DC UNIVERSE Month 17, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #10 by James Tynion IV and Alvarez Martínez Bueno. Khalid recalls how he overheard Nabu and the Lords of Order plan to destroy other realms of magic and got trapped in the urn. Meanwhile, Zatanna and Wonder Woman are with Circe and still looking for Mordru. Circe reveals that Constantine was an agent of Zatara’s who has been leading Zatanna to where her life has gotten to. The Otherkind attacks, but is buried under the earth. Zatanna and Wonder Woman leave and the Upside-Down Man arrives to taunt Circe, even as it’s revealed they are working together. Back in Myrra, one of the Lords of Order, who says they cann all make safe passage back to Earth if they agree to be stripped of all magical knowledge and memory. If not, they will die.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #8 by Dan Abnett and Daniel Sampere. Cyborg has build a restraint to hold Darkseid, who tells them he lied to them to get them to the Ghost Sector to save the universe. He explains that the breaking of the Source Wall has long been a prophecy on Apokolips.  But he needs to be at full power to stop what’s coming and he used Other Box to change time and plant Jessica, Starfire, and Azrael onto planets in the Ghost Sector where they would one day be seen as gods. Blackfire and Rapture attack and Darkseid makes his escape in a Boom Tube with Cyborg in tow. That leaves Jessica, Starfire, and Azrael behind and Azrael uses his voice to convince Rapture not to kill them, as that will mean the end of everything. In the end, Cyborg finds himself in peril at the temple Darkseid has built.

NAOMI #4 by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. Naomi’s father reveals he is a fighter from Rann who came to Earth to seek out a missing Thanagarian guard, Dee. While here, he spends years integrating himself into Earth’s lifestyle. In the meantime, he meets his future wife. One day, alien forces show up chasing a woman and her baby and he teams up with Dee. The woman is killed but the baby survives, wrapped in a blanket with a mysterious box inside. After all these years, Naomi is given the box and opens it.

NIGHTWING #59 by Dan Jurgens and Chris Mooneyham. Ric is seen training with Hutch before Hutch leaves to visit a police comrade he was partly responsible for putting in a coma. The injured officer’s daughter arrives and castigates him. Later, a fire breaks out at a local police precinct and Hutch and Ric race into help get officers out. But they realize the fire is alive and talking to them.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #33 by Scott Lobdell and Pete Woods. Jason Todd is still running Penguin’s casino and still has Penguin locked away. The Five Aces how up to find the missing Penguin and battle Wingman, Bunker and the Su Sisters, while Jason battles a member of the All-Caste. In the end, he leaves Suzie Sur to clean up the remains of the All-Caste member.

THE SILENCER #16 by Dan Abnett and V Kenneth Marion. Hope battles her sister Smoke and loses. Later, while recuperating, Quietus tells her that Talia has locked down her place, as she knows Smoke is coming for her. He gives Hope 24 hours to figure it out. Smoke goes to Aftermarket’s garage and convinces them to give her some weapons. Meanwhile, Hope goes home as Silencer and meets with her husband.

SUPERGIRL #29 by Marc Andreyko and Eduardo Pansica. Kara, Zn’dr and Krypto are all relaxing when Krypto finds some stones, which are the stones Zn’dr has been looking for. Using her super-speed, Kara finds all the stones, which all have the symbol of the Circle on them. Zaar’s axe appears and begins interacting with the stones, activating a hologram of Appa. He reveals that The Circle as started to end violence but Gandelo teamed up with Rogol Zaar. It is revealed that Gandelo is Zn’dr’s mother. They are then attacked by hunters, who finally decide that Kara is the “chosen one”. They are suddenly killed by Gandelo, who is ready to fight with Kara. Meanwhile, Zaar plans his escape from the Phantom Zone.

SUPERMAN #10 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis. Jon battles Superwoman before he is rescued by Jor-El, who has been searching for him for seven years. On the trip back home, they encounter Zod and his army before Jon finds himself back on Earth in Wisconsin. In the end, Jon and his dad head off to help fight a space battle.

THE TERRIFICS #15 by Gene Luen Yang and Stephen Segovia. Mr. and Mrs. Terrific are out on a date when they are interrupted by two T-Spheres, informing them of a giant snake destroying the Stagg Industries Campus. Metamorpho and Plastic Man get eaten by the snake, but Phantom Girl help free them and stop it, which transforms into a digital woman calling herself “his Herald”. Stagg later does a demonstration of his new digital training program, which goes horribly wrong and the digital frogmen go on the loose, showing up at Mr. and Mrs. Terrific’s second date. After defeating them, holographic gnats show up and Plastic Man realizes these are some of the Plagues of Israel and they are fighting God.

TITANS #36 by Dan Abnett and Bruno Redondo. After a flashback with a conversation between Nightwing and Raven, we good to the present where the team is trying to stop Mother Blood. To open the portal into The Bleed, she will have to destroy Unearth and betray Lord Travesty. Raven faces off with Mother Blood and Beast Boy tackles Mother Blood into The Bleed and closes the door, tapping her forever. In the process, Beast Boy is restored. The team leaves Unearth, with Hinston staying behind to make new stories.

WONDER TWINS #3 by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne. Jayna makes a friend in Polly Math, whose father is a world renowned scientist and under Lex Luthor’s thumb. Meanwhile, the League of Annoyance plan to take out the Wonder Twins. Gleek’s history is revealed, as he was once a mistreated ape in a circus. The League attacks the Twins while they sleep and Gleek saves the day.

WONDER WOMAN #68 by G. Willow Wilson and Cary Nord. While Eirene and her mythical creatures examine the mysterious sword, Wonder Woman and Giganta attack the Elementals. Eirene arrives and, with sword in hand, demands the Elementals stop fighting, which they do. It is revealed to be Antiope’s sword and Eirene goes off with Cadmus to find her.

WONDER WOMAN #69 by G. Willow Wilson and Xermonico. In Summergrove, Connecticut, the whole town has been taken over by lust. Wonder Woman and Maggie show up and get attacked by cupids with razor-sharp teeth. Aphrodite arrives and the attack ceases, as they listen to her. They reform as the face of Lust, which leads them all to visit Aphrodite’s daughter.

YOUNG JUSTICE #4 by Brian Michael Bendis, Patrick Gleason and John Timms. Today, Amethyst and her new friends are locked up. Yesterday, the council of Gemworld were looking to vote Amethyst out of the council. After a discussion with Turquoise, she finds an intruder in the form of Damian. Today, Superboy and Impulse confront the troops of the Dark Lord Opal, with Superboy chasing them away. After revealing that he came here with Young Justice, Impulse and Superboy free the prisoners.

DC UNIVERSE Month 17, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1010 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Epting. While Kate Spencer, who is not really Kate, meets with Bones, Lois and Clark meet up with Tiger from Spyral under the guise of Chaz and Andi. Superman goes off and fights a super powered creature and, when he returns, Lois and Tiger are gone.

ADVENTURES OF THE SUPER SONS #9 by Peter J. Tomasi and Scott Godlewski. Over on Leone-5, a robot version of Jonah Hex is being held up by bandits who work for Tommy Tomorrow, when our heroes pop in through a Vroom Tube and knock them out. Hex offers to help them get off planet” and knock out the bad guys. After quickly catching Robo-Hex up, he offers to help them get off the planet. After several days of travel and “four untold adventures”, where Damian may have made out with a princess, they make their way to assault the central battery at Engine City. They succeed and then head off in a space train to their next destination. Meanwhile, Rex and his Injustice Army prepare to invade Earth.

AQUAMAN #47 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha. Aquaman battles against Namma, who has transformed into a dragon. The Young Gods show up to help and sacrifice themselves to stop her. Caillie suggests Aquaman use his telepathy on her, which causes the Young Gods to burst forth, destroying Namma. The water God appears, saves Aquaman and presents him with a trident, as he is told he belongs to the sea.

BATGIRL #34 by Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier. The Terrible Trio, Fox, Vulture and Shark, discuss that they must go after Batgirl now that Cormorant is dead. Babs is at work as an intern at newly-elected Congresswoman Alejo’s headquarters. The mail delivery results in a box with a severed hand in it. The office is closed for the day and that means Batgirl can investigate the hand, which she finds contains leads to three possible people. Alysia calls to tell her there is a possible hostile takeover of Gordon Clean Energy, resulting in all their assets being frozen. Batgirl heads off the opening of a social club known as “The Den,” where she is captured by the Terrible Trio. Meanwhile, Jason Bard goes to Barbara’s apartment to find that she has been evicted.

BATMAN #68 by Tom King Dan Panosian, John Timms, Mikel Janin and Amanda Conner. KNIGHTMARE continues with the days before Batman’s wedding that never was. Clark and Bruce enjoy a quiet Bachelor Party involving talk and chess while Selina and Lois go to the Fortress of solitude and get very drunk. But again, it’s all part of Batman’s Knightmare.

BATMAN #69 by Tom King and Yanick Paquette. Batman and Catwoman, while Batman is still inside of his Knightmare, discuss why they can’t get married. In the end, she reveals that he needs to be really scared to defeat the Fear Toxin. Meanwhile, Bane battles Thomas Wayne.

BATMAN BEYOND #31 by Dan Jurgens and Rick Leonardi. Bruce Wayne goes to visit Arlham Asylum when the lights go out. Shortly after they come back on again, Bruce hurriedly leaves, but seems different somehow. Back at the Batcave, his mood continues to be off. There have been a rash of thefts at the old Powers Tech facility and Batman goes off to investigate He gets attacked by a super villain team known as Splitt, who proceed to capture and attempt to kill Batman. Bruce could care less. In the meantime, someone at Arkham has been locked away and maybe this wil explain why Bruce is different-he’s not Bruce!   

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #4 by Scott Snyder and Jock. Batman has created a Batman Who Laughs mask and broken the anti-toxin vial as the toxin has taken over his mind. He fights to maintain his sanity. It’s revealed that the Grim Knight has been using the electrical grid for the city to make use of Dark Metal to open portals to bring the various Bruce Waynes to Earth. After meeting with a still living Joker, Batman heads to Blackgate Prison, which houses a small deosit of Dark Metal, when he is transported to another Earth where Bruce Wayne runs Backgate. They pop back into our Blackgate, where The Batman Who Laughs, disguised as a prison guard, kills Wayne and blames it on Batman, causing the police to open fire on the Dark Knight. Meanwhile, the Grim Knight releases Gordon and sends the Robin Hounds after him.

CATWOMAN #10 by Joelle Jones and Fernando Blanco. Catwoman goes after Penguin to get back the letter from Holly, resulting in a trade of sorts. She’s visits her sister, who is an invalid, before she heads off with Carlitos to meet with a forger named James. Meanwile, Raymond Creel is forced to take a break from his campaign to meets with his mother and brother.

DAMAGE #16 by Robert Venditti and Aaron Lopresti. Ethan and Congo Bill get free from Ehidna’s clutches, releasing Congorilla and Damage in the process. They take on the collection of monsters before finally defeating her. The monsters change back to normal size and then Congo Bill shows Ethan a raft and sends him back home, where he will deal with his issues by himself.

DEATHSTROKE #42 by Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan. THE TERMINUS AGENDA Part 2. Slade has been captured by Robin, who has sent the Teen Titans out to capture Blackrock. But that leads to a battle between he and the team. It is revealed that he was trying to turn himself in and his powers have ruptured a gas line, meaning the team needs to save everyone. Meanwhile, Deathstroke has freed himself and he tells Robin that not only did he flinch regarding his team, Robin’s jail is out of mayo.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1001 by Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker. Bats are mysteriously dying throughout Gotham City and Batman can’t find an answer. He goes to visit Francine Langstrom, who injects herself with serum and changes into a Man-Bat. She rides her all the way to Gotham Park Zoo, where he gives her the antidote and she changes back to human form. There is an explosion in the night sky, which turns out to be some sort of self-generating light, followed by the Knights of the Sun. Batman gets shot with a barrage of arrows and finds himself gravely wounded with Arkham Knight standing over him. 

DETECTIVE COMICS #1002 Writer: Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker. Batman has been gravely wounded and now the Arkham Knight is ready for the killing blow. But GCPD arrives and stops him. After a standoff between he police and the Knights of the, Knight leaves saying there will be another time for this. Gordon helps Batman into the Batmobile, which takes him back to Batcave where Alfred starts patching him up. Damian heads off to find the remains from hunts down residuals from the Day Bomb, but gets captured by Arkham Knight. He eventually frees himself, but is confronted by the Knight who removes his helmet to reveal himself to Damian.

DIAL H FOR HERO #2 by Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones. Miguel and Summer have made their way to Grand Junction, Colorado. The mysterious phone keeps ringing, leading to the owner threatening to throw them out. A strange man observes it and is being told to answer it, but Miguel answers it first and is told by the Operator to beware of the Thunderbolt Club. Miguel ties a rope around the phone and throws it in the river, but the strange man retrieves it and activates it, becoming Jobu, the Zonkey King. He starts firing off blasts at a boat and that causes Miguel to jump into action, grabbing the H-Dial and becoming Iron Deadhead. The two battle before Miguel gets the upper hand. In the end, a lady police officer, a member of the Thunderbolt Club, takes the H-Dial.

THE FLASH #68 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. The Trickster is interrogating Commander Cold when he is joined by Axel. We see they have taken over Iron Heights, where the prisoners get put in a machine and made happy. Barry recalls the original Trickster and also remembers that if he vibrates right he can walk through the machine without being affected. He heads off to an old Rogue hideout to save Cold, but gets attacked by Axel before he can free him. After taking out Axel, Trickster captures Cold and Flash and explains that he made the call to bring Flash back to Central City, not Cold. Cold gets free and they capture Trickster, but they discover that people are attacking each other to keep their happiness. Flash goes off to save them, but is captured by Cold, who is under Trickster’s spell. When he wakes, Barry discovers that his legs have been amputated.

THE FLASH #69 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. The Trickster appears to have won and is enjoying the chaos he has created. He has captured his parents and asks them if they are proud of him. Meanwhile, Flash is dealing with his missing legs when Commander Cold convinces him it is just an illusion created by the Sage Force.  Flash faces off with Trickster, but needs to let him escape to save Central City’s citizens. Cold constructs a device to stop the effects of the Sage Force, which Flash wears, running through the city and saving the people. Arriving at Iron Heights, it explodes, leaving no bodies behind. Later at CCPD, Barry is met by a strange hooded man who tells him that to save the Multiverse, Barry must go remember something he has forgotten. Barry is next seen as a young boy reading comics before being called downstairs by his mother.

THE GREEN LANTERN #6 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. To prove his allegiance to the Blackstars, Hal must kill Adam Strange. Hal does that, which allows him an audience with Controller Mu, who wants Hal to unlock the secrets of his Power Ring so he can bring his own version of peace to the universe. Mu reveals that he knows Hal is a mole and he shows him a universe-collapsing bomb that will go off if he dies. Dam, who was only put into a temporary coma, charges at Mu, but Hal stops him. The Guardians power up Hal, who uses his new powers to stop Mu. But the ensuing blast traps Hal inside his own ring with a case of amnesia.

HARLEY QUINN #60 by Sam Humphries and Sam Basri. Harley Quinn breaks into S.T.A.R. Labs in order to steal some cancer-curing drugs for her mom. But there is an interdimensional breach that causes Harley to fight off some creatures with lasers while also dealing with hallucinations. Mirand’r shows up and explains that this is just one of the trials which has been manipulated by the Lords of Chaos and Order to make it really difficult. Harley figures it all out and manages to send the baddies back to their own dimension. In the end, Enchantress arrives and is ready to take on Catwoman.

HAWKMAN #11 by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch. Hawkman takes on the Deathbringer army with all of his past lives in tow as back-up. Hawkman battles Idamm, who commands his Deathbringers to incinerate the Earth.

HEROES IN CRISIS #8 by Tom King, Mitch Gerads and Travis Moore. It is revealed that Wally had a bad time with therapy and ran outside, unleashing a Speed Force supernova. Other heroes heard the alarms and ran outside, getting killed by the blast. So Wally used Sanctuary’s holodeck to show Booster and Harley two different scenarios where Wally was dead and that the other had killed everyone. Then he destroyed the Sanctuary robots and reset the scene to no longer implicate him, including bringing his body from the future to the site.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #21 by Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez. Superman battles his older self, who tells him he created this pocket universe just to hold Superman. Back in the 6th Dimension, Bruce and Dick are enjoying some quiet time until Batman is called into a psychic conference called by Martian Manhunter. Just before Shayne can reveal what is going on, the older Superman shows up and explains he is the son of Perpetua and brother to the Monitor and Anti-Monitor. He is also the World Forger. He explains that to save the Multiverse, his created world must replace the existing one. The heroes vote him down and he sends them to Apokolips where Lois Lane rules. Meanwhile, the rest of the team battles a possessed Mxyptlik.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #22 by James Tynion IV and Francis Manapul. Mera and Starman are menaced by the Legion of Doom when Bat-Mite shows up to try and save the day. Twenty billion years ago, Perpetua assigns her three sons to create the Multiverse, Barbatos, and Earth which is cool but feels more like filler than it should. Over the next billion or so years, the brothers realize their mother has plans to change the Multiverse with her Doom plan, so the Source Wall becomes a place to lock her away.

More first issues reviewed

ARCHIE & FRIENDS#1 by Dan Parent. In this world of twisted takes on the Riverdale gang, it’s nice to see a straight forward, old school Archie comic. This one, called MUSIC JAM, features a handful of tales involving Archie and his band. Parent is a long time Archie artist in the classic style and every now and then…that’s what you need. No twisted plots, lots of inside jokes, some of which are plain silly, and a clean, non-threatening book for children of all ages. And let’s not forget the killer cover by Jeff Schultz. Next time around, it’s BEACH PARTY.

AVENGERS NO ROAD HOME #1 by Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub and Paco Medina. This weekly mini-series, the grounds of which were set in motion during last year’s mini-series, starts with the destruction of Olympus and all of those gods, which seriously pisses off Hercules. The big baddie here is Nyx and even Voyager is back. For completists, these issues have a legacy numbering in addition to it’s own self-contained numbering. The story is a bit on the winding side, which you could expect with three writers putting in their two cents worth, but the art is gorgeous!

BLACK WIDOW #1 by Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska and Flaviano. The twins of horror, known for such movies as DEAD HOOKER IN A TRUNK and SEE NO EVIL 2, come on board with the adventures of the presumed dead Avenger who has been hiding out since SECRET WAR ended. There were high hopes for this title and this issue, which deals with Tasha and Cap fighting against a Cap impersonator, is a letdown. I was hoping for some dark, gritty stuff and it just feels…light. Flaviano’s art is kind of cartoony and is a little inconsistent. And there is a big bad at the end of the book who looks to be a super powered pimp. Is this really what I want in a Black Widow title?  

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 by Kelly Thompson and Carmen Carnero. She’s the hottest superhero going at the moment, with the new movie dropping in March and her back issues going through the roof. So now, Marvel drops a new #1 on us to whet out appetite. Coming out of her mini-series that redefined her origin, Carol Danvers is back on Earth, dealing with that knowledge, the death of her mother and the resurrection of her man Rhodey. She is also dealing with getting hit on by Tony Stark. So, by the end, she is in another world with a new team of unknowns. Thompson does some nice stuff and possibly some of her best work since HAWKEYE, despite the obvious man-hating jabs throughout. Truly, this was a pleasant surprise.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 by Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar. After many years at Dark Horse and a very disappointing crossover with Wonder Woman as their last gasp, Robert E. Howard’s legendary hero is back home again where it all began almost a half century ago: Marvel. It begins with a beautiful collage featuring some of the classic art by some of those Marvel artists most associated with Conan and then runs headlong into a tale that ops between the past and the present, where Conan is king. Overall, it’s a fun story with a decent amount of plot, back story devices and action. All hail the King!

COSMIC GHOST RIDER DESTROYS MARVEL HISTORY #1 by Paul Scheer, Nick Giovannetti and Gerardo Sandoval. After much fanfare with advance press, Marvel unleashes this obvious cash grab. Well, what was promised is not quite what gets developed. The Cosmic Ghost Rider shows up in the recent past, where he meets up with his wife and kids. Obviously, this is before Frank’s family gets killed and The Punisher is born. So Frank’s “uncle” relates a story of how the Ghost Rider became a part of the Fantastic Four. Obviously, the whole story is totally made-up and that’s the only way it works. It’s Cosmic Frank retelling his view of the origins of the Marvel Universe. Don’t expect Earth changing things here…it’s just a little bit of silly fun.

CRYPT OF SHADOWS #1 by Al Ewing, Garry Brown, Stephen Green and Djobril Morissette-Phan. During the horror boom of the Seventies that brought us FRANKENSTEIN, WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, TALES OF THE ZOMBIE and more, Marvel produced a series of horror anthologies which featured new and reprinted material. In honor of their 80^th anniversary, Marvel gives us this one shot with three tales with a connection. It’s not E.C., but it is nice to see. Not the best food forward, except for the variant cover that feels like a Fifties horror title. A shame the insides didn’t live up to the expectation. For my dollar, I’d rather read one of the various horror reprint collections out there.

DAREDEVIL #1 by Chip Zfarsjy and Marco Checchetto. The Man Without Fear is back from the almost dead and ready to take back his spot in the world of superheroes. After a pretty useless mini-series that told tales which Matt Murdock was comatose, he’s out of the dreamworld and finds himself accused of killing a small-time crook. Looks like Wilson Fisk is back in the business of discrediting his biggest enemy. Also included is a short silent tale by Zdarsky. Basically, the book picks up from the previous run and probably didn’t need a new numbering system, although it does follow the Legacy numbering. If you were a fan of the old series, you will like this one, even with the addition of Zdarsky as the new scriber.

DOMINO HOT SHOTS #1 by Gail Simone and David Baldeon. With the end of the DOMINO series, which I really enjoyed, we get this mini-series which actually feels like a continuation of the regular series. Because it is. If you enjoyed that series, you will love this. The art is great, the story is fun and Simone’s characters and dialogue are sharp.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #1 by Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal and Marcelo Ferreira. Marvel ends their PETER PARKER title and comes back with this. Initial reports said this is all ages and allegedly out of continuity, but I question that. It is designed to focus more on Peter’s alter ego fighting street level crime in his neighborhood instead of big villains and this issue truly delivers that. The story is nicely written and has some great sentimental notes in it. But the back-up, by Taylor and Ferreira, drops some stuff that I find hard to believe is out of continuity. It’s a heavy plot drop that I really can’t believe won’t pop up as a plot point going forward in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Overall, I recommend this title if you’re a Spidey fan.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1 by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw. So, Thanos is dead and the universe has taken note. But, as always, the beheaded Thanos has a plan which would allow him to be resurrected. That leads to a wild ride which results in a reborn Guardians of the Galaxy with a ragtag group of heroes. Gone are Gamora, Rocket and Drax but now on board, whether they ant to be or not, are Star Lord, Groot, Moondragon, Phyla, Beta Ray Bill and the Cosmic Ghost Rider. Leave it to Cates to turn up the heat on what was a dead franchise. This was a ton of fun and I look forward to the next issues.

GUNHAWKS #1 by David Lapham, Maria Lapham and Luca Pizzari. Back in the day, Marvel was all about superheroes, romance titles, war books and Westerns. In this 80^th anniversary throwback one-shot, the Laphams, the driving forces behind STRAY BULLETS, tell a tale of a sheriff with a price on his head by the Soldaderas. Pizzari’s painted art is beautiful and the story is a typical Lapham jaunt with gunfights and a lot of heart. This was one of my favorites of the 80^th anniversary one-shots because it just touched back to simpler times with a twist.

INFINITY WARS INFINITY #1 by Gerry Duggan and Mark Bagley. The one-shot is a nice epilogue which ties up some dangling plot points from the mini-series but then drops a bomb into the ending which will lead to another mini-series. Adam Warlock has taken the Infinity Stones away from the heroes and is allowing them to find their own users. That’s the major plot point here as to where those stones end up and who has them.  Well written and expertly drawn by Bagley, it’s a fun piece that will set the table for the next great series.

INVADERS #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno and Butch Guice. I passed on the recent DEFENDERS reboot, which, along with recent issues of AVENGERS, has established Namor as a bad guy again, meaning he has had more face/heel turns than most Professional Wrestlers. With Zdarsky at the helm, known mostly for writing ARCHIE and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, I didn’t have high hopes for this title and the characterization of our heroes and villain. But I will totally admit that I was mistaken. Set both in the days of the World War II Invaders and in the present, the art shines and the story is fun. I was a huge fan of the classic 1970’s Invaders stories and I don’t see this attaining the same heights, but I like where it is going, especially bringing in some of those classic heroes like the original Human Torch. So this may end up on my pull list while BLACK WIDOW, which I had planned to add, may not.

JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS #1 by Cullen Bunn, Clay McLeod Chapman, Guillermo Sanna and Francesco Manna. Marvel again visits it’s past in the 80^th Anniversary one-shot. Two tales of a science fiction/fantasy nature are presented here. In the first, we have a team of scientists , an alien skeleton and a twist. In the second, a boy scout outing and a ghost story turns ugly when an alien arrives. All in all, it as old school 50’s style fun.

LOVE ROMANCES #1 by Gail Simone, Margaux Motin, Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum, Jon Adams, Roge Antonio, Pacco Dorwling-Carter, and Annapaola Martello. The 80^th anniversary one-shots continue with four tales of unrequited love and lust. I was never a fan of the romance titles but this one has some nice twists to the stories and art styles which, in many cases, seem to come from Indy comics or even harken back to the old Warren line of horror books. Truly, for me, the highlight as the variant cover of Spidey and Mary Jane, by Russell Dauterman.

MAJOR X #1 by Rob Liefeld. Well, the man who helped create Cable and Deadpool is back. In a tale set in the past, Major X debuts in a big, bold, brash title with lots of action and not much substance. While it is some of Liefeld’s best artwork in some time, the story falls flat, even with guest appearances from Beast, Wolverine, Cable and Deadpool. Oh…and a last page reveal of who Major X is and it’s just another red herring, I’m sure.

SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH #1 by Kelly Thompson and Veronica Fish. Fans of the CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA series will be severely disappointed with this one. Where the last series was all about creepy, horror stuff this is a light-hearted book that owes as much to the old TV series as it does to the classic ARCHIE series. Oh sure: there are mystical pieces and a scary monster too. But, all in all, it’s a nice, fun little book without the scary elements.

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #1 by Gerry Duggan and Ron Garney. Marvel continues mining old classic characters with a second CONAN title, now that they have gotten the license for this character back. Set in the days of a younger Conan, it’s a typical sword slinging adventure with our hero fighting, drinking and loving. Duggan’s story is truly influenced by the groundwork laid many years ago by Roy Thomas and Garney’s art truly feels like his own take on the John Buscema style. This was good Cimerian fun!

SPIDER-MAN: LIFE STORY #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley. Here’s a real unique take on the story of Peter Parker. This mini-series will follow Peter and his cast as they move through life, starting in 1966 with Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, as a 19-year-old college student. The book is filled with familiar faces including Gwen, Harry, Norman, JJJ, Flash and more. The series to promise Peter through his life to the present, which means we will get to see them all age in real time. Zdarsky’s story hits home telling a tale of turbulent times and the war in Vietnam. Bagley’s art shines as always. Can’t wait to read this rest of this series.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #1 by Christos Gage and Mike Hathorne. Spinning out of recent events in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and the recent SPIDERGEDDON mini-series, Otto Octavious is back as a “hero”. He’s been reborn in a new body and a new identity and he’s determined to split his time between working at Horizon University with his old girlfriend Anna and fighting bad guys. I was especially thrilled to see Stilt Man open the book and Terrax end it. But it’s just an okay tale with a character I find still works best as a super villain and not a wanna-be hero.

TUROK #1 by Ron Marz and Roberto Castro. I grew up as a huge fan of the Gold Key characters, especially Dr. Spektor, Solar, Magnus and Turok, although finding those books were not as easy as finding Marvel and DC books on my local newsstand. When Valiant brought these heroes back, I was thrilled. And then we have had to suffer through some reboots from Dynamite which were not exactly for my taste. But this book, by legendary writer Ron Marz is going to my youth! Bringing back Turok, Andar and the Lost Valley just means, despite having a sparse story thus far, we’re looking at some classic dinosaur meet cowboys stuff. And Castro’s art is gorgeous! So happy to have a book which looks to have great potential.

UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #1 by Ed Brisson and Carlos Gomez. Spoiler: Cyclops is back from the dead, like most heroes and villains in comics history, and this “first” annual is all about his rebirth. It seems that it goes back 13 years ago when a young Cyclops saved a man and now, so many years later, “young Cable” shows up and gets the guy to reverse engineer a device to bring Scott back from the dead…twice. So now the mutant boy scout is back and teamed up with a version of his son to lead the mutant revolution. Interesting…

WAR IS HELL #1 by Howard Chaykin, Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Alberto Alburuerque. As part of their 80^th anniversary, Marvel presents another of their rebooted one-shot of classic titles in their history. WAR IS HELL was a short-lived anthology title during the Seventies and this one picks up the baton here. A great World War II tale by legendary creator Chaykin which  shines as the highlight here while Johnson’s tale set in Afghanistan is fitting but doesn’t have the same bite that Chaykin’s does, either from a story standpoint or artistic. Overall, it’s a fun book with a great variant cover by Greg Land.

WOLVERINE INFINITY WATCH #1 by Gerry Duggan and Andy MacDonald. Well, the old Canucklehead is back from the dead and now he is in charge of finding the Infinity Stones. He meets with Loki, who fills him in on what he missed during his death, and also the future Wolverine, who possesses the Pheonix force. So he’s looking for Stones and so are the Chitauri. The story is a bit rambling with a lot of the issue spent getting our hero up to speed and the art has a nice Barry Kitson feel to it. Seek out the George Perez variant, you’ll be very happy with it!

X-FORCE #1 by Ed Brisson and Dylan Burnett. The “other” mutant team is back as Domino and company put the band back together. Along with Domino is Shatterstar, Warpath, Cannonball, Deathlok and the young Nate Summers. Also along for the ride is Boom-Boom, although not quite back with the team. I was hoping for a great book here, but unfortunately while the story is fun the art work is a little hard to swallow. When we first see the team, I found it hard to figure who was who and wasn’t 100% sure that Cannonball was on the team until Domino called him by name. I’m uncertain if I will be around for issue #2, as much as I look forward to the adventures of this rogue team.

ZIGGY PIG SILLY SEAL #1 by Frank Tieri, John Cerilli and Jacob Chabot. As part of Marvel’s 80^th Anniversary, we get another throwback one-shot. Yes: funny animal comics were once a thing and this is a nice nod to those books, especially the original version of this that was published back in the Forties. A whole of bunch of classic characters show up including Doctor Doom and…Method Man? Wow! Didn’t see that comin’! This was a fun way to end up these tribute books.

DC UNIVERSE Month 16, Part Two

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #9 by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martínez Bueno and Miguel Mendonça. The Lords of Order have appeared, while Khalid Nassour explains that Kent Nelson hasd a disagreement about the Helm of Nabu, which caused him to take control of Kent and capturing Khalid. He has also managed to release the Otherkind to destroy magic. When Etrigan tries to stop him, he separates Etrigan from Jason Blood, sending Blood to Hell. Blue Devil has Bobo use his sword to teleport themselves away from The Lords of Chaos. Back on Earth, Wonder Woman and Zatanna meet with Circe in an effort to find Mordru. Bobo’s team appears as The Lords of Chaos begin their destruction of Myrra.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #7 by Dan Abnett and Will Conrad. Blackfire has realized that Darkseid has a plan and she unleashes her army to take down and kill the team, even if that means killing her sister Starfire. Starfire takes out the Tamaran army and tries to kill Blackfire, until Cyborg stops her. The team leaves and heads off to Aeolon,, where Darkseid is now, and has been mortally wounded by the Eskaton. The team fights off the Eskaton, leaving Darkseid to claim that he had tricked them and they are the weapon he needs. Back on Tamaran, Rapture touches down.

NAOMI #3 by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. Naomi confronts Dee about who she is, leading to him explaining how he and the woman he loved were part of an elite secrete Thanagarian squad. Dee is not her father and the woman in the picture is not his mother. Naomi’s adoptive parents show up and take her away, causing her father to leas her to a secret cave where he reveals his spaceship and what appears to be his Rannian uniform.

NIGHTWING #58 by Scott Lobdell, Zack Kaplan and Travis Moore. Councilman Pollard has a bomb strapped to his chest, all thanks to the Joker’s Daughter. The Nightwings have to find a way to break in and save everyone. When they get in, they desperately try to defuse the bomb while Joker’s Daughter tries to bring the building down around them. The bombs get diffused and Ric takes out Joker’s Daughter, who manages to escape in the confusion. In the end, Ric has a heart to heart talk with Barbara Gordon.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #32 by Scott Lobdell and Stephen Segovia. Jason Todd is now in charge of the Penguin’s casino and has brought along some friends, and former enemies, to help him, like Bunker and Suzie Su. Batman shows up and Jason dares him to take him to jail for killing The Penguin, who is actually locked up in the Iceberg Lounge.

SHAZAM #4 by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham. Freddy and Darla have ended up in the Wildlands and are powerless. They get captured and are going to be fed to the tigers. Tawny the Tiger has been captured because he is reading forbidden literature. Eugene and Pedro are in the Gamelands where they find that they need to defeat the Gamesmaster to get out. In the Funlands, Shazam finds out that all of the kids who have been captured as they became adults and were put to work. Among the captured is Mary, who is now being put to work. While Billy foster parents and real dad deal with their missing kids, someone shows up at the Rock of Eternity-Black Adam.

THE SILENCER #15 by Dan Abnett and V Kenneth Marion. Hope and Raze go about their mission at Jonah Nine to kill their genetic sister. The mission goes sideways when Raze is killed and their sister wants what Hope has. Meanwhile, Hope’s husband learns that his wife is not who he thought she as when two guys from “Domestic Security Response” shows up.

SUPERGIRL #28 by Marc Andreyko and Eduardo Pansica. The clones of Kara are attacking her and the Omega Men and it turns out that the captives they were trying to save are actually Hokum’s sleeper agents. Supergirl uses the axe of Rogol Zaar to take them out. Meanwhile, Zn’dr and Krypto are trying to track down Kara, eventually getting a signal. Kara gets a solar boost from Ryand’r, who kisses her in the process. Because of their genetic makeup, the clones die from the solar blast. Kara chases after Hokum and interrogates him, where he reveals that he got his support from The Circle. He teleports away, minus his hand, and ends up with Gandelo, who interrogates him and executes him. She meets with The Circle and sends out a call for Supergirl’s death. In response, the followers of Rogol Zaar decide to take up the mantle.

SUPERMAN #9 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis. Superman is with his family on World Peace Day when Jor-El shows up and kills everyone. This is only a fantasy is his mind as Jon continues to tell of his meeting with the Crime Syndicate. Ultraman captures him and Jon spends an undetermined amount of time being mentally tortured by Ultraman, who spends hours talking, crying and raging. Eventually, Jon gets free and heads to what he thinks is this world’s version of the Hall of Justice. The results in him meeting Superwoman…

TEEN TITANS #28 by Christopher Priest, Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. THE TERMINUS AGENDA Part One. After the recent events with Deathstroke in Arkham, Damien decides the team must go out and take down Deathstroke. With Djinn’s help, the team infilitrates a barbershop and tries to take Deathstroke down. While they defeat Deathstroke and take him to Damien’s jail, Roundhouse’ body seems to fall apart and he turns into a living blob of sorts. Later, Damien interrogates Deathstroke, Kid Flash shows up and questions what is up with this jail he wasn’t aware of.

THE TERRIFICS #14 by Jeff Lemire and Joe Bennett. On Earth-30, the reunited team, where their other worldly counterparts, battle Java and his team of Dreadfuls. Together, they take them down and turn them over to the House of Heroes, where they already have a jail filled with Java’s from the Multiverse. With the addition of Mrs. Terrific, Offspring and Element Dog, the new team is ready for action.

TITANS #35 by Dan Abnett and Bruno Redondo. Lord Travesty has killed Ernest and Beast Boy is attacking the Titans, while Raven is battling her evil half. Travesty frees the good side of Raven’s soul self, revealing he has planning on helping them all along. Ernest isn’t dead and uses his magic to free Steel and Kyle. They convince Raven’s soul self to rejoin with her other side and restore order. Kyle carves a message into Steel’s hammer and they transport it back to the Hall of Justice. Raven’s restored soul self enters Raven again and she uses her new powers to stop Beast Boy’s rampage. But Mother Blood has reinforcements and they arrive to continue the fight.

WONDER TWINS #2 by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne. Scrambler uses his mind control powers to break out of Lexicon Prison. He tries to join Lex and the Legion and ends up with the League of Annoyance. Zan and Jayna head off on an Honor Club field trip to Lexicon Prison. Later, they meet up with Beast Boy, who is making a commercial for Hot Mess Fruit Pies. Later, Zan orders himself a pet monkey and the pair take on Drunkula, who was trying to quit drinking blood but that becomes a fail after he is incarcerated. In the end, Gleep arrives.

WONDER WOMAN #66 by G. Willow Wilson and Cary Nord. In Rocky Mountain National Park, Maggie and the mythical animals are looking for a place to hide. Meanwhile, Diana and Aphrodite are on their way to help them. When they arrive, they find two Titans fighting Maggie and the animals. Mid-battle, Diana leaves and goes off to talk to Amanda Waller and ask for one of her prisoners to help. In the end, Wonder Woman returns with some muscle-Giganta.

WONDER WOMAN #67 by G. Willow Wilson and Cary Nord. Diana and Giganta face off and defeat the Titans before going off to breakfast together. Meanwhile, Maggie and the animals continue their journey, with she and Eirne sharing an intimate moment. In the end, Maggie goes into a lake and retrieves a sword

YOUNG JUSTICE #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and Patrick Gleason. Impulse and Superboy have a brief reunion before being challenged by the warriors from the Court of Opal. In a flashback, we see how Connor Kent was once struggling with high school life and was discovered by a secret organization that was experimenting a giant gem, which transported him to Gemworld. Back in the present, Superboy introduces Impulse to his wife and son. Elsewhere, the team finds itself being held in an underground jail.

DC UNIVERSE Month 16, Part One

ACTION COMICS #1009 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Epting. Superman has taken Amanda and Jimmy to the Fortress of Solitude to protect them after the Leviathan attack. She tells them, including a very distraught Lois, who is concerned that Waller knows his secret identity, that Sam Lane had a heart attack during their meeting. Superman checks in on him in the hospital, meets with The Question and then heads to Japan to find a curious note mentioning Leviathan. After going to the Batcave to meet Alfred, he goes to the site of the DEO destruction, where he finds Director Bones devastated by the destruction. Back at the Fortress, Lois breaks out some Gold Kryptonite, which allows them to change their appearance and become Chaz and Andi Donen-agents of Spyral.

ADVENTURES OF THE SUPER SONS #8 by Peter J. Tomasi and Carlo Barberi. Lex has his new Injustice Army in place and thy take don the prison warden and take control of the prison. Meanwhile Damian gives Jon and Joker Jr. a tour of the Batcave he built. Together, they all go off to find the Green Lantern recruit. With the four of them masquerading, Jon and Damian are delivered to Luthor and crew, but Luthor sees through the ruse. Rex blasts Joker Jr. and jettisons the remainder of the team into space.

AQUAMAN #46 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha. The Old Gods arrive on the island while Aquaman battles Cailleach. Namma reveals that Caillie was created to hold Namma’s missing component, through which her ultimate power will be released. Knowing this will kill Caille, Aquaman battles Namma, which frees her control of Caille, before Namma turns into a giant dragon. Things look bad for our hero, but that is when the Old Gods arrive to lend a hand.

BATGIRL #33 by Mairghread Scott and Elena Casagrande. It’s Election Day in Gotham and Barbara should be helping at Congressperson Luciana Alejo’s headquarters, but she has found out that her brother James has been released from prison. This sends her on a citywide search 
for her brother, encountering Bard, her father and eventually James along the way. James claims he is under control of his urges due to the drugs he is on, but he fights the urge every day. In the end, it’s obvious that James is being plagued by The Batman Who Laughs.

BATMAN #66 by Tom King and Jorge Fornes. The Question interrogates Selina about how she met Batman and their relationship.

BATMAN #67 by Tom King and Lee Weeks. Batman spends the entire issue chasing after a masked criminal, who turns out to be The Joker. Hen he asks Joker why this all happened, Joker replies “Beep Beep”.

BATMAN BEYOND #30 by Dan Jurgens and Doc Shaner. It seems that The Joker isn’t really dead and he’s poised to kill Matt. But it’s only a nightmare of Matt’s. In actuality, Barbara reveals that The Joker has died of a heart attack. That lads Terry to go out and take down the remaining four members of the Jokerz. Matt follows in an attempt to help, but that leads to him almost getting killed by a momentary distraction by Hearts. In the end, the Bat Family insists that Robin needs to retire. And what appears to be an aged Harley goes to the morgue and takes Joker’s body.

THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS: THE GRIM KNIGHT #1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Eduardo Risso. The Grim Knight has captured Commissioner Gordon and reveals his origin. His Bruce Wayne took revenge on the perp who killed his parents, which led him to a life of violent vigilantism. On his world, he kills all of the bad guys, until he got arrested by Jim Gordon. Back in the present, he is ready to kill our Jim Gordon until The Batman Who Laughs arrives and stops him, saying he has plans that are worse than death for Gordon.

CATWOMAN #9 by Ram V and John Timms. Selina pulls off a heist tpulls it off and gets back a stolen bracelet for her friend Carlos.

THE CURSE OF BRIMSTONE #12 by Justin Jordan and Denys Cowan. Brimstone battles it out with the Elemental known as The Home Office. He pushes his powers to the limit and sets off a nuclear blast which kills all of the other world villains and strips him of the power. But the cost is that the power has gone to Annie.

DAMAGE #15 by Robert Venditti and Aaron Lopresti. Ethan finds himself being chased through the jungle by a bunch of monsters including the Shaggy Man, the Beast of Belmora and Death Dog. Congo Bill arrives and uses his ring to scare the monsters away. He explains that Ethan needs to solve his problems eventually comes to his aid, calling the beasts off with his ring powers, explaining to Ethan that he will have to without Damage’ help. Ethan agrees to let Congo Bill train him. Echidna, the Mother of all Monsters, gains control of all the monsters and creates one big super monster. The super monster arrives and takes down Bill, forcing Ethan to let Damage loose. Echidna declares that she will claim Monster Rock for herself.

DEATHSTROKE #41 by Christopher Priest and Fernando Pasarin. Slade has broken out of Arkham and is now being hunted for killing people, who were really aliens. That’s when Damian gets involved.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1000 by Scott Snyder, Kevin Smith, Paul Dini, Warren Ellis, Denny O'Neil, Christopher Priest, Brian Michael Bendis, Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Tom King, Greg Capullo, Jim Lee, Dustin Nguyen, Becky Cloonan, Steve Epting, Neal Adams, Kelley Jones, Alvaro Martinez-Bueno, Tony S. Daniel, Doug Mahnke and Alex Maleev. In a series of vignettes by some of the legendary names in comics, we travel through stories in Batman life. The highlight is the introduction of the Arkham Knight.

DIAL H FOR HERO #1 by Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones.  Miguel wanted to be a daredevil as a kid and once got saved by Superman. Now he lives with his Uncle Brent and works on his Uncle’s Mayonnaise food truck. He helps out a runaway girl named Summer, before trying to jump a gap on his bike after work. He seemingly is falling to his death when a red phone appears, telling him to dial H if he wants to live. He ends up in a magical phone booth which takes him to an alternate dimension. The dialing of the phone alerts a host of DC heroes including Robin, Lobo, Snapper Carr, Angel and the Ape, Harley Quinn, and Alfred. Miguel transforms into the hero Monster Truck, who allows him to leap out of the dimension and to safety on our world. But the police are after him for the damage he apparently caused and Summer, in the stolen Mayonnaise truck, comes to his rescue. The phone rings again and a mysterious figure known as The Operator, who is from a place called the Heroverse, tells him that the Thunderbolt Club is coming for the phone and ill kill him if needed.

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #9 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. After the energy blast that occurred in Moscow, many DC heroes head off to Mars to find the source of that explosion. The team faces off against Dr. Manhattan, who easily defeats them. He then shows Ron how Dr. Stein actually planned the merge that happened because of the “accident” that created Firestorm. Captain Atom shows up and destroys Dr. Manhattan. But he quickly reassembles and seemingly eliminates the gathered heroes. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman is testifying at the U.N., when Black Adam and his team arrive, saying that he is ready to make his move.

THE FLASH #66 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. The original Trickster James Jesse reveals how he grew up in an unhappy home with his parents, who patterned  themselves after The Flying Graysons. He is forced to do a very dangerous stunt and that changes his life. But he actually is playing a part and that wins over the crowd, as his scared state is only an act. The parents actually pick-pocketed the crowd and the lesson was to succeed you must deceive. He talks about his life of crime and we see that Warden Wolfe was using torture to hurt him while in Iron Heights, eventually escaping to try to win back his name from the new Trickster.

THE FLASH #67 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Kolins. The Flash takes on the Dark Church of the Black Hand. After he defeats them, he discovers that everyone likes and appreciates The Flash, including Warden Wolfe and Director Singh. Also, Kristen introduces everyone to her new boyfriend- James Jesse, also known as The Trickster.

GREEN ARROW #50 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Javier Fernandez. Black Canary has been charged with taking down Green Arrow, and to take back the box he received from Martian Manhunter that has the potential to take down the Justice League if needed. In the end, Dinah turns on her team, allowing Ollie to be rescued and told to leave. He gets his box and finds it’s empty, leading him to go off on his own, promising that he will face the Justice League one day soon.

THE GREEN LANTERN #5 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. On the planet Vorr, Countess Belzebeth gives Hal Jordan three trials to complete in order to get all the pieces of the Blackstar suit. In the end, he completes the trials and becomes a Blackstar. What Belzebeth may not know is that the Guardians has assigned him to go undercover to infiltrate the Blackstars. Belzebeth gives him a final test to prove his loyalty-kill Adam Strange.

HARLEY QUINN #59 by Sam Humphries and Sam Basri. Harley wakes up as a cockroach and sends the entire issue trying to figure how to change back. After Petite Tina is humiliated at a dunk tank event, Harley takes her place, learning the lesson that you shouldn’t judge someone because of how they look. But that also allows her to complete her second trial.

HAWKMAN #10 by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch. The Deathbringers have arrived and Idamm battles Hawkman. Hawlman finally figures out what all of his trips to his past selves men and calls together his own army of his past selves to battle Idamm aitting nd the Deathbingers.

HEROES IN CRISIS #7 by Tom King and Clay Mann. Harley Quinn is hitting Booster Gold’s force field with her mallet while Batgirl and Blue Beetle watch. Batgirl realizes that Beetle is powering the force field and she knocks him out. Batgirl tells Harley not to kill him, but Booster is prepared to die. The pair realizes that each thinks the other is responsible and become friends. When Beetle wakes he remarks how today is five days since Wally died and, since Wally’s body was five days older when he died, they need to go find him. Wally is in a field of flowers, where he creates Poison Ivy out of a flower, before apologizing to her for having to witness his death. That’s when another Wally West shows up.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #19 by Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez. To help with their mission against the Legion, the League calls in Mr. Mxyzptlk, who puts them through their paces until they convince him they need all the help they can get to defeat Perpetua. He explains that beyond the Fifth Dimension is the Sixth Dimension, which is the home of Perpetua, the Monitor, Anti-Monitor and the World Forger. The Fifth Dimension is dying because of the Source Wall being destroyed, so he needs their help as much as they need his. Superman goes to the Sixth Dimension and comes back moments later, explaining he had been thee for over a decade and, based on his older looks, he has. They all proceed to the Sixth Dimension, where they meet older versions of themselves.

DC UNIVERSE Month 15, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #8 by James Tynion IV and Alvarez Martínez Bueno. The team members are all over trying to stop the various events connected to Otherkind, Meanwhile, Man-Bat is in the basement of the Hall of Justice, trying to find a way to free Khalid Nassour from the urn he took from Dr. Fate’s tower. At the Oblivion Bar, the place is filling up with magic types rescued from Otherkind. The Upside Down man shows up and Bobo has to open a portal to Myrra to get everyone away from him. Zatanna and Wonder Woman have gone to Papa Midnite’s bar to gather intel about the location of Mordru. Man-Bat succeeds in saving Khalid, who warns that Dr. Fate is looking to kill magic and restore order. That’s when Fate shows up with the Lords of Order.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #6 by Dan Abnett and Carmine di Giandomenico. Darkseid is on the planet Aeolon, where he is using the inhabitants to help him find a site for a new Apokolips. They turn on him, as they had been programmed by Brainiac to stop Darkseid. Meanwhile, the team heads to Tamaran, where they crash land and find the planet as all but been destroyed. Blackfire arrives and explains that this is Darkseid’s doing after he reneged on a deal to spare their planet from the effects of the Ghost Sector. To make sure his plan fails, Blackfire’s army must kill the Odyssey team.

NAOMI #2 by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker and Jamal Campbell. Naomi continues to try and get information from Dee, who gets upset and tosses her out of his shop. Baack at home, Naomi questions her adoptive parents about her true parents and gets nowhere. Later, while talking with Annabelle, she learns that Dee was once in Iron Heights. That night, she sneaks out to go to Dee’s place and finds a photograph of a bearded man, presumed to be Dee, with a woman bearing a resemblance to Naomi.  

NIGHTWING #57 by Scott Lobdell, Zack Kaplan and Travis Moore. Ric sends some quality time with Bea before she heads off to meet with Barbara Gordon. Later, Councilman Pollard is attacked and kidnapped by Duela Dent, who trusses him up with a bomb and sends him off to a restaurant filled with people. Elsewhere, Ric seems to like the idea of working, as needed, with Sapienza’s team.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #31 by Scott Lobdell and Pete Woods. Jason has been captured by

Solitary, who reveals he was responsible for teaming Bizarro and Artemis with Jason. He is also the man behind Underlife and is responsible for creating all of the genetically altered Solomon Mondays. During their fight, Bunker gets free. Jason and his dog head off to track down Solitary and comes across Wingman in the process, who rumbles with him and tries to get him on his side. Jason eventually finds Solitary, who reveals he was working for the government, who strapped people up to a machine to mine their minds. Lex Luthor authorized a massacre of the lab and, in the process, becomes merged with the other two inmates on the machine. Solitary says that he is creating an empire to give to Jason, his son, when Jason realizes this is a FAKE Solitary and throughs a crowbar through it, before escaping. In the end, Jason and his new friends visit Roy’s grave and head off to Gotham.

SHAZAM #3 by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham. King Kid hosts a party in Funland and declares that he is to be the seventh member of the Marvel family. Mary is suspicious of everything, but King Kid says they can leave…before he has his followers attack the kids. Eugene, Billy and Pedro transform into their Marvel selves while trying to save their friends and not cause too much destruction. In the process, Eugene and Pedro end up in Gameland while Darla and Freddy end up in The Wildlands, where they are going to be taken to the tigers.

SIDEWAYS #13 by Dan Didio and Kenneth Rocafort. Tempus reveals to The Giver how he found Derek, gave him his powers and sent him back to Earth. Meanwhile, Derek tries to get acquainted with his biological mother, when his father tells him there is a break in the case involving the death of his mother. Derek meets with Detective Hopkins, who tells him a security guard named Jimmy was involved. Derek tracks down Sandy Bridwell: his mother’s assistant. It seems she was looking for a promotion and, with Jimmy’s help, they knocked out Derek’s mom. But the hit to her head was too hard and that killed her. He uses her powers to send her somewhere. In the end, he finally replies to his mother’s text from before she died. And, unbeknownst to him, someone answers…

THE SILENCER #14 by Dan Abnett and V Ken Marion. Brought back through the Lazarus Pit and now a devoted follower of Talia, Hope goes out on her first mission. After the mission is completed, Hope reveals she is not under Talia’s control. She gets called to a meeting with Talia and is told that she was used as a child in an experiment by Talia’s father to produce genetically altered children. Two died and the other two are Raze and Hope. She sends Hope off to find Splycer, the architect behind this, and take out him and any other children. Meanwhile, Hope’s husband and son find out that Hope wasn’t the simple housewife they thought she was when they find a secret buried in their backyard.

  

SUPERGIRL #27 by Marc Andreyko and Eduardo Pansica. Zn’dr is on a warship with his adoptive mother while taking care of an injured Krypto. Mom is upset that her son disobeyed her and is convinced that Supergirl is here to destroy her. The two argue and Krypto leaps off the table, destroys the mother’s hand and allows the pair to escape. Back at the prison, Supergirl is in a fight with Splyce, which is being watched by Harry Hokum,. During the fight, a young female prisoner is killed in a crossfire, which leads to Kara erupting and using her powers to take out Splyce. Two aliens are analyzing Zaar’s axe, which flies off and goes straight to Kara, who wants to kill Splyce but decides against it. The Omega men arrive and help the wounded prisoners, where Kara meets Starfire’s brother Ryand’r. Hokum is pretty pissed at the outcome of the battle and has decided to his new army on them-an army of Supergirl cones. While checking the prisoners, Kara notices a strange scar on their necks, which she recalls is Kryptonian cloning tech.

SUPERMAN #8 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis and Brandon Peterson. While Jon is being healed by Kelex, Superman goes off and fights Mongul. Upon returning, it is revealed that Jon is normal 17-year old Kryptonian. Jon continues his tale of being with Jor-El, wile meeting some of the Green Lanterns in the process. Later, as Jor-El is prepared to send Jon home, their ship is attacked and Jor-El disappears, leaving Jon alone with a vary angry and confused looking group of altered Justice League members-members from another Earth.

TEEN TITANS #27 by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. Red Arrow spends some time consoling and bonding with Crush while Roundhouse takes Kid Flash to his house for dinner with Roundhouse’ mom.  D’Jinn reveals to Robin how she had betrayed her evil brother and ended up trapped in the ring as punishment, who was then used over the centuries to do unspeakable things. Just when they are about to kiss, Damien gets notification that Deathstroke has escaped from Arkham.

THE TERRIFICS #13 by Jeff Lemire and Joe Bennett. Java and his team attack Mr. Terrific and his wife from another world. Leading to them jumping through a bunch of Earths in the Multiverse to escape, before ending up on Earth 30. Java and the Dreadfuls arrive and just when things look the worst, the rest of The Terrifics arrive: Metamorpho, Element Dog, Phantom Girl, Plastic Man, his son Luke…and Tesla Strong.

TITANS #34 by Dan Abnett and Bruno Redondo. Mother Blood is interrogating Steel and Kyle Rayner, to use their information to get The Bleed into the entire multiverse. She reveals that Raven has been split in two, with a good self and the bad self being Commander Lenore. During this, Ernest realizes that this isn’t right and tells Lord Travesty he is sorry for making him this way and will fix it. But when Hinton goes to help Steel and Kyle, Travesty betrays him and seemingly kills him. Meanwhile, the rest of the tem fights and defeats their enemy, but then Raven sees Lenore and that turns the tide against the Titans. In the end, Beast Boy is infected with the Red.

WONDER TWINS #1 by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne. Zan and Jayna start their day at school with Zan giving an embarrassing report about how their race deal with the onset of puberty. Later, they are at the Hall of Justice, where Zan doesn’t quite understand what it’s like to be Justice League members and get to babysit the Hll while the League takes on Mxyzptlk. Later, during track practice, Zan experiences Thunderlust for the first time, resulting in a new nickname for him. In the end, Mxyzptlk shows up in the Hall and Jayna gets the supercomputer to say his name backwards, sending him packing.

WONDER WOMAN #64 by G. Willow Wilson and Jesus Merino. Veronica Cale, who is convinced that Olympus and Themyscira have been destroyed, is talking with an imprisoned Nemesis. Meanwhile, Diana is taking care of the wounded Steve Trevor and Aphrodite. Cadmus the Pegasus arrives and takes Diana to Washington D.C. , where she finds a huge crater and Nemesis, who reveals that Cale is behind everything. The pair fight and Cale shows up to frame Diana for attacking her employee. Cale insists that it might be time for heroes to be registered to stop this kind of trouble. Then she reveals that Themsycira has been destroyed, which leads to Diana leaving in despair.

WONDER WOMAN #65 by G. Willow Wilson and Jesus Merino. Diana meets with Steve and Aphrodite before heading out to find Nemesis. She finds her in a cave that she has made into her lair and Nemesis attacks. Diana gets bit by Nemesis, who reveals that she has used her power to control Cale, not the other way around. Diana realizes that Cale is in trouble and she buries Nemesis in her cave. Meeting with Cale in the end, Diana reveals that Nemesis as controlling her and promises to find her daughter if Cale backs off on her lawsuit and plans to have superheroes be registered.

YOUNG JUSTICE #2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Patrick Gleason and Emanuela Lupacchino. Robin is teamed up with Amethyst in Gemworld while, back on Earth Wonder Girl meets Jinny Hex and Teen Lantern. Cassie reveals that she met with her grandfather a few weeks ago and he gave her an amulet that is part of the Trinity of the Gods and it is her duty of follow her destiny. Back in the present, she transports Hex, Lantern and herself to Gemworld, where they meet up with Robin and Amethyst. And that’s when Lord Opal of the Gemworld shows up.

DC UNIVERSE Month 15, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1008 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Epting. Adam Strange goes to the D.E.O. and meets with Director Bones, which is a short meeting as the big blue light from last issue shows up and destroys the D.E.O. and almost all within it. Elsewhere, Amanda Waller meets with Sam Lane, before they encounter the mysterious blue light. When they awake, Waller shoots Lane. Lois Lane finally makes her way back to the Daily Planet, here she finds her old desk occupied by Robinson Goode. In her new space, she and Clark find a scared Jimmy Olsen, who is still suffering from the blue light attack that wiped out Kobra. Amanda Waller arrives and declares that Leviathan has arrived.

ADVENTURES OF THE SUPER SONS #7 by Peter J. Tomasi and Carlo Barberi. A captured Joker Jr. is being interrogated about the location of the Super Sons by two other prisoners: Rex and Grundette. Flashing back a week, we see that Jon was being held in solitary confinement to dampen his powers. Robin is out in Levitztown, looking for Jon, beating up some villains for answers. AL-X, a Green Lantern in training, sends Robin off to meet Gizmo, who Joker Jr. had previously met with. Gizmo sends Robin off to an obvious trap, where Rex and Grundette are waiting. Just as things look grim, Jon appears, having gained his strength back from a stray ray of sunlight in his cell.

AQUAMAN #45 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha. Andy and Caille take a boat ride, where Caille explains how the world  was created by the gods known as Father Sea and Mother Salt. When the gods killed Father Sea, Mother Salt killed all the new gods, became Namma, creating the sun and humans in the process. Namma was then separated into seven parts and sent around the world. She has been able to assemble six of them, needing just one piece to be complete. It turns out that Caille is not Namma’s daughter, but the last part she needs to become a restored Namma.

BATGIRL #32 by Mairghread Scott and Norm Rapmund. Batgirl has made her way into the Gotham News Service where Cormorant is poised to kill Alejo. This leads to an uneasy alliance between Batgirl and Bard. Cormorant makes his way into the live interview and Bard takes a bullet to save Alejo. Just as he is ready to kill her, Batgirl shows up and cripples him, but he still manages to take her hostage. Batgirl tries to make a deal with him but Bard assassinates him before things get out of hand. Alejo is saved, ut Batgirl still doesn’t trust Bard. And who is the person behind Cormorant anyway?

BATMAN #64 by Joshua Williamson and Guillem March. Part One of THE PRICE. Batman is still troubled by the massacre at Sanctuary, that resulted in the deaths of Wally West and Roy Harper, among others. Over at the Flash Museum, there is an attack, which leads to Batman and The Flash teaming up to save everyone. Batman reveals this is just another calculated attack by Gotham Girl, designed to hurt Batman. Gotham Girl has been busy: she has resurrected her brother. Continued in THE FLASH #64.

BATMAN #65 by Joshua Williamson and Guillem March. Part Three of THE PRICE. Gotham Girl relates her origin story, which isn’t the real story. She monologues that she needs a real origin. Meanwhile, Batman and Flash continue their fight with the clones, who eventually burn themselves out by using their powers. At Central City Police Department, Gotham Girl and the Flash fight, but the Hank arrives and beats down The Flash. But Hank’s powers burn out and he dies again. Batman arrives and that leads to a distraught Gotham Girl powering up.

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THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS #3 by Scott Snyder and Jock. Batman and Gordon meet with James Jr., trying to convince him to go back to his murdering ways to defeat the Batman Who Laughs. James Jr. declines but then the Grim Knight shows up and kidnaps Gordon. Elsewhere, the Batman Who Laughs meets with Penguin, kills an elderly Bruce Wayne and tells Penguin to look for a traitor in his organization named Matches Malone. Batman again meets with James Jr., but gets a call from Alfred saying the Joker made his y off the table, attacked Alfred and escaped. In the end, Alfred goes in the Bat Cave and finds that Batman has embraced the Dark Side.

BATMAN BEYOND #29 by Dan Jurgens and Brett Booth. Joker has captured Robin and is prepared to kill him with a crowbar on live tv unless he reveals who the mysterious “Bruce” is.  Batman shows up to rescue him, but finds he is not there. In actuality, Joker has made his way to the Batcave, as Robin gave up Bruce Wayne’s secret. The former Batman and The Joker duel with crowbars and, just before the clown is ready to kill his long-time enemy, he has a heart attack and dies.

CATWOMAN #8 by Joelle Jones and Elena Casagrande. Mrs. Creel meets with a mysterious woman who has a special elixir she needs. She also sees an artifact which the source of the elixir is. Penguin hires Catwoman to obtain the artifact while Creel uses the elixir to resurrect her dead son. Catwoman makes her way through the stronghold of the guardian of the artifact, fighting with her to obtain it. Although she is beaten badly, Catwoman gets the upper hand and is given the artifact, despite the warning that it will only bring problems. Catwoman takes it back to the Penguin, who apparently has double crossed her.

THE CURSE OF BRIMSTONE #11 by Justin Jordan and Denys Cowan. Annie and Joe battle the Salesman’s followers, leading to the rift being opened. In the end, Infernal crosses over, stating that it’s a pleasure to finally meet Brimstone.

DAMAGE #14 by Robert Venditti and Aaron Lopresti. Damage fights his way through Monster Island before finally getting saved by Congorilla. When his human host wakes up, he tells his story to Congo Bill. Bill locks himself into a special cage as his mind is transferred into Congorilla, who proclaims that they’re all monsters here.

DEATHSTROKE #40 by Christoper Priest, Fernando Pasarin and Carlo Pagulayan. Two-Face has helped Rose get free and now sends her home. Deathstroke continues to try to break out Arkham and that means fighting a true Rogue’s Gallery of villains, ending up with him facing Hugo Strange, who shoots himself in the head. Deathstroke remarks how the gun which was used to kill Two-Face was actually filled with non-lethal gel bullets. Devon shows up and they make heir way out to go battle aliens, complete with a Fourth Wall break involving Rob Liefeld. They take down the aliens and shut the portal down, which is an old television set. In the end, Robin and Kid Flash investigate the Arkham breakout, which will lead to a crossover between this title and TEEN TITANS.

DETECTIVE COMICS #998 by Peter J. Tomasi and Dough Mahnke. Battle battle Strange for answers into the mysterious events of the recent past, which leads the Dark Knight to tell a tale of teaming up with Etrigan to fight demons. That leads him to meet with Cyborg’s father, who turns out to be an illusion. It looks like the real villain here…is a younger version of Batman himself.

DETECTIVE COMICS #999 by Peter J. Tomasi and Dough Mahnke. Batman faces his younger self, which turns out to be, just like everything that has happened over the past few issues, a self-immersive computer program called 2.1 Landscape. Batman runs it every year on his birthday to make him a better detective and crime fighter. In the end, after his team gets him out of the machine, he goes out to dinner with Leslie and Alfred.

THE FLASH #64 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval. Part Two of THE PRICE.  Gotham Girl is with her brother, who may be resurrected, but is looking ill. Behind her is a mysterious figure who apparently is behind it all. Meanwhile, Batman and The Flash are investigating the attack at the Flash Museum, before heading off to the Caribbean, where they investigate a castle filled with articles about the Justice League. Heading into another room, they find the lab filled with clones and Venom, meaning Bane may be the mysterious figure back Gotham Girl’s actions. Barry finds Psycho Pirate’s mask and asks Batman if he ever sent Gotham Girl to Sanctuary. Gotham Girl shows up and inserts another dose of Venom into the machines, bringing the clones to life. Gotham Girl reveals her next target is the Central City Police Department, before heading out and leaving Flash and Batman to deal with their attackers. Continued in BATMAN #65.

THE FLASH #65 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval. Batman and the Flash battle Gotham Girl to try to save her. Troubled by Wally’s death, Flash is determined to save her life when she is in danger of dying from using her powers and being affected by the Venom Toxin. Iris is there and she tees off on Batman for letting Wally die at Sanctuary. Gotham Girl, who has no memory of what she has done, is put into stasis until she has been cured. Flash and Batman get into a fight over the whole Sanctuary thing, which leads to Flash racing out of the Batcave. In the end, set in the future, Batman has a discussion with Batman concerning events we have yet to see and asks if we can trust Barry. The Year of the Villain is coming…

GREEN ARROW #49 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Javier Fernandez. Count Vertigo continues to demand Roy Harper so he can have his revenge for being imprisoned. The two battle until finally Ollie tell him that Roy is dead. Vertigo, upset that his revenge can’t be obtained, tells Ollie that Roy is another citizen that he couldn’t save, which causes Ollie to snap and he prepares to kill Vertigo until Canary intervenes. In the end, a mysterious robot arrives to meet with Canary with orders from the government to destroy Green Arrow.

THE GREEN LANTERN #4 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. In a space bar, a Blackstar tells a tale of how one of her people saved a planet that was threatened by sun-eaters. A four-armed space man tells a tale of how three Green Lanterns actually went to another planet that had been threatened by sun-eaters. Jordan’s plan is to get some good deeds done before being taken into custody for killing a prisoner. A Green Lantern that is a sentient star arrives and diverts the sun-eater so it can be taken into custody. It is revealed that Jordan was taken into custody by the Guardians and was taken away for mental therapy. Jordan is then revealed to be the four-armed space man and the Blackstar is really Countess Delzebeth. Jordan is here to join th Darkstars and is offering a power ring in exchange for his admission to the team.

HARLEY QUINN #58 by Sam Humphries and John Timms. The Harley/Batman team-up continues as they try to find who killed Dr. Regelmann. Along the ay, she stops a wife beater. Batman brings her to Arkham, even as she admits to knowing ho did this. It turns out Lord Death Man as responsible, which leads to the new Dynamic Duo to take him down. Batman lets her go and she meets with Mirand’r who congratulates her on passing the first trial. But there are three witches who are still not happy Harley messed with Captain Triumph.

HAWKMAN #9 by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch. Carter meets with Xanadu and explains that the Deathbringers are coming. No sooner does that happen when the Deathbringers show up, leading to a fight between them and Hawkman. During the battle, Carter’s old friend Idamm shows up, leading to a fight between them.  Idamm gains the advantage and is ready to kill Hawkman.

HEROES IN CRISIS #6 by Tom King, Clay Mann and Mitch Gerads. During a series of flashbacks, we see moments with Wally, Harley and Gnarrk, during their time in VR at Sanctuary. In the end, Gnarrk dies, Roy is near death and Wally is comforting him when he takes an energy blast to the chest. Booster walks in with his energy weapon ready and sees Harley, with both saying neither is supposed to be there.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #17 by Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung. Martian Manhunter is on Mars in the Sh’Anne Valley when he is forced to team up with Lex to survive. J’onn recalls being in the scientist lab as a child and being befriended by a young boy named Albie. J’onn agrees to work with Lex if he helps him find Albie. The pair team up to survive before both men get transported back to their respective bases. In the end, it is revealed that the scientist is Lionel Luthor and Albie was Lex.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #18 by James Tynion IV and Pasqual Ferry. Luthor and Brainiac team-up to find how to bring Perpetua back to life. Brainiac reveals he wants Perpetua and her power for himself and reveals how Vandal Savage was the first to discover the Nth Metal, leading to a lifelong search for all the keys of Totality. Eventually, Savage turns on Lionel, turning him into a broken alcoholic. This was the reason for Lex killing Savage as revenge. In the end, the pair focus their minds onto the orb to bring Perpetua back to life.