walker’s story about Victor and his mom was wonderful. The rest of it…not so much. But Claude St. Aubin’s art was especially nice.

DEATHSTROKE #14: Slade is making his way through Lexcorp in search of his missing daughter Rose. Along the way, he runs into Luthor’s Lexbots and then Luthor’s suit controlled by Lex’ intellectual algorithm. As a mysterious figure with glowing eyes forces Rose to watch, Slade end up in the basement of Lexcorp and runs into a trio of Bizarros.

Things are looking bad for Slade as he spends the whole issue fighting his way through Lexcorp only to end up in the basement with Bizarros. While this book may not be as bloody as when it started in the hand of Tony S. Daniels, James Bonny and Tyler S. Kirkham are doing a great job of keeping the action and mystery going on this title. Who are the mystery folks holding Rose and what is their final plan?

DETECTIVE COMICS #48: While Batman watches over Gotham City, he calls his daughter, who is out fighting crime herself. Hearing a gunshot, he finds a man dressed like George Washington dead in an alley before Batman gets shot by a flintlock pistol. Luckily, his back-up team are in the blimp close by and pull him to safety. The shooter heads back to his hideout in Woodcrest Cemetary, where he has quite the collection of false faces. At the Gotham Morgue, Gordon and Bullock examine the dead George Washington who was actually a decorated Gotham firefighter. Gordon heads off in the blimp to investigate a weather balloon on the top of Wayne Tower. Only it’s not a weather balloon-it’s a dead astronaut.

First things first: Fernando Pasarin’s artwork is so incredible and this book looks fantastic! I seriously hope he hangs around for longer than just this story arc. Add to that Peter J. Tomasi’s great story that does wonders for the Jim Gordon character. My question is what is going to happen when Bruce Wayne walks back into this role. How does Jim go back to being a member of GCPD after he has been a superhero? I’m sure that Tomasi will handle that with his usual flair.

DOCTOR FATE #8: Khalid continues to learn how to use his powers as he also comes to grips with understanding what it is that Nabu wants from him. He spends the issue saving lives and dealing with the after effects of the flooding. His girlfriend is mad because she cannot reach him, his dad and he have a heart to heart talk and Professor Bradus and his dog Sheba try to convince him that he is being watched over along his journey.

Paul Levitz and Ibrahim Moustafa, filling in for Sonny Liew, continue to give us a lackluster title. It wants to be AMAZING SPIDER MAN in his earliest years by having him follow a path of self-exploration. Unfortunately, Levitz’ Khalid doesn’t have the wide-eyed wonder that Stan Lee’s Peter Parker did. This book continues to flounder, as it is more about the man and not the battle. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it isn’t great right now.

EARTH 2: SOCIETY #8: In Neotropolis, Commander Sato, Captain Steel, Val-Zod, Green Lantern, Khalid and Sandman have banded together to figure out how to bring the peace between the warring cities. Green Lantern heads out ot help Power Girl, Huntress and Flash fight a giant monster. Meanwhile, over in New Gotham, Batman is battling some thugs when the energy pack they have explodes leaving a question as to who survives. In the end, Hawkgirl enters a strange cliff opening and runs into an army of Amazons led by Fury.

This book is still having problems getting itself off the ground on the right foot. Dan Abnett writes a good story but I find these characters to be cardboard ones and even John Steinbeck would have problems making this group interesting. Jorge Jimenez handles the art and it’s just okay. Overall, this book continues to struggle to be as captivating as its’ predecessor.

FLASH #48: Delayed until February

GOTHAM ACADEMY #14: Set just before Winter Break, Olive gives Maps a scrapbook, so she can make herself a yearbook detailing their adventures from the past school year. The first story is about Prank Week and involves Eric and Colton accidentally releasing a bat winged goat monster from Dr. Langstrom’s lab. In return, he makes them stand in the courtyard wearing sheep costumes and signs that read, “I’m a baaaaad student.”  The next story is about Dillyn from the Glee Club and how she created an app that controls people’s minds. Olive is affected by it and it takes Maps use of a cat video to break Dillyn’s concentration, allowing Olive to breaks Dillyn’s tablet. The third story goes back to 1985 and involves a young Professor MacPherson. She gets to meet a girl named Toni, who has the ability to turn invisible. Toni gets her the number of a boy MacPherson likes after she had her get a makeover. In the present, MacPherson sees a headline declaring that  “La Pisada”, the girl who was Toni, is a wanted assassin on the loose.

So this is the first issue with a new artist and we get four artists. I am hoping that Adam Archer stays on because his style is dead-on for this title. While the yearbook format allows for multiple stories in the issue, I wasn’t a huge fan of them. Brenden Fletcher and Archer handled the main story while the teams of Derek Fridolfs with Dustin Nguyen, Katie Cook, and Hope Larson with Kris Mukai handling the three tales respectively. I enjoyed Nguyen'’ work, as always, while the other two styles just left me cold. I hope this story arc is short lived and gets us back on track with our regular tale.

GRAYSON #16: Posing as a bartender, Dick takes out a target and grabs a briefcase, diving into a car driven by Tiger. It seems that the pair have been busy over the last five days as we see them continent hopping while Dick sings his own version of the theme from GOLDFINGER. Helena Bertinelli goes to the Syndicate and seeks the help of Frankenstein, Keshi, Tao, Bronze Tiger, Gwisin, King Faraday, and Grifter. This leads to Dick and Tiger going off to seek some help of their own…from Maxwell Lord on Checkmate.

While we get a whole bunch of beautiful Mikel Janin full page shots of our boys touring the world with Dick singing, one would think that I would be pissed at having almost 20% of the book devoted to this silliness. But it made me smile and was singing the stupid theme with the new lyrics in my head. Then we top it off by not only having Tim Seeley and Tom King reveal the Syndicate members and have Dick team up with Max Lord. LOVE IT!!!

GREEN ARROW #48: Oliver is out in the Rainier wilderness as he tries to get used to his transformation with the Lukos Virus. He comes across human footprints which leads him to Norton: the caretaker the Queen family hired to watch over their land whose son has recently passed away. Later, Ollie takes a phone call from Broderick, who is indulging in his masochistic tendencies. Oliver hears a noise outside and that leads him to lost hikers and, eventually Norton, who tells him that his son isn’t dead, but sick. This leads Ollie to the hikers again as they are attacked by Norton’s werewolf son. Ollie gives in to his animal instincts and leaps into combat with the creature. But it’s Norton who saves the day by killing his own son.

Yeah…not buying all this. While Patrick Zircher’s art shines, the story doesn’t.  Ben Percy is trying to give some depth to a multi-part story that will play out over the next few issues, but it just doesn’t work for me. It felt too forced and way too predictable. I figured out what was going on the minute Norton talked about his dead son. For me, that’s not a spoiler…that’s just a bad cliché.

GREEN LANTERN #48: We begin in Coast City Hospital where the friends and family of the victims of Sonar's attack are waiting to hear potential good news about their loved ones. A news broadcast of Sonar demanding that the United Nations grant Modora the right to be a sovereign nation or else plays in the waiting room. This leads Hal to Gotham City to search for the head of the Modoran Separatist Army and he runs into Batman in the process. Gordon sends him to an M.S.A. training camp in Kahndaq where Hal confronts the M.S.A. soldiers. But they speak the words FREE MODORA and the bombs in their heads blow up. As Hal figures what to do, Parallax arrives to where Oa should be and decides that Hal Jordan must die.

Yes…CONVERGENCE rears its’ head and gives us this little dilemma. How can two Hals exist in this universe? Oh yeah…the same way that two Clark Kents can live in this universe. It’s called…CONVERGENCE! Robert Venditti wrote it while Martin Coccolo and Billy Tan drew it. My biggest gripes for the issue are as follows (and they’re small ones): First, why do we have a cover showing a battle between Hal and Jim Gordon when it never appears in the book. Also…hire a proofreader that knows Hal’s home is called Coast City not COST CITY!!!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #1: The Lanterns get Mogo to glow brightly so the lost Lanterns can find the living planet. It does get the attention of the lost Lanterns, but it also attracts a planet-sized city with a pair of giant protectors called Dimsas and Ausras. They want help and the Lanterns, while divided, agree to assist. So they get introduced to the citizens as their new champions even as some hooded figures seem to be making plans. Muk Muk heads out to explore the city and ends up getting killed for his curiosity.

Tom Taylor and Ethan Van Sciver combine to give us a fast-paced book that looks fantastic! I mean, I have always been a fan of Van Sciver, going all the way back to his work on CYBERFROG and FUZZY BUZZARD (yes…I was reading Hall of Heroes titles way back when!). And I generally like most of Tom Taylor’s work. This book seems to want to avoid the problems with the LOST Green Lantern title, in that the book moved with a snail’s pace. This one is action from the beginning and right up until the cliffhanger ending. I can’t wait to see what issue #2 brings us.

HARLEY QUINN #24: Harley goes off to City Hall to meet with the Mayor about getting Mason out of Arkham Asylum with no luck. Harley declares war, while the Mayor tells his assistant to take care of Harley. Harley goes back to Coney Island, where she gathers up her troops and prepares to go to war with City Hall. But they have the idea first and the Mayor’s men come a calling. There is a lot of gunplay and a lot of bloodshed, but Harley and her team prevail. After interrogating the attackers, she sends them back to the Mayor’s office by way of a catapult. In the end, Harley leaves for Gotham and Mason gets to know his new neighbor: Mr. J.!

Okay, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti hit all the right funny bones buttons with this issue. I mean, we have a major gore-filled battle between Harley’s team and the Mayor’s thugs that sets new highs for tasteless lows. There are a ton of sight gags like Harvey cuddling a rooster, heads exploding because of boobs, the dog humping Harley in a dog costume, and the Hulk Hogan inspired “brother” who is part of the attack team. And of course, we have Chad Hardin’s always killer art. We all know this book is a cash cow for DC…they are rolling out ANOTHER HARLEY QUINN title in April…but this one finally shows that it hasn’t jumped the shark quite yet.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #48: Delayed until February

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7: It seems that the folks at S.T.A.R. Labs have figured out that Rao is sucking out the "life energy" of the people. Batman and Cyborg have also figured out that Superman is being held by Rao. Even though olympus exploded, Wonder Woman and Aquaman survived and, since all the rest of the gods have bailed, she IS Olympus and has rebuilt Olympus. 250,000 years ago, Green Lantern and the young Rao find the Infinity Corporation inside the Argo Citadel, as well as the current Rao. Flash and Infinity Corporation are on their way back to where Hal is. At the same time, Superman uses his flying ability to crash Rao's space ship into the surface of the moon.

I really wish I knew what Bryan Hitch was doing here. I know some critics have been raving about this series, regarding how it reads and how it looks, but I am not one of those. Hitch’ art is beautiful, as always. But this story, jumping through various time frames and locations is just too busy. Hitch is taking shots, in my mind, at organized religion and I am okay with a questioning author. But Rao is a false icon who just doesn’t feel like a mega villain, like I feel he should. Let’s put it this way: I want this to be a 12-issue mini-series and not a continuing series. I just feel it needs to reach a conclusion.

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #8: It’s six months after the destruction of the Justice League and most of our team is trying to hide in plain sight. The Scullions are still searching for them and the team is breaking into their own cliques. Guy Gardner, who's personality is slowly being replaced by Shiryalla Tome, Ice and Fire are forming one group while Wonder Woman, Tina and the Flash form another. Meanwhile, Supergirl, still trying to fit into this time, comes up with a plan. Elsewhere, Lady Styx, the person who has been behind all of the machinations, has Terrance Magnus and plans on making him hers.

Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis continue to write one of the coolest takes on the classic superhero team. And now, because of the elimination of the guys on the team, it’s an all-girl group now. Well, except that guy is still a guy who is slowly becoming a girl again. Add Scott Kolins funky art to the mix and this series still is one of the coolest, quirkiest titles out there.

Even MORE Marvel #1's

A-FORCE #1: Singularity, who was part of an all female team on Battleworld, finds the Alpha Flight Space Station where Carol Danvers, otherwise known as Captain Marvel, is running her team. While Singularity remembers her time on Battleworld, Carol does not and does not remember her friend. The Anti-Matter Well, that the Alpha Flight team had earlier neutralized, reforms and causes not only Captain Marvel but Singularity. The ship Singularity is in crashes into New Attilan, where she climbs out to find that Antimatter followed her down. They brawl in the streets until Singularity sees Jennifer Walters’ office and heads there. Unfortunately, She-Hulk doesn’t know her either but they team up to defeat Antimatter. Medusa shows up with an army, because Singularity destroyed an expensive communications tower in the process. Confused, because she saw Medusa die in Arcadia, Singularity goes to embrace her and is put in handcuffs.

I read the first issue of this series when it was part of the SECRET WARS and it was so bad that I couldn’t even think about spending my money on it. So, I come into this book without knowing what transpired there. What the Splash Page of this book by G. Willow Wilson and Jorge Molina tells me is that the team will be made of Medusa, She-Hulk, Singularity, Captain Marvel, Nico Minoru (from The Runaways) and Dazzler. While I like the characters individually, I’m not keen on the way this team has been introduced here. Of course, eight months have transpired and we have no idea how we got to here. I do have to admit that the Wilson’s writing is keen and much better than the first issue of that mini-series. But it’s still not my cup of tea.

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1: Someone wearing a fake Iron Man armor is attacking The Pentagon. Later, Tony Stark and Melinda May try to figure out where Phil Coulson is, not knowing he in being tortured in a A.I.M. base. Luckily, Coulson’s team, consisting of Quake, Mockingbord, Fitz, Jemma and Deathlok, are available to bust him out. Stark informs Coulson that the source of the lost technology is Lola Daniels: his ex-fiancée. Meanwhile, Fitz asks Melinda May out to dinner.

I watched the first season of the television show and it had its’ ups and downs. To be honest, I haven’t see it since except for the first episode of the second season. I have a problem with a book that is adapted from a television show. Marc Guggenheim and German Peralta do the best they can, but I see no point in this except to cash in on the show. Oh yeah: what Deathlok is this? Henry Hayes? Who?

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1: Captain Marvel is Carol Danvers and is also Commander Carol Danvers: head of the intergalactic Alpha Flight. In the process, she says goodbye to her boyfriend James “Rhodey” Rhodes and meets Lt. Commander Abigail Brand and teammates Sasquatch,  Puck, and Aurora. In the issue, they come across an ancient war ship. When Carol investigates, she finds out that there is a marking on the ship-his making.

I read the first issue of the last series, as written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Suffice it to say, I absolutely hated it! I didn’t like her characterization and liked DeConnick’s dialogue even worse. So Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters took over the writing on this version and it’s an improvement. Fazekas and Butters worked on AGENT CARTER, so they know how to right a great story. And again…it’s better than DeConnick’s run. But the clear winner in this book is Kris Anka’s artwork. Oh yeah…we also get Puck, Sasquatch and Aurora. Now, if you can give me the rest of the classic team…

DEADPOOL AND CABLE #1: Deadpool is ripping through Hydra guys to get to Dr. Carl Weathers and plans to kill him. But cable shows up and tells him killing him will lead to the destruction of the universe. So they set off to stop an assassin and may save him, but it costs the life of a bystander in the process.

I am a huge fan of Fabian Nicieza’s writing, but I can’t get behind this title. The joke count is higher than it is in the regular DEADPOOL title…what does that tell you? Reilly Brown handles the art and it looks great. In fact, that is the best part of the book. As a Nineties throwback, it just doesn’t work.

OLD MAN LOGAN #1: Following the end of the SECRET WARS, a naked Logan wakes up Times Square in his own past. In flashbacks, he thinks of his time in the future where he and his family had to deal with life after the villians’ uprising. Back in the present, he hunts down and executes the youth who would otherwise have become The Butcher.

Logan is a wild animal in the hands of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. If you read the mini-series, you know what that means. This book looks great, has a great STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND feel too it and is possibly the best new post SECRET WARS book to date. I need to say nothing else. This title rocks!

ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT #1: After SECRET WARS, the world at large thinks that Rocket Raccoon and Groot are dead. But they’re not. And we also get the new duo of Pocket the talking squirrel and his partner Shrub.

Scottie Young writes it and Filipe Andrade draws like Young. And it’s a GUARDIANS related title. And don’t we need as many of those as we need DEADPOOL and HARLEY QUINN titles?

SILVER SURFER #1: The Hordax show up on Earth’s televisions and threaten to destroy the planet. Luckily the Silver Surfer and Dawn arrive. While the Surfer defeats the Hordax, Dawn says hello to Dad and sister watching at home. The pair come to Earth and spent time with Dawn’s family, including sitting back and watching THE WIZARD OF OZ. Soon, the planet is having it’s culture stripped away, so Surfer and Dawn head back into space again to confront the Hordax. In the end, The Thing crash lands on Planet Elanis and bows down to the Keeper of the Great Truth.

So…it goes like this: you either LIKE Mike Allred’s art and Laura Allred’s colors or you don’t. Me: I LOVE Allred’s work and always have. Hey-I was a GRAFIK MUSIK fan back when most of the world had no idea what to make of it. Of course,,,I LOVED FLAMING CARROT TOO! Now, we all know Dan Slott from his work on THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN and again, you either like his work or don’t. For me, this team is a tremendous winning combination. If you didn’t read the last series, you need to embrace this one!

SPIDER MAN/DEADPOOL #1: Our heroes are tied up, arguing, and facing the wrath of the dreaded Dormammu. This leads to a flashback where the pair are fighting Hydro Man. It turns out that this whole battle with Dormammu is actually Deadpool auditioning Spider man for a job as his partner. In the end, Wade gets a job offer with a 100 million-dollar payday. The job? Take out Peter Parker.

Back in the day, Joe Kelly had a great Deadpool run along with some really good AMAZING SPIDER-MAN tales. Kelly reunites with Ed McGuinness to deliver a fun, silly, pun-filled title that puts DEADPOOL AND CABLE  to shame. The joke count is as high here, but so much more on target. With Wade threatening to “unsheath my katana” against Parker’s “spider eggs”, the sexual innuendo is blatant that it is brilliant. The only thing that ticked me off was the size of the book, which contained all of VISION #1 reprinted in its’ entirety. Now, they didn’t charge extra for it, but I just feel ripped off by having a HUGE book with a story I already bought in it!

UNCANNY X-MEN #1: Magneto and his team of X-Men, Sabretooth, Monet, Psylocke, and Archangel, are dedicated to rescuing some mutants who have willingly placed themselves in suspended animation as they try to avoid the effects of the Terrigen mist. Despite their good deed, the Dark Riders are here and seem to be hell bent on eliminating mutants.

The good news is that this book looks tremendous in the hands of Greg Land. There are several great looking splash pages and an incredible two page spread featuring the team that is so amazing that if Marvel doesn’t put this out as a poster they are just throwing money away. But Cullen Bunn’s story is less than spectacular. The problem is NOT Bunn’s story, it’s Bunn’s characters. This is an anti-hero team similar to the last X-FORCE team. There is a morality issue at stake here and it seems that Magneto’s crew is all about mutants and not about maintaining human lives. Because of that, I found it hard to LIKE these characters. There are a whole bunch of X-titles out there and this USED TO BE the flagship title. But now, that has fallen on EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN and this title is just an also ran. I will stick with it for a bit, mostly because of Land’s work and the hope that there will be some good coming out of them.

DC's ROBIN WAR

ROBIN WAR #1: Part 1 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. One of the Robins tries to break up a robbery that results in the death of the perp and a police officer. This leads to Councilwoman Noctua to get the council to pass the Robin Laws. This leads to numerous arrests throughout Gotham. Damiam shows up at the Robin’s cell where he brawls with Duke, Dre, Dax and Izzy. Batman shows up and gets shocked, literally, by Robin. Red Hood and Red Robin and Grayson is making his way here too. Travis, the kid who was the Robin involved in the beginning of the book, gets killed by a Talon and we see that Noctua is in cahoots with the Court of the Owls. They are happy this war has begun as it means Nightwing will soon rise again.

And so the ROBIN WAR begins, courtesy of Tom King with art by Khary Randolph, Alain Mauricet, Jorge Corona, Andres Guinaldo and Walden Wong(yes…all of them!). This seems to be going into a weird place, as it is rumored to all be leading up to the GRAYSON book going away and being replaced by a new NIGHTWING book. Either way, check out this book which is just the first of five parts this month PLUS three tie-in issues

GRAYSON #15: Part 2 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Red Robin, Robin, Red Hood and Grayson meet with Duke Thomas and all the other Robins in the Gotham Underground and tells them that they are now a part of Robin School. They all spend the entire issue training until Grayson betrays them all and GCPD and Batman arrest them. It seems it’s all about taking care of family and this time, the family may be the Court of Owls.

Well, that certainly amps up what began in the first part of the story! Tim Selley, Tom King and Mikel Janin totally gives us a killer second chapter. Actually, it’s the ending that puts this book over the top. Throughout the rest of the book, it’s a lot of training and monologuing, with some nice exposition between characters. That cliffhanger ending just sends this tale into a new place. Between what is happening in BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL and this, it looks like the Batman family is in a states of major chaos.

DETECTIVE COMICS #47: Part 3 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. We begin with Grayson standing on Batman’s throat. Flashing back to an hour earlier, we see that Gordon and Bullock are not happy about having to lock up all these Robins in “The Cage”. Gordon starts to suspect that Councilwoman Noctura is involved with some underhanded stuff involving all of this while Damian comes up with a plan to get the Robins out. Batman heads to Officer Darrell’s place and runs into Grayson, leading to the battle that started the issue. During the fight, Gordon's cowl comes off Dick’s suspicions are justified. Back at “The Cage”, the Robins get a visit from the Court of the Owls and the Talons.

Ray Fawkes and Steve Pugh bring us the third chapter in the ROBIN WAR saga and, while it is not as good as the first two chapters, it does make a nice effort to push the story along. The whole thing inside The Cage is interesting although having the Owl and Talons show up was predictable. The art looked great, as it’s always a joy to see Pugh’s work. It should be interesting to see what the next installment has to offer.

WE ARE ROBIN #7: Part 4 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Dick and Jim are digging into Council Woman Noctura and find out that she is working with the Talons from the Court of The Owls and is deeply involved with The Cage. At the cage, Damian and Duke verbally spar until The Court brings in Jason and Tim and orders them to fight to the death or else. Luckily, Tim and Jason have a plan that results in them freeing the Robins and taking down the Talons. Well…not ALL of the Talons as more arrive.

Lee Bermejo and Carmine Di Giandomenico give us a nice but slightly uneven paced chapter in the ROBIN WAR. I felt the whole Damian/Duke conversation was a little too long and too heavy handed.. I also found that the whole “fake fight” between Jason and Tim was too predictable, although it was cool to see Tim doing some acrobatics. Over all, it was an okay issue that was able to step away from the main storyline that has been going on in the first six issues and tie in with this seemingly epic story of the new Gray Son.

ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #7: Part 5 of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Robin, Red Robin, and the freed Robins fight a group of Talons from the Court of Owls. After defeating the Talons, the teams split up with Red Robin leading his group to Gotham Academy, where they find the Owls preparing to hatch new Talons. Meanwhile, Council woman Noctua meets with a mysterious figure who demands that she position the police as he orders. Then Batman arrives to stop the Elite Talons from hatching and orders the Robins to flee. Nightwing makes his way through the Labyrinth of the Court of Owls and meets with Lincoln March, while Red Robin’s crew runs afoul of the nee Gray Son-Damian

Patrick Gleason, Ray Fawkes and Scott McDaniel combine to throw one major twist into this story. Okay-so Damian has just recently returned from the dead, reconnected with his mother and his father and now he has turned to the Dark Side? Yeah-really didn’t see that coming! How this is going to lead to Dick becoming Nightwing again is anyone’s guess. This has been a fun mini-series, even though the tie-in series have been a waste of time, as they only tie in one or two pages at best.

GOTHAM ACADEMY #13: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. Olive introduces her classmates to Riko Sheridan, who is on loan from WE ARE ROBIN. That only means that, while the team investigates the monster on campus, Maps gets to go all fan-girl on her. When they all confront the creature, known as Efram, they discover that he may be as old as two centuries. Plus, there are Owls on campus and the police arrive and arrest Riko. And Damian shows up in his Robin gear to tell Maps that she needs to keep her secret identity hidden.

Maps has a secret identity? Cool! This was another great issue, even if it’s actual  connection to the ROBIN WAR was a slight one that involved Riko Sheridan coming on campus. Brenden Fletcher writes a fun story, which is constant for this title, even is writing partner Becky Cloonan is missing. Artist Karl Kerschl is gone and has been replaced with Adam Archer. Archer’s work is good, but he’s no Kerschl. Overall: we get a fun issue that leads into the YEARBOOK storyline that begins next issue.

RED HOOD/ARSENAL #7: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. Roy is still teamed up with Joker’s Daughter while Tim meets Jason and tells him about the wholesale capturing of the Robins. Roy and Joker’s Daughter get a job to rescue some orphan kids from the Circus of the Strange. They make a pretty good team but the decision is made that she is safest back in Arkham Asylum. On the way back, they run into lava zombies. When Roy arrives, all that is left is a tangled motorcycle.

This issue is listed as a ROBIN WAR tie-in, but actually that’s kind of a rip-off because the actual time spent on that story is barely two pages. In fact, it pretty much amounts to a handful of panels, plus some flashback stuff by Jason and Tim. Scott Lobdell writes a fun story and Javier Fernandez does a cool job on the illustrations. But to call this a tie-in is insulting to the fans. It’s the continuing Joker’s Daughter/Arsenal team-up with a BRIEF MENTION of the ROBIN WAR. Shame on you, DC!

TEEN TITANS #15: A ROBIN WAR tie-in. While Cassie and Reiser are hanging out in a mansion outside of Gotham, the rest of the team goes to Gotham, where they discover that Professor Pyg is back to his old tricks. His zombie victims proceed to attack them, leaving them in a tough predicament, as they don’t want to harm them. They get captured and Pyg begins to use Beast Boy for his experiments and a girl in captivity is transformed from his blood, causing Power Girl to have to grow and subdue her. Pyg escapes and delivers the heroes’ blood to the Cult of Blood. Meanwhile, Red Hood and Red Robin lead the Robin team to Gotham Academy.

Scott Lobdell and Will Pfeifer turn in another average issue with a whopping two pages devoted to the ROBIN WAR, complete with art from Miguel Mendonca. The highlight of the issue is the always-spectacular artwork of Ian Churchill. What I especially didn’t like, outside of putting Red Robin on the cover with his team, in a scene that never appears in the book, was sticking Cassie and Reiser in a one page throw-away that gets them out of the story. It also allows Churchill to draw Cassie in a skimpy bikini, which is never a bad thing! As of February, Greg Pak and Noel Rodriguez become the creative team. Hopefully, their first issue will be better than this last issue.

ROBIN WAR #2: The conclusion of the ROBIN WAR crossover. Damian Wayne has joined the Court of the Owls so that he could save all the other Robins and all of Gotham from the wrath of the Elite Talons. He takes down Red Robin and Red Hood, which leads to a confrontation with Duke Thomas. The Robins then band together with the police to take out the Elite Talons. Marsh tells Dick that he needs to become Nightwing or else he will trigger a nano tech bomb in Damian’s owl mask. In the end, Duke visits Travis’ grave and tells the rest of the team that they aren't ready to be Robins yet. Jason, Tim and Damian confront Dick about the way he betrayed them and he says it’s what Batman would have done. He goes off and joins the worldwide initiation, where he rejects his Robin past and dons his owl mask.

And so the status quo changes as Dick Grayson truly becomes the Gray Son and joins the Court of the Owls. While we are told this will continue on in GRAYSON, I wonder how long before the title gets renamed NIGHTWING. Written by Tom King with art by Khary Randolph, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Steve Pugh, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens, this story sets events in motion that will obviously play out in future issues of WE ARE ROBIN and ROBIN SON OF BATMAN, plus everything else these characters touch. I hope that DC doesn’t just let what happened in this series fall by the wayside six months from now. A change should at least be semi-permanent.

DC YOU Month 7, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #6: While Aquaman handles the Rao problem in Atlantis, Superman battles it out with Rao in the Fortress of Solitude. Aquaman ends up being transported to what was left of Olympus where he and Wonder Woman encounter more of Rao’s followers who destroy what is left of Olympus. Back in 1961, the Flash is being told about the Forever Stones and how Superman’s future death will lead to the end of time. Meanwhile, on ancient Krypton, Hal and Rao arrive at the Citadel of Argo to discover that it’s an Infinity Corp.

Bryan Hitch continues to write and draw his epic version of the JLA. And, what one must keep in mind, is that this is an example of telling a great story that is out of continuity. Because this is WAY out of continuity. I somehow expect it will loop itself around and, by the end of it, it will tie back in. Or maybe I’m just hoping…

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #7: Beginning with a flashback, Teri gets through the battle with the Scullions as Supergirl arrives and gets them out there. In present time, Teri still mourns what has happened while Supergirl talks to Fire and Ice and we learn that Barry Allen and Hal Jordan died in the battle. Guy Gardner and the new Batman arrive and it looks like the next version of the Justice League is going to be an all-female one, led by Supergirl.

J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen continue to turn this book inside out. I’m a bit bummed to have Chris Batista doing the guest penciller job, especially after having a Colleen Doran stint a month back. But the story continues to deal with the aftermath of the death of Superman. With the old League dead and a new one poised to begin, this book is truly at the point where, if you are not already doing so, you need to be reading this title.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #16: We begin with a flashback from two months back when Adam and Alanna learned the Breakers were on their way to Earth. The team is in Western Connecticut are at the House of Secrets, where they have followed the Breakers. After meeting Abel, Stargirl, Equinox, Animal Man and Alanna Strange each encounter their own dreamlike nightmares. Equinox sees a bizarre ancient ritual that may involve her. Stargirl sees Deadman's origin, which now includes the Phantom Stranger. Animal Man witnesses the Kents as they take Kal-El and make him their own. Alanna realizes that Abel is the Breaker and blasts at him with her energy weapon, severing off his right arm. Adam Strange arrives and destroys Abel’s house, freeing our heroes. But, in the process, he manages to get trapped inside the Zeta Beam. What that does is allow him to see what the team configuration best suited for any mission is. In the present day, Alanna explains what she saw in the House of Secrets. She learned that Sardath was really her father and he used Adam to test a theory. She orders that he end his experiment and bring Adam back home, which he does, resulting in a happy ending.

We do understand that a HAPPY ENDING is not THAT KIND of HAPPY ENDING, right? Jeff Parker and Travel Foreman bring this series to an abrupt ending. And, here’s the whole thing about this series: it was completely uneven. Some issues, like the last arc, were brilliant and others were just so-so. This issue tried to tie up the entire series in one 22 page issue and drops in Alanna’s origin story…sort of. What I DID like here was seeing the House of Secrets pop in complete with Abel, even if he was only a Breaker. So, here we are: a series that had great premise that just never really got out of the starting blocks.

LOBO #13: Lobo has been taking out hunters all across the galaxy and now has his sights set on Hal Jordan. Hal fends him off, leaving Lobo to have to deal with the ghosts of his former comrades. That just fires him up and he attacks again, with Hal putting him down again. Hal drags Lobo out into space and then hurls him back to the planet’s surface, where he burns up on re-entry. He gets rescued by someone from the Citadel and is hauled off to heal. Unfortunately, the Czarnian isn’t about to let anyone use him anymore and he kills his rescuer.

And thus ends Lobo’s run as a book headliner. This book got so much better in the last four months, but the first nine were so uneven that the book was truly living on borrowed time. Cullen Bunn and Frank Barbiere did an awesome job of taking this guy from the Metrosexual Lobo who managed to slay OUR Lobo in the opening pages of the first issue to giving him a vibe of his own. Robson Rocha and Ethan Van Sciver handle the art beautifully too. In retrospect, this ended up being a fun series and hopefully they won’t just toss him off to the side now that the series is done. I expect we will end up seeing him chasing after Hal Jordan again and probably soon.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER #7: With the state of ouor world being compromised by Mars, Pearl takes it out on Martian Manhunter, who she calls Martian Mankiller. Mould asks J'onn why Mars is sick and decaying like before. That leads to Manhunter heading off to confront an army of Martian tanks. Unfortunately, the army runs Mould over. Wessel whips out his badge and finds out that the leader of the Martians is a grown-up Alicia, who is prepared to take out Wessel and Mr. Biscuits. In the end, Martian Manhunter sends a message out to all Martians and tells them that he’s going to protect them against the war.

While this is not the best issue of the series so far, partly because of Ronan Cliquet doing the art this issue, but Rob Williams continues to write one hell of a tale. I don’t even know what is going on in this issue…THAT’S how good it is! Our hero has been split into multiple personalities but also has been restored? Wow! And the brain is now dead? Well…that explains a lot! This book is so good, so mind-numbing, that you can’t resist it. Now, you may have to read each issue a couple of times, but it’s surely worth your time.

MIDNIGHTER #7: Midnighter has been stabbed by his lover, who turns out to be Prometheus, who claims he is the God of Forethought. As the two battle, Prometheus monologues about how he stole the God Garden Tech and Midnighter's history. Midnighter takes Prometheus out and loses his history at the same time. In the end, Midnighter goes off to spend some time with Jason while Apollo gets an unwanted gift from his ex. Meanwhile, Deadshot gathers the Perdition Pistol as he attempts to track down Garden tech for Amanda Waller.

While this series has been a real drag up until now, this issue did a nice job of wrapping up a story that has been brewing since issue #1. Midnighter comes off a breakup and then finds out his boyfriend is his betrayer. Maybe that should have been the title of the issue…old school, like in the Marvel days. We need a big bold MY BOYFRIEND, MY BETRAYER across the cover. Anyway, Steve Orlando, Aco and Hugh Petrus wraps things up, leaving our hero still in the dark about his past. And as far as his future goes, we shall see…

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #15: The team is flying off to Dallas so Waller and Deadshot can confront the Calvary Corporation CEO Ms. Pesta while Harley and Boomerang help Parasite get his energy back. Pesta tells Waller that Task Force X has been screwing up business deals worldwide. So they created their own team of metahumans but mothballed it because of expense. They made use of Vic Sage, who planned on releasing a Task Force X prisoner and blaming it on Waller and company, leading to the government shutting down the Squad. She offers up the evidence that will implicate Sage. In the end, Black Manta escapes from Belle Reve.

So, this is the road to the swan song for Sean Ryan and Philippe Briones as the new creative team is going to be Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra. DC continues to make this one of the more exciting books out there and they will do so as the movie gets closer to final release. I have loved what Ryan has done thus far and hope the new team continues to make this the coolest oddball team in comics.

OMEGA MEN #7: Kyle Rayner and Princess Kalista are still on the run from The Citadel and are planning to escape Hyn’xx at all costs. Kyle sells his grandmother’s crucifix to pay for their flight on planet. But it turns out that the Omega Men are flying the ship and are taking Kyle to Voorl, whether he likes it or not.

Tom King is an ex-CIA guy who writes from the heart and from experience. If you’re not reading any of his books, then you are truly missing out on a rising talent in this business. And Barnaby Bagenda’s art is just mind blowing. This book and these characters are so cool that you truly have to have it as part of your pull list. The book has twists, turns, and just proves that there are really good books out there worth saving, despite bad sales numbers. This is one of them.

PREZ #6: America is still suffering with the weight of the cat-flu and that leads to the fine folks from Pharmaduke to offer up a deal. They have a cure to offer up, but they want a law that allows patenting any living organism. President Ross quickly sends them away. Unfortunately, both political parties come together to override her veto. On the plus side, the President has managed to patent the DNA of those celebrating suits and that means Fred Wayne owns them and they are violating his copyright. Meanwhile, the War Beast is still having issues with its’ identify and joins a LGBTQR support group. She also is still the subject of attacks by the military that doesn’t believe she is no longer dangerous. In the end, a “cat zone” is created along the Arizona/New Mexico border to quarantine the cats. That doesn’t sit well with everyone and Tina the War Beast, who gets the job as the President’s personal bodyguard, thwarts a death threat. In the end, cat flu cases decline and the President's’ approval rating soars.

The first arc in Mark Russell’s brilliantly biting but misunderstood series comes to an end. The book has a nice little cliffhanger built into the last panel that promises to be resolved in Part 2. DC has said this is actually a mini-series and that we will see Part 2 soon. I love Ben Caldwell’s art and that has always been a great part of the appeal. This has been a wonderfully funny book and I wish the fans had embraced it more. Do yourself a favor and pick up the issues or a trade paperback if that comes out. This is a really witty series that deserves better than cancellation.

RED HOOD/ARSENAL #7: See the synopsis/review in the ROBIN WAR December blog post

ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #7: See the synopsis/review in the ROBIN WAR December blog post

SECRET SIX #9: When we last saw our heroes, they were apparently drowning at the bottom of the sea as the magic bubble they are in begins to crack and let water in. Porcelain shatters the pillar that is draining Black Alice’s life as the Children of Arion transport them to safety.  Over at Scandal Savage’s apartment, Black Alice begins to mumble something about not trusting the Children of Arion. She also finds out that if the team succeeds the world dies. This leads her to Meanwhile, the team has been sent to Perdition to blow up the next pillar. Upon arriving, they find out that the townspeople are under the control of an Elder God known as M’nagalah, who also has control of the pillar at the bottom of the town’s mine. They also run into a rather drained Swamp Thing who brawls with Etrigan, allowing Big Shot to crush M’nagalah with the pillar. Looks like the town is going to get to eat tonight!

Gail Simone and Tom Derenick, who is filling in for the ever amazing Dale Eaglesham this month, gives us another great chapter in this series. This book is quickly becoming one of my favorites thanks to Simone’s quirky use of characterization and the art styles of Eaglesham and Derenick. The book is always beautiful to look at and the characters are so well developed even as there is a ton of mystery around some of them, specifically Big Shot. Let’s be honest: this is a wild take on the man who we know as the Elongated Man!

SINESTRO #18: The Paling battles Sinestro's team but also mange to make their way to Earth in the process and they are responsible for resurrecting fallen members of the Corps. Sinestro sends out the Manhunters while the yellow rings seek out new members including Scarecrow, Deathstroke, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, and Superman.

While Cullen Bunn uncork a non-stop action issue, Brad Walker shares art with Neil Edwards to make it look amazing! I love where Bunn has been taking this title, of which I was highly critical, since the Sinestro Rising storyline. The Palling has suddenly become major players in the Lantern corner of the universe and that’s great, because we needed a new villain to take the place of the Guardians. Again, I was totally critical of this title but now feel like it’s finally coming together.

STARFIRE #7: Kori and her friend Sol go off on a date on the Sea Queen at the same time that Dick Grayson is in disguise on a Spyral mission. Sol is trying to cope with dating again after the death of his fiance Maria, who died during the hurricane. Meanwhile, Dick is battling it out with someone who has a briefcase he needs. Kori overcomes the shock of seeing Dick alive and lends a hand in retrieving the briefcase. Dick tells her that the briefcase has a trigger for a weapon and that leads Kori to destroy it so it can’t be used, much to Dick’s dismay. In the end, Dick ends up sucking down some wine and the two kiss.

We have another lackluster issue here as Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Emanuela Lupacchino gives us a beautiful looking book with a ditz of a character. And we even bring Dick Grayson in and he doesn’t notice that his ex has lost most of her I.Q. since he saw her last. So, I guess he may have lost some of his I.Q. too!

SUPERMAN #47: As Superman battles and defeats his sand clone, Jimmy gets taken to the hospital where it’s revealed that he will live. Clark heads off to fight Mythbrawl where the wrestling gods go up against Hordr_Root and his robots. The good guys win the day and Condesa downloads Hordr_Root's consciousness into a hard drive, as it’s revealed that Root had hopped into Jimmy's body. The hard drive is turned over to Mister Terrific. Jimmy has a flashback and we see that Hordr_Root’s creator was a paralyzed son of Vandal Savage, who ultimately was killed by his creation. In the end, Savage breaks into Mister Terrific's lab to get his son back.

So we get Howard Porter art throughout most of the book…up until the battle with Hodr ends. At that point we get Raymund Bermudez and it just makes the ending feel forced. It totally feels like the ending was changed along the way. I just can’t believe that Porter would get that far into the book and then not finish it. That having been said, I hope this storyline ends soon. Gene Luen Yang’s story is weird and the whole thing with the wrestling gods was just annoying.

SUPERMAN ANNUAL #3: (NOTE: read the SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #24 review before reading this review). Beginning on Krypton, Im-El goes up against the Kryptonian High Council to save everyone from a comet heading for the planet. His actions deflects the comet to Earth, where it results in the creation of Vandal Savage, who spends his immortal life affecting events in China, Rome and even during World War 2. In the present day, a depowered Superman confronts Savage, Wrath, Hordr_Root, and Frankenstein, who have commanded Stormwatch's Carrier and killed everyone in Superman’s immediate vicinity. Even in his present condition, Clark is going to do everything he can to stop Savage and his team.

Greg Pak, Gene Luen Yang, Peter J. Tomasi, and Aaron Kuder, the crew currently writing the Superman titles, come together here to give us a winding tale that lays out a bunch of the puzzle pieces that have been falling throughout those titles. What we end up with is a killer tale that, among other things, redefines Savage and makes a connection between him and Krypton as part of a revised origin. Dan Jurgens, Rafa Sandoval and Ben Oliver handle the art while Bill Sienkiewicz and Oliver ink it and that results in a story that while reading great, is a mess to look at. Actually, that’s not fair. It looks awesome, but there are two many conflicting styles to not be a distraction. Where does it go from here? ACTION COMICS #48.

SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #3: In a flashback, Clark battles Blanque who, as a telepath, is extremely dangerous to the safety of Clark and Lois. He also wants to know if Clark is Superman’s brother. Clark decides to put him somewhere that he can’t hurt anyone ever again, which results in him building his version of the Fortress of Solitude. Back in the present, Lois and Clark talk about their recent run in with Intergang and work real hard at hiding his secret identity from Jon. Clark heads off to Fortress of Solitude, where he reveals that he has Hank Henshaw there. Henshaw wakes up and takes out Clark who has an ally in the form of Blanque, who can read Clark’s mind. This means he now knows about the destruction of Coast City, along with Lois and Jon. Meanwhile, Bruno Mannheim shows what he does to people who fail him and the Oblivion Stone story drops another hint as a Dominator is killed over it.

If someone had told me that Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks would be writing a killer tale involving a displaced Lois and Clark, I would have thought you were crazy. But…here it is! This is one of the bigger surprises of the last six months. After the disaster that was CONVERGENCE, I thought that would be that and this would be awful. But it’s not! It’s Jurgens at some of his best by bringing in classic characters into the current universe…folks like the Dominators and Mannheim. And Weeks is giving us some of his best work in an illustrious career. I know you probably don’t believe it, but this is a book that has a love of its’ character and should be on your pull list.

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #24: Wonder Woman is still trapped in the suit that drains powers while a depowered Superman tries to save her. But he’s too weak to do it and Bend ends up with them being captured. While Bend monologues, Wonder Woman encourages her boyfriend to fight back and he frees himself. Clark grabs Parasite and the two of them manage to defeat Bend, who ends up back in Blackgate. Superman proves he can lie as good as the rest, as he proves to Parasite, who gets to go back to Belle Reve. In the end, Vandal Savage shows up at Blackgate and tears his son’s heart out of his chest.

Peter J. Tomasi finishes off this storyline and sets things in motion that get revealed in SUPERMAN ANNUAL #3. And we can slowly see the love between Wonder Woman and Superman slipping away leading to what I believe will be there ultimate breakup. Doug Mahnke handles the layouts while Ardian Syaf and Tom Derenick were responsible for the actual pencils in this issue. Maybe we might even get Firestorm back into a regular series after this outing.

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #2: Beginning and ending with Superman sitting on the porch of his childhood home looking at photos of his parents, it moves to various episodes featuring Clark and Diana. They enjoy a nice dinner with Aquaman and Mera, where Diana sees how their relationships with their men are similar. Next, we have Superman and Wonder Woman going to Pakistan, where they fight a Demigod named Dichara, where it gets revealed that she is the God of War and probably should have told Clark. Next, a depowered Superman is ordered to stay behind as Wonder Woman goes off to battle a monster. Her answer to him after the fact is that she was protecting him. That does NOT sit well with the Man of Steel. In the end, he realizes there is no good time to give her that engagement ring.

So, this was a little change of pace. Sholly Fisch, K. Perkins, Keith Champagne and Peter J. Tomasi combine to tell four stories that represent the crumbling relationship between two of the most powerful of superheroes. Each chapter gets a different writer and that means each gets a different artist in the form of Marco Santucci, Chriscross, Ken Lashley, and Matthew Clark. Overall, it was a beautifully written and equally beautiful illustrated tale of what it means to be a hero. You know: great power and great responsibility. But in the end, it’s still a man and a woman trying to co-exist.

TEEN TITANS #14: After the debacle at the Metropolis Armory Ward, the Teen Titans have been arrested. During transport, Reiser shows up and breaks them out of their moving prison. Alpha Centurian shows up with the Pax Galactica who manages to get taken out by the Titans. In the end, the team finds out that Red Robin had Raven transport him elsewhere…to meet with Jason Todd and look into the upcoming ROBIN WAR.

So, we tie up one storyline, introduce the character of Doomed to the Titans pantheon, and we send Red Robin off to the Robin War. Will Pfeifer and Scott Lobdell do an okay job of writing the story and bringing Lobdell’s Reiser into this book, now that he has had his own book cancelled on him. But Noel Rodriguez art just doesn’t appeal to me. Is EVERYONE now drawing angular styled stuff these days? This is becoming an increasing trend and I’m a bit tired of it. The real question here is if Reiser is going to replace Tim Drake. Yeah…like we need that!

TEEN TITANS #15: See the synopsis/review in the ROBIN WAR December blog post

TELOS #3: Telos and his team take on Validus and defeat him, allowing them to continue on their journey on Colu. They end up at Computo’s facility and discover all of his failed experiments. They are mercifully destroyed but that doesn’t stop Computo and Brainiac from subduing them and revealing a rebuilt Validus.

This is the second weakest issue thus far in the series, only just a notch above issue #1. Jeff King wrote it, Stephen Segovia and Igor Vitorino illustrated it and I really, REALLY didn’t like reading it. The plot was too jumbled and the cast, only three issues out, are really getting on my nerves. We have made Captain Comet into a cardboard hero and K-Rot is like a cross between Rocket Raccoon and Captain carrot. But I have good news: apparently this is now a six issue mini-series, which means we’re at the halfway point!

TITANS HUNT #3: Donna Troy has shown up to battle it out with Dick Grayson and Garth. The fight eventually ends with Donna getting tossed through the outside wall of the reading Hatton Corners Teen Titans Club House. Meanwhile, Lilith is haunted by the mysterious voice known as Mister Twister and Gnarrk breaks Roy out of prison. Twister unleashes a powerful noise that affects our heroes, with Mal seeming to take the worst of it.  Elsewhere, Hawk and Dove are on patrol and Hank hears the sound while Dawn does not.

This issue is another labor of love for Dan Abnett as he touches on all the cool things that made the original Teen Titans so cool. I like the fact that Dawn does not hear the sound that Mister Twister unleashes because SHE wasn’t the original Dove-Don Hall was. But Don died during the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. But, even more confusing, if CRISIS never happened, as revealed in CONVERGENCE, would that mean that Don is still alive? Maybe HE is Mister Twister.After all, he and Lilith did date for a time while in Teen Titans West. The art is by Paulo Siqueira and Geraldo Borges and it just does a great job of giving the book wonderful Eighties feel. I love this title, even if it throws a bunch of unexpected curves into your reading, most of which revolve around Gnarrk, who most modern readers don’t even remember.

WE ARE ROBIN #7: See the synopsis/review in the ROBIN WAR December blog post

WONDER WOMAN #47: Dessa comes to Diana to inform her that many Amazons are dead thanks to Cheetah who has headed off to capture the Eye of Antiope and gain immortality. Diana gives hunt and runs into an injured Anastasios along the way. He’s had to cut off his own arm to free himself after the Amazons attacked he and his brothers and he’s still pretty pissed about it. She promises to help him sort things out after she tracks down Cheetah. Finding her, they battle, but Hera’s vision stops Diana from pursuing Cheetah. She soon learns that to be immortal means losing her animal powers and Cheetah leaves the stone behind. The issue ends with Diana thanking her mother.

What? Did I just drop four bucks and this? Meredith Finch writes what I could best call a fill-in issue and it certainly was a step below what she has been doing, which has been spotty at best. Sure, it’s nice to give us some Cheetah action, but this is not the way to do it. There is way too much dialogue going on and too many predictable monologues for my liking. Miguel Mendonca knocks it out of the park, especially with a two-page spread featuring Diana and Cheetah in combat