DC UNIVERSE Month 88, Part 2

HARLEY QUINN #51 by Elliot Kalan and Mirka Andolfo. While Harley continues to fight with Quintellect, that has taken her over, the citizen captives decide to come to Harley’s defense before Gunbunny and Mayfly can kill Harley. Harley and Quintellect come together and have something equivalent to virtual sex, allowing Harley to come to and subdue the villains, with them eventually being brought back to their boss. Undaunted, she has a plan and has hired Ravanger to take out Mrs. Grimaldi.

JSA #7 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael De Latorre. The members of the JSA gather for Wildcat’s funeral filled with memories and hard feelings. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman arrive and offer their help, accusing the JSA of not handling their jobs well. In the demon dimension, Hawkman, Hawkwoman and Kid Eternity try to make their way out along a brimstone path. Kid Eternity receives a summons and passes through a tunnel where she is greeted by the original, deceased members of the JSA, who ask her for her help.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #7 by Mark Waid and Travis Moore. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART FIVE. The time displaced villains unleash their attack on the Watchtower as many Justice League members find themselves scattered throughout time. Superman, Batman, and Robin are in Arabia 14,000 BC, The Captain and Stargirl are trapped in 19,000 BC. Flash and Green Arrow are stuck in Tombstone in 1872. Mr. Terrific, Suoergirl, and Martian Manhunter are on Jupiter in the distant future. Nightwing and Beast Boy are at the End of Time, while Green Lantern and Thunderlord are in 40,000 BC.  Suddenly, they all receive a transmission from Air Wave, where he apologizes and it is revealed that he was weaponized and responsible for them being time displaced. On the Watchtower, Grodd shows his teammates the Omega Rift and shows off the only known fragment from Apokolips. Seeing that Grodd looks to take the Ultimate Power for himself, Lex attacks Grodd and grabs the rock from Apokolips, only to discover it is a ruse. Air Wave uses his power and has it amplified by the other Leaguers, allowing them to arrive at the Watchtower and are ready to fight back. To be concluded in JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #8.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE ATOM PROJECT #5 by Ryan Parrott, John Ridley, and Mike Perkins. In the past, we see how the military, led by General Eiling, demand that the Atoms release Captain Atom to him so the military can test his powers. He proceeds to strip powers from those affected and then leaves the Watchtower. In the present, Inferno meets with Captain Atom while also attacking Eiling and the military. Captain Atom saves Eiling and allows Inferno to take him. Inferno reveals themselves as the Legion of Doom, threatening to change the world now that they have access to his powers.

METAMORPHO THE ELEMENT MAN #6 by Al Ewing and Steve Leiber. Metamorpho seemingly sacrifices himself to save the Earth and meets Mark Merlin, now known as Prince Ra-Man. Ra-Man shows Metamorpho how this was an unfair fight because it should have happened in an earlier era. After defeating Ra-Man, Metamorpho resumes his mission and destroys Solaris using Hydrogen, which also kills him. In the end, Superman returns Metamorpho’s remains from Sol II and they end up in a lab with Stagg deciding he can bring the hero back to life.

MISTER TERRIFIC: YEAR ONE #1 by Al Letson and Valentine De Landro. In the past, Michael Holt meets with his friend Dre, where he reveals what he calls a skeleton key, as he continues to tinker with his T-Sphere, which may be used as Dre’s personal trainer app. Dre shows Holt a news report that declares people on the South side of Gateway City are being sickened by a loud noise coming from Prescott Tower. It seems to be related to an engine being tested by Athena Prescott of Prescott Industries. Holt, who has lost his wife Paula, refuses to get involved. Later, a team of individuals break into Prescott Tower but their entry is seen by Athena and she activates the engine, debilitating most of them. Dre calls Holt and says he is in trouble, leading to Holt to come get him. he does and they flee town. But, when they stop, a sniper shoots Dre, killing him.

THE NEW GODS #6 by Ram V,  Evan Cagle and Filipe Andrade. The Black Racer drives Lightray to The Source after his death at the hands of Karok. He explains they must travel through liminal space and must do so while avoiding The Darkness, which cannot enter liminal space. But it does, breaking the rules, leading to Black Racer leading The Darkness away to protect Lightray’s soul. He then demands The Source return Lightray to fight the battle that is coming. Meanwhile, Highfather tells Lightray’s origin and how he developed powers during a fight against a group of soldiers from Apokolips. On Earth, Superman tells Orion to stand down as the Justice League rescues the New Genesis ship as it was falling to Earth.

NIGHTWING #126 by Dan Watters and Francisco Francavilla. A group of corrupt cops tend to one of their own and prepare to have Captain Hallow handle things with the police commissioner. Maggie is with her new girlfriend Katie and meets Katie’s daughter, who fears The Wanderers. Nightwing makes his way to the dilapidated Harlow Manor, where the crooked cops are hold up. He takes out the cops and meets with the injured Henry Allison, soon realizing the fourth cop is not here. Dressed as Captain Hallow, he attacks Maggie and her new family, leading to her ultimately killing him. Later, Maggie tells Nightwing she needs people she can trust. In the end, someone makes their way into the evidence locker and removes the Hallow gear.

POISON IVY #33 by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara. Janet struggles with recuperating even after the help of the Bog Venus. Undine explains that Janet has Mucormycosis: a fungal infection that will probably kill her in the next month or two. He reveals there may be specialists in Gotham or Metropolis that could help her and she needs to figure how to get her there without tipping off law enforcement. Janet overhears and calls up the Bog Venus for help. Bog Venus says that if Janet can tell her how Ivy can be separated from Xylon. Janet tells her that if the Bog Venus can break the enchantment over Marshview Ivy won’t have anywhere to run. Ivy shares a tender moment with Undine when GCPD shows up and shoots at them. Janet says how she betrayed them and Ivy refuses to leave Marshview and decides to reach out to the Order of the Green Knight.

SECRET SIX #3 by Nicole Maines and Stephen Segovia. Senator Gravenport, who aided Waller when she blackmailed him, goes to meet with CheckMate, which does not end well for him. The Secret Six sneak into the same club, looking for information that will allow them to find Waller and shut CheckMate down permanently. Nia spots Gravenport and jumps him, revealing themselves and blowing their cover. That leads them into direct confrontation with CheckMate’s leader-Banshee.

SUPERGIRL #1 by Sophie Campbell. Supergirl receives a phone call from her adoptive parents in Midville and want her to visit over the July 4^th holiday. She agrees although she is not a fan of digging up old memories. When she arrives, she finds the town filled with signs and posters about Supergirl, even though the images do not look like Kara. She saves an old school friends as Supergirl but the townsfolks accuse her of being an imposter because she doesn’t look like the Supergirl they know. The ‘real’ Supergirl arrives and attacks Kara before flying away. Later, Kara heads to her home and her parents do not recognize her but introduce her to the “real Kara Danvers”.

SUPERMAN #26 by Joshua Williamson, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Sean Izaakse. Lois has lost her powers as solar energy Is no longer charging her cells. The Atom tells her he is uncertain if they will ever return and she heads back to Earth, telling Superman she is fine, although he does not believe her. Meanwhile, Lena visits Lex in prison, telling him exactly what she thinks of him. She then meets with Mercy, quits Supercorp and steals a Superbike and heads to Midvale. Superman arrives and tells Mercy he is shutting Supercorp down but she says that only Lex can do that. Elsewhere, the Darkseid Legion tortures Time Trapper to learn more about Earth Prime’s Superman, even as Zod’s ship is invaded by Khund raiders carrying Supercorp weaons. In the end, Superman visits Lex in prison, where he offers to restore Lois’ powers if he continues to work with him. This enrages Superman and his Red-K infection erupts, with Suerman breaking Lex out of prison. Once out, he strokes a deal with Pharm and Graft to help him cure the Red-K infection. That’s when Marilyn Moonlight arrives to stop Superman.

SUPERMAN UNLIMITED #1 by Dan Slott and Rafael Albuquerque. Imani Edge, Morgan Edge’s ex-wife, has obtained the Daily Planet in the divorce settlement and wants to use the Planet to establish outlets around the world, including policing misinformation for several social media platforms. During the announcement, Clark flies off as Superman. After many calls, he gets a Watchtower call about a meteor made of Inerton heading to Earth. He punches the meteor and the outer skin breaks off revealing the entire meteor is made of Kryptonite and, despite the pain, he pushes the meteor to an uninhabited part of the planet and guides it down. He wakes three months later aboard the Watchtower and finds the world has changed. Kryptonite is available all across the Earth, with El Caldero turning it into a business and becoming the most advanced nation on Earth. Somehow, he has developed a resistance to Kryptonite, as revealed by a spectrograph, even as it makes life horrible for the rest of the Super Family.

TITANS #23 by John Layman and Pete Woods. The Titans continue to get used to Vanadia, even as she struggles with the depth of her powers. Elsewhere, Slade, Clock King and the rest continue to plot, even as Clock King has a secret weapon: Terra!

TWO-FACE #6 by Christian Ward and Fabio Veras. After meeting with Batman, Harvey reconvenes at the White Church and goes back on trial. Mid trial, Lake callsd him and says that Zsasz is there and he races out. Harvey arrives and fights Zsasz and is being beaten when he agrees to let Two Face back out, defeating Zsasz. Back at the trial, two Face flips the coin and it is good side up, meaning the Shadow Hand is innocent. Later, he reveals to his daughter that he had a regular coin and not the scarred one, which is observed by Lake. In the end, Harvey is now trapped in his own mind as Two Face is finally free again.

WONDER WOMAN #21 by Tom King and Guillem March. As Batman recovers from the attack, Diana visits with her mother before meeting with Hephaestus, whose dagger was used in the murder. He claims he only made the weapon before demanding she leave after she tells him she met with Aphrodite. After checking in on Batman, she visits Zeus and demands another day, which he refuses. Aphrodite tells Diana she is not interested in Hephaestus and that Area would cry as he told her he was sorry for those who suffered in his wars. Diana goes to see Dionysus and, after threatening him, he reveals he told Hephaestus about Aphrodite’s story regarding Ares, which leads her back to Hephaestus, who attacks her, using the Lasso of Truth and wrapping it around her neck . She tells him Batman is behind him, distracting him, even though Batman is not there, and she knocks him out. She and Batman return to Zeus and she declares that he is actually the murderer and he admits to it, saying this was his revenge on Diana for instilling “female weakness” upon his son. He refuses to release Diana’s mother until Batman threatens him with Deadman telling Area and Hades of what Zeus did. Wonder Woman brings Batman home, with the mystery solved.

ZATANNA #4 by Jamal Campbell.  Still dealing with what has been done, Zatanna escapes the realm and returns home. Later, she meets with Fuseli, the demon of nightmares, and has him read a piece of paper she retrieved from the realm and he tells her it’s an invitation for her to attend the next Night of Desires/, which she does. She demands Peck show her Adam and Blue Devil and The Lady White produces him, threatening to kill him with an arrow. Adam attacks Zatanna, forcing her to freeze him so she can continue the fight. Even Blue Devil attacks her, causing her to pull the sword out of her, vowing to escape, even if she has to tear herself apart to do it.

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 88, Part 1

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #8 by Scott Snyder and Marcos Martin. Bruce wakes to find himself in a Cryo chamber . Victor Fries Jr.  fills the tank and begins the freezing process, causing Bruce to recall a memorial with his friends for Matches Malone, where it is revealed that Thomas Wayne died because he stayed outside to save Matches. Fries contacts his benefactor and it is revealed that the snow he created contains a marker and will infect everyone in the city whose skin touches the snow. Suddenly, Batman breaks down the door to Fries office and he lets loose an army of zombified frozen individuals, causing Batman to flee. In the end, Waylon is drugged and taken to Ark M.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #3 by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles. In a flashback of what happened during the lab accident, Barry has his fleshed peeled off of him while still begging to be helped as Wally runs into the desert. In the present, Wally has run to a farm and, when he wakes, he sees that Fort Fox has deployed “the monkey” after him. At Fort Fox, a scientist named Thawne bring up a video feed from Grodd. Grodd reaches out with a glowing finger and Wally touches it and the two of them experience their memories psychically. Grodd tells Wally telepathically tells Wally that they are the same because of their experiences. They exit the barn and see a boomerang shaped drone, which blasts at them and destroys the barn. Wally has a panic attack but Grodd calms him down and then the monkey knocks out all the Rogues but Harkness is immune. As Harkness flees, Wally chases after and knocks him out. Wally and Grodd bury Barry before donning Barry’s suit and they race off.

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #2 by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay. Jo and Hal sit in what’s left of the diner and talk about what happened. He asks her what the alien did to her as the green light around her looks like something from him. He also tells her to stay back as he cannot control his Black Hand and he just didn’t have the willpower to stop it from killing everyone in the diner. It is revealed that the alien, Abin Sur, stepped onto the ground in Evergreen and was then surrounded by residents, including Guy Gardner and his deputies, with Guy being blown away by an energy burst from the alien. As the deputies shoot at Abin Sur, he fights back, decapitating Rita and cutting off Roy’s hand. John arrives and convinces Hal not to shoot before the alien flies back to his ship. Later, Jo, Hal, and John meet up and John says that no one is coming to sabe the town, leading him to take Jo’s ring out of his pocket and him saying he knows what can save them. In the present, Jo asks Hal what happened to the guy and it appears in his hand and then his eyes turn black as he tells her to flee.

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #3 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez.  John and his Martian companion investigate random people committing arson on homeless people. When Jones interrogates suspects, the Martian detects the influence of the White Martian. It is explained that the White Martian has a need to destroy. Later, Jones reads his wife’s thoughts and realizes their marriage is in trouble. He visits with his son and discovers him playing with the Green Martian. A call comes in saying random people are burning homes and Jones heads off to rescue people. A woman on fire who is revealed to be the White Martian, tells him that “it’s about the smoke.”

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #7 by Jason Aaron and Carmine Di Giandomenico. In the present, the Omega Men enter a base in Nevada, searching for the Brainiac server that powers Lazarus Corporation’s A.I.; thinking they can shut the A.I. down if they destroy the data center. But they are soon obliterated in the grossest way possible, except for one who is taken hostage. Brainiac proceeds to dismember this Omega Man; going as far as removing his brain and placing it in a jar while it is still connected to his body. Brainiac is a cruel being who enjoys torturing humans and destroying the shrunken cities he keeps in his lab. He then reveals his life story to his captive. In the past, this Brainiac began as Brainiac 419,732 and was part of a collective with the job of shoveling waste Brainiacs into the incinerator. This went on for 137 years until no more bodies showed up, leading this one to leaves the room and discover all the other Brainiacs dead. Eventually, he reaches out to the Brainiac Collective Council to get assistance identifying Superman from the red dust that was collected off his cape. They identify the sand as coming from Krypton. In the end, Brainiac is seen completing cybernetic enhancements on Peacekeeper Smith and is ready to send him to Kansas, based on orders from Ra’s al Ghul himself.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #8 by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman. Steve, Barbara, Etta, and Gia find Diana living in the woods new Gateway City, where she uses her magic to create a home called The Hieron. Meanwhile, Veronica Cale enters Area 41 to deliver an item to Dr. Poison: a gas body in a containment suit. Cale offers two hours of outside time in exchange for Dr. Poison reviewing a recording of the Teracide’s death call that she is looking to weaponize. Later, Diana hears a sound that sounds like the Tetracide’s call and heads to Gateway City where she finds robotic spiders releasing the sound. She destroys the spiders and follows them to the sourse, where she find Dr. Poison, who claims she needs Diana’s help in exchange for information about the Amazons.

ACTION COMICS #1086 by G. Willow Wilson and Gavin Guidry. Kilg%re reveals that he wants Superman to join him in destroying all humans so machines can rule. Superman gets attacked by cybernetically altered orca whales, leading to him creating an ice barrier to keep them from the lab. He attacks Kilg%re and destroys his circuitry and Superman tosses him into a low orbit. The next day, Clark returns to Metropolis and Lois reminds him that he doesn’t have to fight every battle by himself.

AQUAMAN #5 by Jeremy Adams and John Timms.  In a city within The Blue, a starving family is sentenced to death for breaking Dagon’s law about hunting within The Blue. Meanwhile, Aquaman, Vivienne and Arion see a man being hassled by guards and, of course, Aquaman gets involved, chasing the guard away. The man reveals himself to be Captain Nemo. He tells them he ended up in The Blue after sailing his submarine The Nautilus into it; eventually being arrested and sentenced to death for treachery. Aquaman asks if he encountered Atlantis on his way here and he says he did. To get to where the sub is, Aquaman finds a way to get arrested. When brought in front of the magistrates, he breaks free, and after interrogating their attackers, make their way to the sub and escape. Elsewhere, Dagon tells Mera that Aquaman is coming and, instead of having him killed, he wants him to see what has become of Atlantis.

BATGIRL #7 by Tate Brombal and Takeshi Miyazawa. While riding on a train to home, Cass opens a mysterious package she has received, which contains a Walkman and a book. The Walkman contains a recorded message from Lady Shiva, who begins to tell her life story, who saying that if she is hearing this then she must be dead. Ming-Yue and her older sister Mei-Xing were nomads in the Himalayas when they are attacked by ninjas who kill their parents as the girls flee. They end up training in the martial arts by monks. Sometime later, Ming-Yue saves an old woman being assaulted and that leads to them being recognized and are on the run again. They return to the temple and the monks are attacked. The girls help in the fight until they are told to flee and live..

BATMAN #160 by Geof Loeb, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams. Batman reviews his security tape and discovers that Hush told Red Hood not to kill The Joker as he is needed for his plan, while also reminding Jason that Hush is the only one to save him from a failing brain injury. Meanwhile, Gordon finds a tablet that shows Batman rescuing The Joker. Riddler tells Nightwing and Batgirl that he knows everyone’s secret identity and that no one should race off to confront Jason unless they are all together; advice that Nightwing ignores. Nightwing find The Joker strapped to a table at the top of a lighthouse, Jason attacks and a awakened Joker picks up the two pistols Jason left by his bedside and points them at the heroes. Batman heads to Wayne Med Tower and is attacked by Armor Damascus and Hush’s henchman. He gets backup as Damian arrives with Bane but that ends quickly as Hush arrives and takes Damian hostage.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #21 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Javi Fernandez, and Carmine Di Giandomenico. In the past, Memento apparently kills Professor Blye. In the present, Lautrec meets with Batman at the Vauxhall Opera House. Memento arrives during the production, with dynamite strapped to his chest. He cannot stop the explosion but is able to save the cast, even as Memento flees. He captures Memento, who is revealed to be Travis Grimwell: the organizer of the International Mementist Society, Even with clues presented to him, Batman seeks the help of the Gotham Irregulars: a gang of Gotham urchins. In the end, Robin sees his captor-Aticus Blye.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #39 by Mark Waid and Clayton Henry. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART FOUR. In the present, there is a confused reunion as Batman finds himself elated that Dick is on the Watchtower, saying Robin had been missing for years and he only knows him as Nightwing. Even Superman is confused but understands that time is apparently broken. Nightwing and Robin shake hands and Robin disappears. Actually, the current Batman and Superman are in the past on the Justice League Satellite and the past Superman, Batman and Robin are in the present where Superman sees Lois as Superwoman. Sinestro and the Scarecrow arrive and attack while, in the past, Superman, Nightwing and Batman go to the Batcave, where they meet with a very much alive Alfred. Sinestro fires the time gun and that trio ends up in a desert. The past team travel in a Legion Time Bubble but hit a firewall and disappear.

BIRDS OF PREY #21 by Kelly Thompson and Sami Basri. The Birds are in disarray. Black Canary is in a fight with Copperhead in Tokyo while Cass and Sin are battling against her own assailants. Once they have defeated their enemies, Oracle orders them back home, where she tells them that Barda has crash landed in the Dubai desert where she continues to be attacked by Inque. Oracle puts a call out to other Birds even as Inque returns to Daemon Prime, possessing Barda’s body.

BLACK CANARY: BEST OF THE BEST #6 by Tom King and Ryan Sook. In the recent past, Dinah is met by Vandal Savage, where she agrees to the deal while they share a sandwich. Later, she is at home, removes her wig, and tries to convince herself to say the words “I surrender”. In the present, it is Round Six and Shiva is issuing a tremendous beating, actually ripping Dinah wig off during the brawl. This inspires her to fight back, knocking out Shiva with one solid kick. Then she stands in the ring and loudly says that she surrenders. Afterwards, she visits her mother, who is recovering thanks to Savage keeping his promise.

CATWOMAN #76 Torunn Gronbekk and Patricio Delpeche. In the past, Shota saves Evie during their bungled operation. In the present, Evie is on a boat with Shota and learns that Suzy is in trouble. In a flashback, Shota is seen at the house when Evie broke into the vault and he stood and watched with someone else when Theodore Belov died from poison.. Who was the other person?

DETECTIVE COMICS #1097 by Tom Taylor and Lee Garbett. Ambrose executes Warden Slattery. Elsewhere, Batman meets with Bullock, who is investigating the murder scenes that Aesma was responsible for. Batman offers to hire Bullock, now a private investigator, to help him shut down Elixir. Bullock tells of something that happened when he was a rookie and finds Ambrose torturing a man but his partner, Sulley, pulls him away. He says that people who interfere in Elixir business end up dead. Bullock meets with Sulley, off the force and possibly dying, and he agrees to give Bullock a file for a fee. Bullock sends the information to Batman on a line that leads to Oracle. A group of armed men break in on Bullock and they fight. Batman arrives at Bullock’s apartment and finds him missing and signs of a struggle. Oracle traces the van that was there to Pokolistan, leading Batman to give chase. He breaks into the van and finds a hooded prisoner, but it’s not Bullock. It’s The Penguin.

FIRE AND ICE: WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER #2 by Joanne Starer and Stephen Byrne. Fire and Ice may have gotten their powers back, but now they have ended up in each others’ bodies, meaning they are still having issues. Later, at the New Kooey Fair, Tora, in Bea’s body, mistakenly undresses while trying to remove her sweater, exposing herself to the crowd. Bea accidentally unleashes what she hoped would be a snowstorm but it results in balls of ice. Even later, while Grodd prepares to come and get his sister, Bea has a meltdown that results in all of their friends swapping bodies. Zach explains all of this is due to the bracelet and the Chaos Magic within and the only way to fix things is with the Ring of Nabu. Bad news: it is in Hell!

THE FLASH #21 by Simon Spurrier and Vasco Georgiev.  As F8-3-1459 sneaks into Heliophage’s space to overhear him briefing the Rogues, Wally argues with his family about his motives in tis war. Jai teleports Barry Allen to talk sense into her father. F8-3-1459 heads back to headquarters with an assist by Max Mercury, now known as Max Mercy. Wally shows Barry the results and death on the battlefield and his mentor is horrified. They go to a bunker where Inspector Pilgrim is waiting with Sliders to deploy and it is revealed these clones go out into the Spectraverse and die screaming. Barry demands his ring back and Wally tells him it was lost by the first clone. Max and F8-3-1459 arrive, with the clone saying Heliophage’s plan is to move the moon to block out the sun. Wally orders F8-3-1459 to merge with a clone called Dead Drop as Barry is sent back to Earth. As Dead Drop prepares to merge with F8-3-1459, he refuses, saying he is going rogue.

GREEN ARROW #24 by Chris Condon and Montos. Ollie meets with the arrested Kenny Gordon, telling him he has arranged to level Freshwater and rebuild it. He later meets with Benitez, telling her he plans to have a conversation with the person he left in charge when he left. Later, he breaks in to Max’ office, gives him a list of people affected by Horton’s dealings and tells him this will be his next investment. In the end, he has a family dinner with the Arrow family.

GREEN LANTERN #23 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. In Hell, G’Nort, who explains he has been trapped her for some time, joins Hal, Zuriel, and the Phantom Stranger as they search for the next item to stop Sorrow Lantern from building his Power Battery. Uriel opens a prison door and they find Aidia, who was imprisoned here when Hal was The Spectre. Hal takes Aidia’s necklace, breaking a Hal previously had made and Aidia swears revenge. Leaving the cell, The Spectre arrives, demanding Hal reclaim that mantle. Hal refuses and the pair fight., with Hal telling The Spectre to find another host. Elsewhere, Kyle, Odyssey, Kon-El, and the Silver Scarab escape getting eaten by a space creature. In the end, Starbreaker visits Aidia and turns him into Disgust Lantern.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #4 by Jeremy Adams, Morgan Hampton, and V. Ken Marion. Guy Gardner is stuck with taking Narf out on patrol. Guy takes him to Necrocopia-a dead Starro that has become a trading post so Guy can meet with Evil Star for information about where Starbreaker is. That leads to the two of them becoming trapped by Evil Star. Meanwhile, Keli and Ellie meet with Simon in search of a psionic battery. Ultimately, he decides to take them to Necrocopia to celebrate Keli’s birthday. With Ellie staying in the construct car, Simon meets with a shop owner who deals in contraband. He ends up activating a sphere that traps Simon and Keli in a mind maze, as he wants to steal Keli’s gauntlet. This forces Keli to confront a memory that may change everything the reader’s know about her origin.

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 87, Part 2

JSA #6 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui.  On Earth, the JSA team members make their way to Dr. Mid-Nite’s communication signal and they are forced to fight KOBRA soldiers, with Yolanda finding Mid-Nite’s gear and a lot of blood. She attacks and kills one of the soldiers. They return to their headquarters and there is dissention among them. Meanwhile, in the demon dimension, Khalid is trying his best to hold back the demons but, after a pep talk from Wildcat, gets back in the fight as the Injustice Society arrives. Ted Grant fights against them so Khalid can continue his work. As the Tower of Fate is destroyed by a giant demon, Shiv runs a chest through Ted, killing him. Wotan grabs the Helm of fate off of Khlaids head and the villains leave. The JSAers return to their headquarters with Ted’s body.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #6 by Mark Waid, Christopher Cantwell, and Dan Mora. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART TWO. Grodd reveals how he convinced Air Wave to work to Grodd’s goals. He sought out someone he could corrupt and discovered the recently restored Air Wave, convincing him that he was one of the good guys and the Justice League were the actual villains. By telling Air Wave that he was dying due to the exposure to chronal forces within the bio-field he had been held in and that, unless he was cured, he would cease to exist and everyone he ever helped will never have been helped; even his sister. When Grodd eventually springs his trap, Air Wave realizes that Grodd and the League are actually Inferno. Air Wave fights back but Grodd shoots him with a tachyon pistol and Air Wave is disintegrated. The League arrives but they are all shot with the same pistol. Continued in BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2025 ANNUAL.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE ATOM PROJECT #4 by Ryan Parrott, John Ridley, and Mike Perkins. In the recent past, Captain Atom is able to drain the errant powers of the people on The Watchtower. The Atoms make the decision to keep Nathaniel here so they can continue to examine him, but they are interrupted by a team of soldiers, led by Master Sergeant Garcia. Eiling contacts the Atoms to tell them to let him do what he wants, which is to have Captain Atom transfer the power set of Atom Smasher to the Master Sargeant, which he does. In the present, Captain Atom battles Major Force in what turns out to be an unfair fight as Eiling has instructed his team to blast Nathaniel, which drains his powers. The Atoms are trying to assist Nathaniel but Eiling tells them they should concentrate on helping the injured, all while Nathaniel is being blasted and drained. Major Force makes the decision to kill Nathaniel, even though Eiling wants him alive. This leads Captain Atom to drain Major Force’s powers, turning him back into a regular powerless human. As Ray Palmer attempt to console Captain Atom, he is blasted by two members of Inferno, telling him they are here to rescue him.

METAMORPHO THE ELEMENT MAN #5 by Al Ewing and Steve Leiber. The Thunderer has arrived and he reveals the grand plan of CY.L.O.P.S., which all goes back to the Sun Gods of the universes battling each other before deciding that it would be better to use proxies to engage in their duels and if a proxy loses it will result in sun death. Simon Stagg determines that the asteroid that created Metamorpho was a simple act of recruitment for a new proxy. Rex and Element arrive and battle The Thunderer, making the decision to run off, to draw the villain away. This takes them to Emily Sung, better known as Element Woman who, along with Element Dog, reluctantly agrees to team up. But, when Algon, the ancient Element man arrives, there is turmoil as Algon swear revenge on Metamorpho. He eventually agree to help but The Thunderer blasts Algon and turns him into a puddle of goo. Element Woman becomes air and enters The Thunderer, blasting him apart from inside. Despite that, Solaris, the Tyrant Sun, arrives to rule the planet.

THE NEW GODS #5 by Ram V,  Evan Cagle and Andrew MacLean. In a prologue piece, Lightray questions the meaning of Life, Death, and Existence. During his musings, The Racer arrives and tells Lightray that he will understand the meaning of Existence is The racer ever catches him. In the present Highfather meets Karok on the battlefield. Karok refuses to leave, saying that New Genesis will be hollowed out just as Darkseid once did to Karok’s home world. Highfather annihilates Karok, who reassembles himself and then presents Grayven, the bastard son of Darkseid. Grayven unleashes a ray of black Omgea energy to destroy Highfather but that is blocked by Lightray who decides to sacrifice himself and is run through with a sword as Highfather and the New Gods take a portal to Earth. On Earth, Scott and Barda continue to try to protect the child from Orion when Superman arrives to stop Orion..

NIGHTWING #125 by Dan Watters and Francisco Francavilla. Maggie gets a call telling her Frank Dietrich, part of the Helios Project, has been murdered. Speaking with his widow, she reveals that Frank would abuse his children for transgressions, meaning their may be numerous reasons for his murder. Maggie meets with Nightwing, who says he will look into the murder but believes Dietrich deserves what he got for killing Marcus Moran. Later, she gets a call from a former officer who explains that Captain Hallow, the BPD’s legendary boogeyman, must have been responsible for the killing. Just then, Captain Hallow arrives as does Nightwing. Hallow tosses the older officer out the window and flees.

POISON IVY #32 by G. Willow Wilson and Brian Level. Ivy and Undine fight against the transformed Ed Cooper, with Undine trapping him in a cage of vines. But he breaks free and attacks a spying Janet, killing her. Ivy flips out and uses her powers to unleash carnivorous plants that slowly begin to devour Ed. Devastated, Ivy wanders off and calls on the Bog Venus to ask for a favor to restore Janet’s life. The Bog Venus arrives and refuses to deal with Ivy, until Ivy says that if the Bog Venus saves Janet, she will tell her what Xylon told her. Bog Venus agrees, saying that Janet is beginning to transform as part of their deal. Janet sees the creature and, surprisingly, is not afraid of it. Ivy enters the Bog Venus, where she explains that The Grey only wants peace which the Bog Venus cannot believe and refuses, leading to Ivy becoming angry and saying they need to figure this out.

THE POWER COMPANY: RECHARGED #1 by Bryan Edward Hill, Khary Randolph, Alitha Martinez, Norm Rapamund, Ray Anthony Height, and Studio Skye Tiger. The story begins with a young boy and his family getting murdered by an assassin, leading to Signal reaching out to Jace Fox to come to Atlanta and help solve the case. Upon his arrival, Jace meets with Jeremiah Power, who has put together a team consisting of Signal, Vixen and Black Lightning. Jace wants nothing to do with a team and visits the crime scene himself. While investigating, the killer sets off a device, causing the house to explode with Jace inside. The team, having deduced that the murders are caused by an anti-metahuman group known as the Sons of Liberty, Signal and Vixen track the possible next victim, a journalist named Aki, who reveals the boy was a metahuman, and they save her from a Sons of Liberty attack. She reveals she was contacted by Agent Liberty, who actually is the killer even though he claimed to be a supporter of metahumans. Jace tracks Agent Liberty down and takes him down but the villain escapes. In the end, Black Lightning agrees to be available if The Power Company needs him..

POWER GIRL #20 by Leah Williams and David Baldeon.  Up above Asgard, Power Girl and Axel have an intimate moment where Axel says he loves her and they kiss, even though she is worried about the Karen Starr imposter. The following day, Paige walks into the headquarters and Omen immediately realizes it isn’t Paige but Karen Starr, who transforms into a series of weapons. Although she transforms into looking like Natasha, Mariposa comes in and punches her in the face, leading to Starr’s escape even as Mariposa has injured her hand. The following day, the Stargraze launch press conference is getting ready when Paige meets with Starr, realizing she is actually Ejecta, telling her she can have the name as Paige has already used Starr’s assets. That evening, Mariposa admits to having feelings for Natasha, who agrees to take her out to dinner. Omen has a heart to heart chat with Paige and then reunites with Siegfried. In the end, Power Girl realizes she has made peace with herself and her life.

THE QUESTION: ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER #6 by Alex Segura and Cian Tormey. Renee has been shot into space and the heroes onboard The Watchtower have been corrupted by Cyborg Superman. Renee has made her way back onto The Watchtower, believing she was saved by a shield around her. As she looks for the villains, she encounters Vic Sage and shoots him with the Phantom Zone rifle, which manages to eliminate Henshaw’s influence. Eradicator reveals that someone, probably him, has cut off Henshaw’s power from the Phantom Zone, just as Renee and Sage arrive and use the Phantom Zone gun to fully free the other heroes. Henshaw is jettisoned into space by Renee using the Green Lantern ring, and all those corrupted Leaguers are now ready to follow her as there appears to be Darkstars trying to gain access to the Watchtower.

SECRET SIX #2 by Nicole Maines and Stephen Segovia. We open with a group of scientists working on Amanda Waller’s body, fitting her with a helmet that brings back her memory. Over at the House of Secrets, the team argues as Deadshot reveals he was disguised as a guard and got pulled here by the teleportation spell. And no one knows why an injured Catman is here. Jon fights with Deadshot, Jay fights Black Alice and Catman wakes and fights with Deadshot. After the fights end, Deadshot explains Checkmate took Waller and he needs to get Waller back for the intel she has. But Dreamer wants to kill Waller before her memory comes back, although it may be too late for that.

SUMMER OF SUPERMAN SPECIAL #1 by Mark Waid, Dan Slott, Joshua Williamson, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey. In the past, a teenage Clark sits with Lana, where he plans to tell her his biggest secret. Suddenly Validus arrives from the future, causing him to make an excuse and become Superboy. During their battle, he sees moments from his past, present and future, including finding out that Lois will be his true love. Validus fades away and Superboy forgets the memory of the future, thanks to a mental block once put in place by the Legion of Superheroes. In the present, Lana and John Henry are preparing to get married when Validus appears again, bring with him the storm of the century. While Superman battles Validus, the rest of the Superman Family deal with the storm. Validus disappears again and so does the storm. With the town in something like ruins, Lana and John get married. With the pair on their honeymoon, Superman contacts Mr. Terrific and Omen to see why Validus keeps appearing at the same spot in different times. Mr. Terrific detects a rift and uses a containment unit that will hold Validus while Omen probes his mind. Vaklidus disappears again as Omen notes that his mind revealed he was scared and on the run for something. In the end, Validus ends up in the clutches of Darkseid’s Legionnaires while Booster Gold is seen chained nearby.

SUPERMAN #25 by Joshua Williamson, Jamal Campbell, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Dan Mora. In the past, before Lex went to jail, he and Mercy put a plan in place that included working with Superman and, creating Supercorp. However, he did warn her not to unleash his superpowered clone, Project X-El (PXL), as he was too dangerous. In the near past, Lex has developed feelings for Marcy but she is still set on having his original plan come to light, even installing upgrades into PXL and letting hi loose, where he uses his Kryptonite beam to weaken Superman and Superwoman. At the same time, Lex is headed to Strykers Prison and, seeing Marcy out of control, has Marilyn Moonlight break him out, where he puts on his power suit and joins the battles against the clone. During the battle, PXL becomes unstable, recalling what had previously happened to Bizarro. PXL threatens the Kent family and Lex delivers the killing blow to his clone, causing Superman to question what was right. In the end, Superwoman has lost her powers.

TITANS #22 by John Layman and Daniel Bayliss. Months ago, Deathstroke is in stasis and is released by Terra, who explains that Waller has a plan, which we know became ABSOLUTE POWER. Now, the Titans figure out that Deathstroke and Clock King helped Mammoth escape custody and now has teamed up with Clock King and Killer Frost. At the same time, the Titans have to fight Volcano Man, eventually dropping him into the water to negate his power. After, Raven and Gar talk and Gar seems to want to take out Deathstroke permanently.

TWO-FACE #5 by Christian Ward and Fabio Veras. Harvey has chained himself within a mystic circle with Lake Cantwell acting as his eyes and ears. She c=goes to a casino where the villainess known as Die arrives, who uses her dice to destroy the White Church. While demanding to know where Two face is, she shoots Lake and, just before she stabs her to death, Harvey arrives. Die calls him dad but she really means Two-Face himself, who is no longer active. Later, Lake is recovering and Harvey says that Die has disappeared. Unsure of what to do, Harvey reaches out to…Batman.

WONDER WOMAN #20 by Tom King and Guillem March. Diana is lifting weights in an Amazonian temple when she is visited by her mother in the form of a ram. She explains how she invited a man into her bed after a wild night during one of Dionysus’ parties and now the man, who turns out to be Ares, is dead. Diana seeks out Batman to assist in the murder investigation. The pair travel to Olympus, stopping first at the temple of Zeus, where a herald demands a sacrifice with Diana punching him, saying she sacrificed a moment of peace and this blood would be dedicated to Zeus’ thunder. Zeus says that her mother will be punished with mortality if she is found guilty, meaning she will be sent to Hades. Diana asks for a day to solve the crime and Batman says that if they fail to solve the mystery he is willing to be sacrificed in Zeus’ honor. The pair travel to the temple of Dionysus and he tells her he saw Ares leave with someone who wasn’t Hippoylta. Ater Diana hits him with a bottle of wine and he experiences pain, he admits he saw Area leave with Aphrodite. Aphrodite seems unmoved that Ares is dead and turns her attention to Batman, who gets hit suddenly by a lightning bolt belonging to Zeus. Diana meets with Zeus who says someone stole that lightning bolt and an investigation is underway. As Diana tends to Bruce’s wounds, he admits he had lost religion until he met Diana. She lights some candles and promises to find whoever hurt him and make them pay.

ZATANNA #3 by Jamal Campbell.  Zatanna remains in the illusion world with Bruce as her companion. They observe as Basil Karlo and the Lady White arrive at the party. Zatanna confront Lady White but can do nothing as the sword is still in her. The scene changes and Bruce recognizes Zatanna as an actress and Basil’s co-star. Basil thinks Adam was just a character he played in a movie but Zatanna insists he was real and died because of Lady White. Basil insists this world is real even as Zatanna explains it is an illusion, which causes the illusion to fade and basil’s wife and daughter turn into clay. He gets stabbed through the chest with a spear and turns into Clayface and attacks Zatanna. Lady White reveals that Zatanna’s father took everything from her and she is going to collect what she was owed. Despite the pain, Zatanna casts a spell that destroys the illusory realm they are in. The illusion becomes a ruined landscape and the Lady White a red letter with her. Meanwhile, in Adam’s apartment, Blue Devil is visited by Brother Night, who wants to take the skin of the demon Neibros, but he fails and concentrates on turning Adam’s corpse into his slave and leaving Blue Devil as a meal for Lady White.

 

 

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 87, Part 1

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #7 by Scott Snyder and Marcos Martin. It is a month after the end of the previous issue. Gordon has been defeated in the election and Hamilton Hill has placed Gotham under martial law. Waylon, Harvey, Eddie and Ozzie meet in Crime Alley to construct a memorial for their childhood friend, Matches Malone. Bruce arrives to explain that he had asked Matches to craft documents to get Bruce onto the work crew at Ark M. Matches delivered the documents, revealing he had managed to sneak himself onto the work crew and had evidence showing prisoners in the unfinished building. At that point, Matches dies from exposure to some biological weapon. The evidence includes a list of scientists, including Pam Isley, Hugo Strange, Kirk Langstrom and, specifically Victor Fries. Fries runs V-Core and uses enough power to run ten city blocks. Batman tries to break into V-Core but is attacked by police drones. In the process, Alfred calls to tell him that Matches did die from a bacteria that there is no record of. Inside, he sees blocks of ice with prehistoric animals in them. He meets with the director, who is eventually shown to be Victor Fries Jr., and reveals that Victor and Nora Fries are no longer in charge and he shows them frozen in ice. The company cryogenically freezes the terminally ill and he does research which actually saved him from a childhood illness. Victor’s skin turns blue and he touches Bruce’s face, causing the veins in it to also turn blue.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #2 by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles. With Wally fleeing into the cave, the boomerang drones find him as The Captain tells Harkness to find him while he seals off the exits with ice. As he tries to flee, Wally runs into Jesse and Glider, who hits him with energy blades that triggers him to run at super speed. He gets held in place by The captain freezing his feet to the ground and this triggers lightning from his body. And sends him back to yesterday in Barry’s lab. Barry is caught in a whirlpool of energy and Wally saves him. Wally’s father enters and begins punching Barry, even as Wally turns into red energy. Barry tries to talk him down and Wally hits Barry in the chest with the lightning flying out of his body. Back in the desert, Jesse tries to hold Wally in a force field so they can take him back to Fort Fox for experimentation. But he bursts free and flees from the Rogues, entering the timestream and seeing his entire life all at once, including two future visions: one where he is a hero and one where he destroys the world. Back in the desert, The captain decides to release Grodd: the green monkey Wally had seen in Barry’s lab.

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #1 by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay.  Five days ago in the town of Evergreen, Hal Jordan is having lunch with John Stewart and Jo Mullein, recently divorced from what is inferred to be Guy Gardner, who refuses why she left Coast City. A green dome falls around the area and a motorcycle rider hits it and splatters against it. John cannot get cell service and Jo looks to the sky, seeing a green lantern in the sky and an alien who is believed to be Abin Sur. In the present, Hall wanders along a desert highway on his way to the California state line. When he closes his eyes, he sees a ring of light and hears a voice in his head. He is stopped by a police officer who orders him to take his hands out of his pocket. A crying Hal says he cannot because something has happened to him and he closes his eyes. When he opens them, all that is left is the cop’s badge and a crater in the ground. He eventually reaches a small town and enters a diner, where he sees a news broadcast that shows the lantern above Evergreen. Recognizing this alien to be Abin Sur, he says that he wanted to be a hero and the diner owner demands Hal takes his hand out of his pocket, doing to at gunpoint. The hand is covered in black, with Hal saying it responds to threats. The diner owner shoots and the hand kills everyone in the diner. In the end, Jo, glowing in a green light, arrives and asks what happened to him.

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #2 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. As Agent Jones tries to piece things together, Trigger Taylor murders his parents because he believes they are infected by an alien being. Believing the residents of a town of Syrian immigrants called Little Damascus are also inhabited by aliens, he heads there to kill them all.  Elsewhere, the green smoke takes a shape and tells Agent Jones that it isn’t from Mars at all and has come to Earth because the planet is under attack by a similar race of aliens. The entity teaches Jones to reads minds and their deeds, which are represented by different colors of smoke. Agent Jones gets the call about Trigger’s attack on Little Damascus and responds, with the entity invading Trigger’s mind, making the shooter’s thought available to Jones, who tricks Trigger into believing they are old friends. The Martian entity finds something in trigger’s mind and destroys it, restoring him to sanity, even as a responding officer shoots Trigger in the head, killing him. In the end, the Martian says that Trigger had been infected by a White Martian.

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #6 by Jason Aaron and Carmine Di Giandomenico. In the past, Sol and Kal-El fly through space looking for a livable planet to land upon. After seventeen months, Kal tells Sol to send him into the sun but Sol’s prime directive will not let him. Just then, he finds the third planet from the sun and puts them down on Earth, even as the yellow sun is causing Kal unbearable pain. On the planet, Jonathan and Martha Kent are negotiating their drought-ridden farm, thanks to weather manipulation from the Lazarus Corp, who wants the Kents to go bankrupt so they can take their land. Kal’s ship crash lands. Sol tells Kal that their solar cells are depleted and need to recharge, dissolving into partial armor and attaches itself to Kal. He babbles in Kryptonese before passing out and spends weeks in and out of consciousness, battling high fevers and bodily spasms as his powers unleash around him. After several weeks, he suddenly wakes and, bursting through the wall of the Kent home, he races at incredible speed into the fields, which reminds him of his own Redlands. He spends the next few weeks, unable to communicate with them, helping around the farm until Sol finally reactivates , wraps him in full armor and gives him the ability to speak and understand English. Lazarus drones arrive and Sol deactivates them, causing it to finally rain on the farm for three days straight. Kal gets reported to Lazarus as am undocumented immigrant and the Peacemakers arrive to capture him but he flies away as he realizes this is very similar to the corruption he witnessed on Krypton. In the present, Lois tracks Martha down at the Smallville Senior Living Center. Brainiac, who has been observing her, reports what he has seen to Lazarus’s Director, who is revealed to be Ra’s al Ghul and declares that he will see Superman kneel before him.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #7 by Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis. In the past, young Diana makes friends with Persephone: the captive Queen of the Undwerworld. As she grows up, her mother asks Hecate for advice on how to free Diana from the Underworld. The answer lies in Circe’ interpretation of the story ‘The Lady, or The Tiger?’ In the present, Circe is held in chains and forced to watch Diana battle a Chimera, which Diana ruefully has to kill. Hades gives her the option of one of two doors: one leads to death and other freedom. She choses no door and breaks her mother’s chains, saying she ate one of Persephone’s Pomegranate seeds, which gives her a third option. Diana is allowed to leave but if she sets foot on the Wild Isle to visit Circe, she must remain for one moth in The Underworld.

ACTION COMICS #1085 by G. Willow Wilson and Gavin Guidry. Perry has Lois investigate the heat wave will have on Metropolis, even though he had previously assigned her to interview scientists working on a project in the Arctic, which is now assigned to Clark. Clark meets with Dr. Addison and Dr. Pearce, who are working on a device to reverse the effect of greenhouse gases. However the machine is not working and Clark thinks it may have been sabotaged. At this point, they are attacked by a pair of cybernetically enhanced polar bears leading to Superman arriving and taking the bears away, where they vanish. Later, Superman stands guard when a large robot arrives, that gets stopped by the Man of Steel. That is when the true offender makes themselves known: Kilg%ore

AQUAMAN #4 by Jeremy Adams and John Timms. In a flashback, we see the moment when Arthur met Mera and fell in love with her. At the present, Arthur wakes in chains aboard Dagon’s ship, with Lori telling him they are headed to their master. Arthur uses his powers to draw moisture from the decking and breaks free, even as Lori and the crew give chase. Elsewhere, Arion and Vivienne realize Arthur was taken through the Alpha Portal and make their way through with Thalassa the Trilance Saber. They stop Arthur’s capture and give him the blade. In the end, he uses the weapon to destroy the ship and is heading to Dagon.

BATGIRL #6 by Tate Brombal and Takeshi Miyazawa.  Cass and Shiva have been captured and still argue with each other as Kalden the Unseen comes in and says that even though the al Ghul’s were responsible for starting a war with The Unseen,  Shiva found their hidden world and paid them back for their kindness by stealing their sacred poppies. Shiva tells her daughter that she did it because she needed a fresh challenge. Jayesh arrives, having taken out the guards, and cuts them down. But Nergui the Unknown runs him through, killing him. Shiva and Cass flee with Cass saying she will help them escape but never wants to see her mother again. Cass calls bats in the cave and they attack The Unseen. They escape the cave but are confronted by Kalden and his followers, leading to Shiva ordering Cass to leave as she stands her ground to fight. As she rides out of the area, Cass sees Kalden holding up the remains of Shiva’s outfit.

BATMAN #159 by Geof Loeb, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams. Faced with no other good option, Batman takes the critically injured Joker to Leslie Thompkins. With no real resources available and issues about saving the villain’s life, she treats his wounds and wires his jaw shut. With nowhere to take him, Batman takes him to the Batcave to recuperate. Later, batman is attacked by Red Hood, resulting in Batman being knocked out. When he eventually wakes, The Joker is gone and Batman concludes that Red Hood is working for Hush. Meanwhile, Batgirl and Nightwing discuss possible choices when they are visited by the only person who seems to know what is going on-The Riddler.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #20 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Hugo Petrus, Miguel Mendonca, and Juni Ba. Dr. Bashir is dead and Robin has been captured by Memento. An infected Batman goes to Ribin’s room and finds  a comic Robin has created, which tells of the encounters with Memento but also reveals he wants to be a doctor like his grandfather. An image of Alfred tells Batman to look closer and he finds a casebook that Damian created about Memento

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #38 by Mark Waid and Clayton Henry. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART ONE. Clark and Bruce watch the testing of a new plane that Hal is piloting when something goes horribly wrong and Hal is forced to eject, but disappears as he parachutes to the ground. They receive a transmission  where they see he has been captured by Grodd, who declares war on the human race. They head into action along with The Flash, who has known about Gorilla City for a time and explains that he has a good relationship with King Solovar. Entering Gorilla City, they are approached by armed gorillas who are quickly dispatched by Superman until he is taken down by a giant ape with Kryptonite eyes-Titano.  Flash finds Grodd seated in a chair and behind a force bubble. Batman finds Hal and Solovar in captivity and frees them. But Grodd has managed to swap brains with Superman and attacks. Batman has Titano turn onto the possessed Superman, knowing this might kill his friend. Flash races to Grodd and brings him to Superman, engaging the swap again before Titano kills Superman. With Grodd jailed, he is visited by his future self who takes over his mind. Continued in JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #6.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2025 ANNUAL by Christopher Cantwell, Mark Waid, and Dan McDaid. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART THREE. Inside the Hall of Doom, Grodd explains his master plan to the Legion of Doom, knowing he needs to convince them first, telling them they will all be defeated in the future by the Justice League. His plan is to send the villains out in a three-prong attack to where they will steal time-related tech that will transport them to the future where they can defeat the League and take over the Watchtower. Bizarro and Lex go to Central City where they create a tachyon pulse using the Cosmic Treadmill. Joker and Scarecrows got to Dr. Nichols lab to steal his tachyon particles when Batman and Robin arrive, with Robin being hit with a tachyon gun and disappearing. Sinestro, Black Manta, and Cheetah attack The Atom to steal his Time Pool. With all the teams successful, Grodd is ready to transport them to the future. but he has also made a deal with Pythoness to use her magic on the trip. In exchange for revealing to Pythoness about her future death, the villains leave, but leave Cheetah behind in the process as part of that deal. The villains arrive in our present, but the displaced Robin also arrives there, where he meets Batman and Nightwing? Continued in BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #39.

BIRDS OF PREY #20 by Kelly Thompson and Sami Basri. Batgirl investigates an alleged suicide which, once Batman arrives, is tied to a robbery at a military black site where an experimental drug had been stolen. Batgirl deduces that the scene has been staged, although she notes all of the evidence here. Back at Birds of Prey Headquarters, Black canary sends the team out to investigate the various leads, with Barda being sent to the UAE and Dinah going to Tokyo, while keeping Cass and Sin local to investigate. They observe a man Cass had seen previously at the crime scene and watch as he drops down a manhole, which leads them to follow. In Tokyo, Dinah investigates a tech conference where she observes a new kind of  camouflage that could be a game changer for espionage. In the UAE, Barda arrives at a seemingly deserted town and makes her way into a large skyscraper. Once inside, she hears a voice in an air vent and a black creature slithers out, steals her power rod, transforms and flies away. Shortly after that, the room Barda is in is launched into space and explodes. In the end, someone who is targeting the Birds comments that one is down and there are four to go.  

CATWOMAN #75 Torunn Gronbekk and Patricio Delpeche. Years ago, Evie and the crew she is working with are planning their heist. The day prior to the operation, Belov decides that Donny and Anton are going to accompany them. During the operation, things go well until Danny and Anton go rogue, shooting and killing their target’s dog and all of the security guards.

CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #5 by Christopher Cantwell and Sean Isaaske. All of the Challengers except for Rocky are infected by Omega energy. Wonder Woman uses her lasso to get the Challengers to spout about how their Omega is dying and Omega must not die. The decision is made to put all the Challengers affected into medically induced comas under a cure can be found. Angry about it, Rocky shuts down the primary power systems of the Watchtower and Ultivac arrives and begins drawing Omega energy out of the Challengers. The Watchtower becomes an Omega rift and begins to alternate space and time. Rocky confronts Ultivac and asks why he has no Omega in him with Ultivac saying he does not know but can breach the threshold with his death and kills him. A rift tears apart part pf the Watchtower and Rock and Ultivac drift into space and disappear. In something resembling an afterlife, Rock and Ultivac talk, with Rocky saying life is power. In the end, Rocky and Ultivac find themselves near Challengers Mountain, which had been destroyed years ago. It is then that Rocky realizes they are in the past.

DC HORROR PRESENTS CREATURE COMMANDOS #6 by David Dastmalchian and Jesus Hervas. As the team flees Brainiac’s base, Eiling argues with Dr. West, saying this needed to be done, even at risk of their lives. The team goes to the Delaware State Fair where they seek the other weapon that brainiac is planning to use. They find her and Brainiac arrives. They delay him from activating the weapons, fighting off his troops while Velcro drops the pair of weapons into the ocean, killing them and defusing them at the same time. Brainiac flees and then the team is attacked by military, resulting in Lucky accidentally killing a little girl. Suicicidal, Lucky is about to kill himself when a spectral projection of  Zatanna arrives, saying she will help them if they stick together and transports them to a safe house..

DETECTIVE COMICS #1096 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. Batman gets Scarlett out of the burning lab and, when he asks if anyone else is there, she says Dr. Forster is. As he rescues her, he tells her that he knows who she really is. Dr. Forster is a de-aged Evelyn Scott: Scarlett’s mother and also Asema. She reveals she has Joe Chill locked in a room beneath the burning lab and that is how she will get her revenge on him; more like she wants Bruce, knowing Batman is Bruce Wayne, to be able to gain his revenge. He overwhelms her, save Chill and arrests Evelyn. At the same time, the Bat Family intercepts men authorized to take teenagers out of Faultless, defeats them and arrests Warden Slattery. Later, Bruce meets with Scarlett and tells her Chill is her father. He promises to use his money to shut down Faultless and open a rehabilitation facility for troubled teens. In the end, Elixir visits Evelyn Scott in prison, promising to spare Scarlett but saying that others will not be so lucky.

DETECTIVE COMICS 2025 ANNUAL by Al Ewing, Stefano Raffaele, John McCrea, and Fico Ossio. Batman follows a musical signal that is giving out a message in Morse Code. He gains entry into a secured bunker belonging to a technocrat named Cody Morse. What he discovers is a dead Morse and a message in blood declaring: Batman, don’t solve my murder. As he investigates, he sees that the entire place is automated by gravity defying technology. He also finds five identical books; all with the same five pages torn out. he heads to London and meets with Dr. Jenny Sykes who tells him about Arthur Milligan and how he once created a series of equations that could end the world. He goes to a publishing house in search of a sixth copy and ends up fighting with Mr. Mystic, who has solen the magic powers of John Dee. He finds the book and then gets a call from the killer, who wants the book and has taken Sykes hostage. The killer is Morse’s business partner, Briar, and he forces Batman to give him the missing pages. Batman does, but only one page. Briar inputs the information and finds himself trapped permanently in something akin to a giant glass ball. In the backup, a seventh grade boy, who is also the president of the Junior Batman Detective Club, is convinced the Scarecrow is at the school and has done something to cause the kids to get sick and hallucinate. What the boy and Batman discover is that the school was built on a former Scarecrow lab that didn’t get cleaned up properly.

FIRE AND ICE: WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER #1 by Joanne Starer and Stephen Byrne. Fire and Ice are in new Kooey and they have problems dealing with their powers being totally switched. That night at a karaoke night, Fire finds a Monkey Paw and makes a wish to switch them back, which doesn’t work. But the next morning Ice wakes up next to Charlie. But here is something wrong here. Tora has her powers back but this isn’t Tora: Fire and Ice have their powers back but she and Bea have switched bodies.

THE FLASH #20 by Simon Spurrier and Vasco Georgiev.  Wally has split himself into thousands of versions of himself where a war is going on. The T-Sphere of Mister Terrific that is investigating meets with a Wally, who is dressed in a black costume, where Wally send one of his duplicates to meet with General Judy Garrick. Wally brings the T-Sphere to a room filled with injured Flashes and they meet with Inspector Pilgrim, who explains that the Heliophage is using Godspeed’s powers to steal the moon. Later, the ‘Terrible Two’ (Avery Ho and Wallace West) arrive to create a cluster bomb and clear out the enemy. With General Garrick telling the Flashes to “die well”, they attacks the enemy vent. The casualties are horrendous as Magenta watches from above. Captain Zero arrives to watch the proceedings and then a giant Eclipso is seen, complaining how much it hurts as the family dog struggles inside of him.

GREEN ARROW #23 by Chris Condon and Montos. Ollie battles the Fresh Water Killers who have captured Detective Benitez. He manages to free Benitez and they team up against all their enemies. Eventually, Ollie meets with Kenny Gordon, who is the leader and the young boy we first met at the beginning of the storyline. Kenny gets the upper hand but Ollie is saved by Benitez, leading to him musing about the damage that was done to the townspeople.

GREEN LANTERN #22 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. Hector Hammond has regained his powers and is using them to attack Hal, Carol, and Dove, but they gain the upper hand by working as a team. Later, Hal grills D.E.O. Bones, saying the Department is on notice but is willing to overlook it for the use of a special key. Meanwhile, Odyssey picks the lock of the man that was found at a Reach outpost. Insectoid aliens on giant beetles attack, with Kon and Kyle fighting them while Odyssey tends to the man, who reveals he is Dan Garrett: the original Blue Beetle. Dan finds a magical beetle and transforms into the new Silver Scarab. Hal, with the help of Zuriel and the Phantom Stranger, heads to St. Patrick’s Purgatory in Ireland and uses the key to open a doorway to Hell in order to retrieve the next item Sorrow Lantern needs to build a Power Battery. But they end up encountering…G’Nort?

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #3 by Jeremy Adams, Morgan Hampton, and Fernado Pasarin. John and his Lanterns faces off against Atrocitus and his form Red Lanterns. Atrocitus explains  that many Red Lanterns died when the United Planet Lanterns destroyed the Red Power Battery because their hearts were tied to the Battery’s energy. Because of what was going on with the Emotional Spectrum, Zillius Zox’s rage filled him with Red Lantern energy, so Atrocitus figured out a way to siphon his power along with Nth Metal to help the surviving Lanterns. Atrocitus now seeks Nth Metal to find a permanent solution and take revenge onto the Green Lanterns. The Nth Metal egg hatches and the Thanagarian god Horus emerges, wondering why he had been forced to come out centuries ahead of schedule. The Lantern ship fires at him and he rips them in half, forcing John to hold it together. Shayera begs for mercy and Horus flies off to find a planet that can be the new Thanagar. In the end, the surviving Red Lanterns decide to go into cryo-freeze until a new battery can be restored.

HARLEY QUINN #50 by Elliot Kalan and Mirka Andolfo. Harley has suddenly had a change of heart and is being influenced by Quintellect: her brain which has taken over Harley’s actual instincts, leading to her taking on more than she should in the town. Harley tries to fight back and, in the process, finds herself being shot at by Gunbunny and Mayfly. Harley tries to fight them but, because of Quintellect, didn’t have a weapon with her. In the end, it looks like her decision to give up being violent may cost Harley her life.

A whole new batch of first issues to check out

ALIEN ARMAGEDDON #2 by James Mascia and Enn Art. I have to review issue #2 because I never saw issue #1 which the publisher, Dren Productions, has available for $13.00! What? Basically, you have a pair of female spies who are working in Paris to take out the Nazis. Along the way, one of the two finds herself falling in love with the nazi she has cozied up to. But she has a job to do and, in a rather graphic scene, puts out for one the Germans. Oh yeah: there are aliens among some of the Germans. The art is cool and the story reads quickly. It’s a fun dumb read if you can find it.

CREEPSHOW IN LOVE 2025 SPECIAL by Mirka Andolfo, Patrick Horvath, Yul-Pyeong Oh, and Pure. A trio of stories with both love and horror in it. As expected, it has tons of twists in each tale with my favorite being Andolfo’s, although all of them are fun. If you’re into the regular CREEPSHOW series, you’ll love this one. Pun intended!

CRUEL KINGDOM #1 by Greg Pak, Al Ewing, Chris Condon, Ben H. Winters, Leomacs, Kano, Charlie Adlard, and Andrea Mutti. The newest title in the revised EC imprint is here with the theme being sorcery. Four tales that try to evoke what EC was known for: surprise endings that makes the reader think. Unfortunately, this is probably the weakest of the series thus far as none of the tales, even those that slip in some Science Fiction subplots, never really hit the mark. It’s as if the publishers are trying to reach for what WEIRD SCIENCE did but with more of a concentration on elves and barbarians. While the art looks great and the stories themselves should nail it, it often feels like someone read too much CONAN as a kid…not that there is anything wrong with it.

DAREDEVIL: COLD DAY IN HELL #1 by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven. In the future, Wilson Fisk is dead and Matt Murdock is an old man and no longer has his abilities. At the end of the day, it is a completely different world, caused by a group known as the Deebees, as people struggle survive and heroes are no more. But the villains are still here and maybe this means Matt should come out of retirement, especially after seeing an old acquaintance die. This was so good! The story draws you in and the art is very Milleresque. Highly recommended!

DAREDEVIL UNLEASH IN HELL #1 by Erica Schultz, Valentina Pinti, and Jose Luis. Marvel’s new thing is to bring us tales that are so violent that they are considered Red Band books because of that content. Here’s is their newest, once again polybagged for your protection. It’s Elektra as Daredevil who takes on a drug ring as the first part of the story. But then it gets deeper as one of Matt’s “artistic” villains makes himself the chief villain. And the blood count is high with one particularly nasty murder. But this could easily have been done without all the gore, making it seem like it was all done just for shock value. The story is fun and all but still feels it could have been done without diving into the Red Band.

DEADPOOL/WOLVERINE #1 by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara. Hot off the success of the movie, Marvel decides to cash in with the obvious team-up no one asked for. Honestly, we didn’t need this title that pairs the two heroes together for what seems like no other reason than to let them trade lines and fight. And some positively bloody fights indeed; so much so that THIS should have been a Red Band title as the gore count on a couple of pages outdoes the Red band books. The story is a fun one and brings back an old villain we haven’t seen in some time, so that was cool. But it IS Deadpool, so your mileage may vary.

DOCTOR DOOM & ROCKET RACOON #1 by J. Michael Straczynski and Will Robson. Beginning in the month of February, Straczynski is writing a bunch of Marvel one-shots and this first one is a silly hoot. Doom summons Rocket to his castle as the good doctor wants to adjust his time platform to go back to the very beginning of time. What follows, even before they finally get the platform working, is a ton of funny exposition, goofy dialogue, and a retelling of Doon’s origin. As I often say, your mileage may vary but I found it a lot of fun. And the art by Robson rocks!

DUST TO DUST #1 by JG Jones and Phil Bram. Wow! That’s all I can really say about this. And that’s before I read one word of the book. Anyone who knows Jones art knows what I am talking about as every panel on every page is a masterpiece. Set during the Dust Bowl, there is truly an onion of a plot as there are so many layers, from the family leaving their dried-up farm to the sheriff to the newspaper photographer who is in town to document things. To that end, if you were expecting a big plot point drop you won’t get it. I have the feeling this isn’t going to come for a few issues, so it’s gonna be playing the long game. Hang in there as I’m sure the payoff when it comes is going to be incredible.

FREE FOR ALL #1 by Patrick Horvath. It is a time in a future world where if you do something wrong, you find yourself in the Free For All: a violent mortal combat that is one of the biggest sporting events. But that is just the beginning as the main story revolves around a crappy business deal between spouses, resulting in them going head to head (literally) in this game. It’s wild and violent with some incredibly eye-popping moments. The art is as quirky as the story is but it’s a fun read that hopefully will result in a sequel.  

GATCHAMAN: ONLY ONE EARTH #1 by Tommy Lee Edwards and Nuno Plati. Another mini-series in the GATCHAMAN Universe. Galactor has a plan and that involves killing the queen of Altrena along the way. There’s a car race, a volcanic explosion, a betrayal by Galactor and dire peril for some of the Gatchaman team. Definitely a book that will appeal to fans of the Anime series, even with art reminiscent of a Manga.

GREEN HORNET/MISS FURY #1 by Alex Segura, Henry Barajas, and Federico Sorressa. Two classic, old school comic heroes come together and…it’s a disappointment. The plot is threadbare and the art is the saving grace. Sure we get the Silver Shrike and Kato in the mix, but there is so little back story that I feel as if I missed something, like a previous connection in their stories. Not a fan and that’s a drag!

THE HERCULOIDS #1 by Tom Sniegnoski and Craig Rousseau. One of those much loved Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the Sixties gets its’ own title from Dynamite. Now, the original cartoon only ran for 18 episodes but to children of a certain generation, it will live forever. The story is basic enough to introduce the characters: Zandor, Tara and Dorno, along with Zok, Igoo, Tundro, Glopp and Gleep. While it is a fun read with great art in the Toth style from Rousseau, it is an incredibly short and fast read. But it is nice to see these character getting new life.

THE HIVE #1 by AJ Lieberman and Mike Henderson. This is the first issue of a weird crime drama meets heist story. There is a secret organization called The Hive in the middle of it and a whole bunch of characters that appear to be interchangeable. I haven’t made a decision one way or the other on this series as there is so much happening that it is sometimes tough to follow. But I will give it a second chance and hope that things clear up. The story, as I said, is a bit confusing and the art is passable and reminiscent of David Lapham’s style.  

I WAS A FASHION SCHOOL SERIAL KILLER #1 by Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard. So, you’re a Goth high school girl trying to fit in at a fashion school among all the mean girls. But you’re also a bit of a vigilante who is using the various body parts of your victims as part of your designs. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it totally is! From the folks who have previously brought you VINYL, PLUSH, PLASTIC, and PLASTIC: DEATH & DOLLS, this wild book will fit perfectly into your collection if you’re a fan of smart tongue-in-cheek humor and horror movies. This is highly recommended! Go seek out the great Janet Jackson ROLLING STONE tribute cover variant.

MAGIK #1 by Ashley Allen and German Peralta. Marvel continues to roll out solo adventures of their mutants following the fall of Krakoa. This time, it’s the Darkchild getting involved and fighting demons along the way as she tries to help as young  mutant, dealing with racists at the same time. It’s an okay book primarily aimed for completists, who feel the need to own all these stories, even if it probably won’t result in anything earthshattering or canon defining.

MONEY SHOT: BIG BANG #0 by Tim Seeley, Sarah Beattie, Patton Oswalt, Garth Graham, Rebekah Isaacs, Caroline Leigh Layne, and Gisele Lagace. I have a hard time describing this book, keeping in mind this is a #0 issue but not the first MONEY SHOT comic. It’s about a group, as they are described, of XXX-plorers who go into the reaches of space to bring alien sex acts to their subscribers. And it is as bizarre as it sounds! So, you get wild space action and alien sex! Bonus is a cameo appearance by the legendary Cherry Poptart! It’s a load of fun in 24 pages but, if you go in for the black bag edition, it will set you back TEN BUCKS!

MOUSE GUARD: DAWN OF THE BLACK AXE #1 by David Petersen and Gabriel Rodriguez. This amazing title is back with a new series. If you are unaware of this Eisner Award winning series, it is basically about mice trying to survive in a world of harsh predators. But these mice are more like warriors than scared little creatures. There have been a host of MOUSE GUARD tales and it has even spawned a role-playing game and an alphabet book. It is perfect for fans of D&D and CONAN and looks gorgeous! Highly recommended!

NEW CHAMPIONS #1 by Steve Foxe, Ivan Fiorelli, and IG Guara. Who remember the Champions title from back in the day? Well, marvel has resurrected something to tap into that nostalgia with a team of mostly unknown heroes, although it seems like we have seen this team before. Oh yeah: they used to be known as The Assembly and previously had a run a few years back in Spider-Woman. If you didn’t read those issues, have no fear as there is a brief recap of their story, which unfortunately comes right near the end of the book. And by that time, I kind of lost interest. It’s another teen hero book with teens I don’t care about.

NICK FURY VS. FIN FANG FOOM #1 by J. Michael Straczynski and Elema Casagrande. Marvel brings us another Straczynski mash-up one-shot. Set in the days just prior to World War II, Nick Fury is sent on a mission to the Chinese border where he meets the Howling Commandos for the first time and  finds himself having to go head-to-head against the legendary Fin Fang Foom. It’s fun in a classic Marvel way and will probably appeal to fans of those classic Sixties tales, while most modern fans will not be entertained.

PINUPOCALYPSE #1 by Andrew Tarusov. So, here’s why having a dynamic cover is often a great selling point for a book, especially a new one. It was the attractive cover image by Tarusov that brought me to this title and thrilled it did. What starts as a quiet day in 1950’s Pinupolis for Foxy turns twisted fast as soon she finds herself in the middle of a zombie outbreak. The story is fun and the art is fitting. Personally, I can’t wait for issue #2.

ROGUE: THE SAVAGE LAND #1  by Tim Seeley and Zulema Scotto Lavina. While it’s great to get a Rogue mini-series, be aware it is set right after UNCANNY X-MEN #247, where Rogue sacrificed herself and went through the magical gate known as the Siege Perilous. What happened is she found herself in the Savage Land and has to get used to surviving in it. What follows is a struggle for survival and a chance meeting with Magneto. There is even a Ka-Zar appearance. It’s an interesting start and recommended for fans who remember that era of X-Men.

SAVAGE TALES #1 by David Avallone, Kurt Busiek, Hamish Cook, Eman Casallos, Mariano Benitez Chapo, and Benjamin Dewey. What seems cool for fans of some of Dynamtie’s core licensed characters ends up being a bit confusing and disappointing. Right off the bat, we get Chapter 3 of Gullivar of Mars. I’m sorry: what happened to Chapter 1? Was there two previous SAVAGE TALES one-shots? Possibly. Then a John Carter tale and a Vampirella story, ending with a reprinted Red Sonja tale, which is my favorite from both a story and art standpoint.

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #1 by Chris Condon and Alessandro Cappuccio. The reborn Ultimate Universe expands with this new title, introducing their version of the fan-fave character. But this Logan is much more feral as he is experimented on and is sent to dispatch the enemy, in the form of this Universe’s Colossus, Nightcrawler, Raven, Marik and Omega Red. Suffice it to say, lots of these characters are butchered in issue #1. I’m curious to see where things go from here. Is he friend or foe or just a tool of The Maker?

WE’RE TAKING EVERYONE DOWN WITH US #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Stefano Landini. In what appears to possibly be a post-Apocalyptic world, or at least a New World Order, a young girl is living in isolation with her scientist father, his assistant and her two robot companions. But there is certainly something evil amiss and her father may be to blame. But there is also an organization called V.E.L.L. that may be the actual culprits. So, where does that lead us? Down into a very deep rabbit hole with a surprise ending and a cliffhanger to drag us into the next issue. Great stuff from the always dependable Roseberg.