Week 89 (May 15, 2013)

• Batwoman #20 is yet another game changing issue in a game changing series.  Years ago Batwoman fought a madwoman in the guise of a Religion of Crime prophetess names Alice, who looked like a latex fetish version of the famous Wonderland heroine.  Spoke a lot like her, too.  After defeating her, and only moments before she fell to her “death”, Batwoman realized that Alice was in fact her long “dead” twin, Elizabeth.  Well for the second time Beth has defied death to be found in the land of the living, this time in the custody of the D.E.O., comprising yet another manacle Director Bones has chained to Kate Kane’s leg to assure compliance with the agency’s whims.  On the other side of the narrative are the family and friends of Kate.  Up until last issue they had no idea that Kate was a D.E.O. puppet, being forced into doing their bidding.  Thanks to Kate’s dad, Col. Jacob Kane, the Colonel, Kate’s cousin and one time sidekick Betty (aka Flamebird), Kate’s stepmother Katherine, and Kate’s fiancee Det. Maggie Sawyer all know what she is doing and more importantly WHY she’s been doing it.  Within the close circle of confidantes is a great deal of dissent.  Kate hasn’t spoken to her father since she learned about Beth’s still being alive.  Katherine is livid that her husband has kept the secret of her stepdaughter and step-niece’s nocturnal activities a secret, amongst other things.  Det. Maggie Sawyer is still a little on edge after finding out the woman she loves is in fact the criminal whom she is tasked by Gotham Central to bring in for vigilantism.  All of these quibbles are quelled with the revelation of the horrible situation that Kate has fallen into, for all intents and purposes being enslaved by a shadowy government agency to do their dirty work, as well as the situation facing Beth Kane and her fragile psychological state.  From the looks of it, this could be the turning point from the beginning of the series that will emancipate Kate and turn the book onto a completely new status quo.  I am hoping that it does.  Cowriters J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman have kept this series constantly evolving and its readers always on their toes.  For that reason this series has been a must read book and a delight to read month after month for twenty-two straight months (both zero issues included).
• Batgirl #20 is another issue that changes the entire flow of its series.  With issue #19 of Batgirl the dominoed daredoll seemingly killed her brother, James Gordon Jr. With that she has lost the good grace of Gotham police commissioner and her own father, James Gordon Sr.  But apart from that she has also exacted the heavy toll of having to finally take responsibility for putting her psychotic little brother down once and for all.  If she didn’t, her mother was prepared to, and like a trooper she took the burden of killing him from her mother’s hands.  In this issue she bursts in on her psychiatrist and makes her veiled confessions, keeping the details that would reveal her masked secret, but still attempting to gain some semblence of catharsis. The issue also reintroduces a classic Batman villain, the Ventriloquist, who comes on the scene.  This time around the dummy is named Ferdie, not the gangster doll, Scarface, and the ventriloquist is a timid young woman named Shauna that has lacked the ability for self-expression.  In the past it’s always been hinted at, but never concretely proved that the ventriloquist dummy somehow was calling the shots, yet still maintaining the reality of deep psychosis in the human involved.  However, this version is dangerously close to shattering that by having the doll seem to move by itself with no strings attached in several panels.  I can’t say that I am a fan of that kind of fourth wall tipping.  However, other aspects of the emerging Batgirl mythos merging together in this issue, such as the crippled former gang member that Barbara has been flirting with and the sinister socialite/vigilante Knightfall lends a sense of long term world building under the capable hands of writer Gail Simone.  Definitely an excellent issue.
  

  Fourth Wall Broken

• Nightwing #20 has our title character nestling into his new life in Chicago.  It’s not idyllic to say the least.  He is awoken from a sound sleep after a looooong night of crime fighting by the woman who’s apartment he’d been subletting (unbeknownst to her) kicking him in the chest and brandishing a baseball bat over his head.  Not the best way to wake up in the morning.  Then comes the discovery that Tony Zucco, the mobster who murdered Nightwing’s parents, is under the protection of the mayor’s office.  The Alderman who the Prankster forced to burn his amassed wealth to fend off ravenous wolves is found early the following morning alive, albeit with his arm ripped off and being eaten by said wolves.  A confrontation with the masked anti-hero or villain (hard to nail down) is inevitable and culminates in a very intriguing cliffhanger ending.  Kyle Higgins has been writing this series exquisitely since issue one and the fun doesn’t look to be close to stopping anytime soon.  Brett Booth’s artistic contributions to this series have been considerable, lending a deal of smooth, effortless lines that jibe exceptionally well with Dick Grayson’s persona as an acrobat/aerialist.  I look forward to seeing further adventures of the former Robin in the Windy City.
  

  It’s Always Funny Until Someone Loses an Arm . . .

• Red Hood and the Outlaws #20 picks up after last issue where Jason Todd, after a month of horrors (told over several months of issues) goes to the Acres of All, home of the All-Caste, and has his memories voluntarily erased.  Last issue, his friends and comrades Roy Harper (Red Arrow) and Princess Koriand’r (Starfire) tracked him down to help him in his moment of need only to find him erased of all his memories and as well as the darkness they engendered inside him.  Angered by this Roy and Starfire accost the gatekeeper of the  Acres of All (also the only remaining member of the All-Caste left alive) for his part in it.  The resultant conversation takes the two “Outlaws” through a tour of the accumulated memories extracted from Jason’s mind to give a sample of just what pain and torment the gatekeeper had expunged from Jason’s mind.  What also comes about is an exploration of who Roy and Starfire are as well.  In the past Roy was in a bad spot with Green Arrow  and life in general and out of the blue, the newly minted Robin (Jason) showed up and with great optimism and kindness helped Roy through a really tough moment.  From that point on, Roy had an anchor that has connected him with Jason compelling him to help out the anti-heroic former Robin.  Starfire’s past is also laid out, albeit far less complementary.  Upon the conclusion of this issue, one thing is certain, things have changed and for good or ill, Jason is moving forward without the keystone events that have thus far shaped him into what we have come to know as the figure called the Red Hood.  In the last couple of pages, new writer James Tynion sets up the intro for what will be the Red Hood and the Outlaws first ever annual, coming out in two weeks.
  

  A Red Arrow and a Red Hood

• Legion of Super-Heroes #20 marches forward towards its blowout conclusion.  Glorith, Ultraboy, and Chameleon Boy escape Rimbor for Sorcerers World only to find that planet also under siege by another member of the Fatal Five, Validus.  The three legionnaires link up with their former comrade and ruler of Sorcerers World, Black Witch, and her legionnaire lover, Blok to combat this evil.  Glorith and Black Witch are able to deal with the ravaging monster, but the cost is quite dear.  It also lands Ultraboy and Chameleon Boy in a heap of trouble.  Elsewhere on the Promethean giant we see further trevails of Legion leader, Phantom Girl, and her surviving colleagues, Invisible Kid and Polar Boy.  Though the true meaning of these events aren’t fully explained, they could mean another tragic end to a valiant hero.  Paul Levitz’s Legion is a testament to the title and its characters and a shining example of the possibilities of such a massive concept populated by round, dynamic characters.  Levitz’s is the best Legion of any run, and I will stand by that assertion.  However, DC is cancelling the series after August’s issue #23, so we are indeed looking at an endgame in the storytelling.  A total shame.
• Supergirl #20 closed last issue on a very alarming conundrum.  Power-Girl, the Kara Zor-El of Earth-2 exiled to our reality, teams up with Supergirl, the Kara Zor-El native to our universe, and the two convalesce in the latter’s submarine sanctuary called . . . Sanctuary.  However, Sanctuary is comprised of Kryptonian A.I. and one of the key cultural heresies following the clone wars on Krypton is the existence of clones.  Well, both Kara’s are genetically identical meaning that Sanctuary intuits one of them to be be a clone.  Ironically, the one deemed to be a clone is in fact the true Kara to our reality, Supergirl.  Not to say that Power Girl isn’t as perturbed as her other self nor that she doesn’t do her utmost to rectify the situation.  This issue is basically a giant brawl between the two Maidens of Steel and the Kryptonian base they are trapped within.  The issue seems simple in this way, but in fact this conflict is quite complex, fitting within a larger drama.  Supergirl left Krypton as a teenager, unlike her cousin, Clark, who left as a baby, and as such laments a world and culture that were her life.  When she came to Earth she had  to cope with the loss of everything and everyone she knew and loved.  When H’el came on the scene she was tempted with the promise of having that life restored, only for it to come crashing down again in front of her.  Sanctuary was the last shred of Krypton that she had.  In this issue that one last piece of home turned on her and ruthlessly tried to kill her.  She is slowly losing her identity piecemeal, and a situation is developing wherein she will be forced to make a life among the humans and become a completely new woman.  I really feel pity for her, but am enthusiastic at the chance for her to become the incredible character she was pre-Reboot and develop the relationships she had in the past with other superheroes.  Michael Allan Nelson as well as his predecessors Mike Johnson and Frank Hannah have done a killer job writing her in complex, engaging ways that give her leeway to be a dumb teenager doing foolish things without demonizing her or making her any less compelling of a heroine.  Her hero’s journey has been and looks to continue to be something worth watching.
  

  Kryptonian Sunrise

• Vibe #4 begins with the armored intruder in the Ramon household introducing himself as Breacher, the first interdimensional traveller to come to Earth and be imprisoned by A.R.G.U.S.  He came to warn Earth of Darkseid’s impending invasion, but was ignored and incarcerated.  He also warned Cisco not to trust his employers as they are hiding something from him.  Breacher is unable to elaborate as he is pulled against his will to another dimesion, probably his place of origin.  In the mean time, Vibe is sent to catch the escaped inmate, codenamed Gypsy.  Like Kid Flash last issue he fights her but eventually comes to speak with her in private and learns she is not an interdimensional warmonger, as he had been briefed, but just an interdimensional wander who was imprisoned like Breacher.  Finally bucking the system, Cisco shakes his A.R.G.U.S handlers and agrees to help Gypsy get home.  In the process he runs afowl of A.R.G.U.S head Amanda Waller and opens a can of worms that could spell dire consequences of him and his future as a superhero.  Sterling Gates takes over for Geoff Johns and Andrew Kreisberg with great skill, maintaining the feel and excellence which began the series.
• Wonder Woman #20 brings the family of Zeus closer to all-out conflict.  Artemis is dispatched to England to kill Zeus’ last born child, Zeke, and Wonder Woman yet again comes to the aid of her baby brother.  In the meantime, Lennox returns and escorts Hera and Zola in the attempt to get Zeke to safety.  However, Artemis and Apollo are not the only ones of Zeus’ children looking for the Last Born.  The First Born also knows that Zeke is the key to the throne of Olympus and looks to commune with his baby brother in the attempt to claim what he feels is his birthright.  Brian Azzarello certainly has a vision for this title and pushes onward setting a very sordid, complex gameboard upon which the Greek gods politick against one another.  Ares, or War as Azzarello likes to refer to him, comes off as a blood-soaked philosopher, and perhaps a way of Azzarello inserting himself into the title.  He does bear an uncanny resemblance to the Wonder Woman scribe.  Also revealed is the reason for Cassandra, the First Born’s attache’s, metal throat.  There is some messed up family politics behind that number.  I’ve fought with my sisters before, but I have never ripped their larynges out.  Yikes.  Azzarello with the help of artists Cliff Chiang, Tony Akins, and Goran Sudzuka have knocked this title out of the park.  I think what I like about the series thus far it that it is a completely different take on the saga of the Amazing Amazon than most fans have seen on a large scale.  It really roots her in mythic origins and divorces her from the contemporary DCU events, if only for the moment, to really give voice to the Greek drama that is her life.  Intriguing to be sure.
  

  Sibling Rivalry

• Sword of Sorcery #8 is finally here.  Though I hate to see this wonderful series come to a close, I am geared up for the incredible finale that has been so wonderfully built toward.  Eclipso has subdued both House Onyx and House Diamond, the two bloodlines that once gave him power.  They again fall under his sway.  It falls to the newly minted lord and ladies of House Amethyst, House Citrine and House Turquoise to stop him.  Amaya has a plan and it is a risky gambit that turns the very premise the first issue was based upon on its head.  Amaya’s ancestor, Lady Chandra, was the one who defeated the undefeatable Lord Kaala (Eclipso) when he first appeared in Nilaa. The question arises as to whether Amaya, young though she may be, can emulate her forebearer and put him down once more.  The course of this title has been circuitous and fraught with medieval political intrigue not unlike Game of Thrones.  It’s strange that this fact didn’t save it from cancellation, but the hope remains that somewhere down the road someone will resurrect it from the pivotal moment upon which it ends.  Writer Christy Marx can be proud of herself with this title and artist Aaron Lopresti presents his usual level of excellence in its depiction.  All nine issues of this series (zero issue included) are well worth reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Batgirl #20:  Drawn by Daniel Sampere & Carlos Rodriguez, Colored by Blond, Inked by Jonathan Glapion & Vincente Cifuentes

Nightwing #19: Drawn by Brett Booth, Colored by Andrew Dalhouse, Inked by Norm Rapmund

Red Hood and the Outlaws #19:  Art by Julius Gopez, Colored by Nei Ruffino

Supergirl #19:  Art by Mahmud Asrar, Colored by Dave McCaig

Wonder Woman #19: Art by Cliff Chiang & Goran Sudzuka, Colored by Matthew Wilson

Week 85 (April 17, 2013)

This week is a week of great flux in the DC Universe bringing change within and without the various series.  New writers come onboard, characters lives alter invariable, and in the case of Nightwing and Teen Titans, the artists play the swinging game swapping partners to try their hands at new characters and stories.  It’s truly an exciting time to be a DC fan, as these changes push the envelope of storytelling and innovation.  So here they are:

• Justice League #19 introduces the two new members of the Justice League:  Rhonda Pineda (the new, female Atom) and Firestorm (whose series is being cancelled with May’s #20 issue).  Stuck alone in the Watchtower, waiting for their new teammates to initiate them into the League, they find themselves in a trial-by-fire situation.  On Earth, keeping them from meeting their newly recruited rookies, Batman goes to have a chat with Superman and Wonder Woman who have taken it upon themselves to insert themselves into a tense geopolitical situation.  Batman, though cold and calculating, understands that the world is growing distrustful of the League and violating political borders, no matter what the reason, does nothing but kick hornet nests and ruffle feathers.  I have to say that Geoff Johns really doesn’t portray Superman or Wonder Woman in a good light.  Wonder Woman is shown in a very fascist light and Superman, though opposed to her views, goes along with it because his girlfriend wants him to.  Compelling characterization, truly.  The issue also features a mysterious assailant breaking into the Batcave to steal a package Batman developed to take out Superman.  Considering the events of this issue, Johns’ version of the Man of Steel kind of deserves a few knocks to the head to maybe knock some sense into him.  In the backup feature, I may be forced to eat crow.  I’ve had very few good things to say about the SHAZAM backup or its version of Billy Batson, but after Johns reveals Black Adam’s history in ancient Kahndaq he seems to give validation to what he did with Billy, giving him the understanding to deal with Black Adam from a place of mutual understanding of why he is doing the things he is with the power the Wizard gave him.  Geoff Johns may be able to pull this one out of the toilet.  I say may.  Jury is still out.
  

  The Corruption of Power

• Green Lantern: The New Guardians #19 picks up right where Green Lantern #19 left off with the destruction of Sinestro’s homeworld, Korugar.  Of course when Kyle shows up with a white ring on his finger, Sinestro demands that he restore his planet and his people from the apocalypse the First Lantern unleashed.  Kyle remains uncertain and Sinestro resorts to violence.  While many would demonize him for this reaction it should be noted that Hal Jordan reacted similarly in the wake of his hometown, Coast City’s, destruction and as a result snapped Sinestro’s neck and murdered the Guardians and half the Green Lantern Corps.  Sinestro in comparison is behaving himself quite admirably.  Simon Baz, the newly minted GL of planet Earth comes on the scene and all three Lanterns attempt to do the impossible, taking turns with the white ring to bring back the decimated world.  Kyle tries and fails, the ring won’t even allow Sinestro to put it on, and Simon Baz tries to replicate his feat of will that brought his brother-in-law out of a coma, only to be refused by the ring.  For good or ill, the Life Force of the white energy deems that Korugar must remain destroyed.  Like the two previous GL titles this month, New Guardians #19 sets the stage for the massive Green Lantern #20 next month with the cast of players taking position.  Its going to be a blowout issue that will go down in history.  Mark my words.
  

  The Return of Fear

• Batwoman #19 is an extended period of adjustment.  After the conclusion of the Medusa mega-arc a lot has changed in the Batwoman title and as a result the characters are having to reacquaint themselves with one another and the situations that have arisen from the fallout of the first seventeen regular issues.  Maggie and Kate’s relationship has taken a dramatic turn following Kate’s revelation that she is in fact the Gotham city vigilante known as Batwoman.  After all, in the course of doing her duty as a policewoman Batwoman shot Maggie full of a concentrated Scarecrow fear toxin that continues to plague her with horrific nightmares.  It is also her job to apprehend such vigilantes.  So yeah, their engagement is rather complicated legally and emotionally.  Kate’s father, Jacob Kane, has his own crosses to bear in his dual life as the father of Batwoman  and loving husband with his wife Katherine’s discovery that her stepdaughter, Kate, and niece, Betty, moonlight as crimefighters with Jacob’s help.  Thus another strained relationship.  Jacob also lets slip that he may have a son.  However they rationalize it, the hinting is that this son is Director Bones of the D.E.O.  Considering that Bones is using Jacob as a bargaining chip to gain Batwoman’s compliance to D.E.O. operations and that he referred to Alice as “sister”, I’d say that there is some seriously oedipal stuff going on there.  And as for Cameron Chase, the hard edged D.E.O. agent begins to have a crisis of conscience and goes to her sister to find resolution to her conflicting drives.  Overall, J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman have made this title both action packed and introspectively thoughtful.  This continues to be one of the hallmark titles in DC’s current lineup.
• DC Universe Presents #19 delivers its final presentation of the New DCU spinning out of the first four issues of Swords and Sorcery and bringing Beowulf into our present (his past) as summoned through a mystical artifact.  Preceding him is a shapeshifting beast called the “Puca” that runs amok with the intention of conquering the Age of Heroes and enslaving humanity.  Though logically it would change the timestream and corrupt events in her time, Beowulf concludes that the “sorceress” we’ve met under the relative name of “Grendel’s Mother” sent the Puca back to lure the legendary Geat from that time in order that she could conquer the Danelaw unimpeded.  Helping Beowulf find the Puca and get back to his own time is the beautiful archeaologist Dr. Gwendolyn Pierce.   This issue, though pretty straightforward and insubstantial by itself, was a pretty fun read for those that enjoy the original legend of Beowulf and the reinterpretation of it as done by this issue’s writer, Tony Bedard.  My hopes are that this concept will be revisited one day, because to me the Beowulf backup feature was superbly done and intriguing to read.  It may not have been popular, or at least not popular enough to continue in its own book, but I can dream.  The backup in Sword of Sorcery was drawn by Jesus Saiz, but this issue featured art by Javier Pina that was very soft, with lovely rounded lines, making it all the more enjoyable.  Man, I hope they continue on with this series . . .
  

  He’s No Hero, He is BEOWULF!!!

• Legion of Super-Heroes #19 brings the next chapter in the off-the-rails storyline by writer Paul Levitz that re-establishes the defunct supervillain team, the “Fatal Five.”  So far, Tharok has plunged much of the United Planets into utter chaos by corrupting all technology powered by quark relays which accounts for 99.9% of it (I’m guessing on that figure, but its not far off), and in this issue Emerald Empress descends on Webber World, an artificial planet made entirely out of metal and machinery that runs ENTIRELY on quark relays.  That said, there is no way for the residents there to defend themselves against her psychotic assaults.  Cue  the entrance of Mon-El, the Legion’s Daxamite, and the Webber Worlders’ last hope.  Levitz holds nothing back in this storyline. The Fatal Five are back and they are playing for keeps.  Levitz began this arc with the death of a beloved Legionnaire and this issue finds the rest standing on infirm ground.  The sheer scope of the story is mind boggling, spanning the width of the United Planets and inflicting fear and death the likes of which we’ve not seen since Levitz’s “Great Darkness Saga” back in the early 1980’s.  Good to see that the master hasn’t lost his touch, nor his ability to spin quintessentially relevant Legion lore.  Starting this journey with him on issue #17 was his former partner from the aforementioned 1980’s opus, artist Keith Giffen.  Last issue and this one had art provided by Scott Kolins.  Kolins is a phenomenal artist, but put beside Giffen’s work it took some of the magic away.  Regardless, this is a series to read. Period.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #19 represents a paradigm shift on two levels.  Firstly, it should be noted that Scott Lobdell, writer extraordinaire who’s initiated some of the best titles in the New DCU (Teen Titans, Superman, Superboy, and this title), has moved on after a stellar run reinventing Jason Todd, Starfire, and Roy Harper, while simultaneously introducing incredible new concepts and characters like Essence, the All-Caste, the Untitled, the Thirteen Scions of Salvation, to name only a few.  The good news is that he is replaced by up-and-coming writer James Tynion IV, who’s work on the backup features in the Batman title as well as the series Talon have been incredible.  Joining him is artist Julius Gopez, whose art is as detailed as original series artist Kenneth Rocafort, but with its own unique style.  That said, the stage is set for an incredible issue as the new creative team descends into the quagmire left after the “Death of the Family” mega event felt throughout the Bat-family of books.  Jason Todd has been through a lot, and despite developing a hard exterior, weathered it pretty well.  With Lobdell’s revelation that the Joker was the architect of much of his misery, Jason is left in a very compromising situation.  Following that, he disappears and his friends, Starfire and Roy, try to find him to offer their support.  They track him to the Himalayas and while searching are set upon by two former acquaintances of Jason’s: Ducra and Essence.  Both transcendental forces, they attempt to influence the course of Roy and Koriand’r’s journey.   With his limited  knowledge gained from observing Jason’s meditation and use of Eastern rituals, Roy is able to weather his innermost demons, roused by Essence, to find the path to helping his friend.  However, after all of the pain and hardship to find their comrade, Jason throws a curve ball.  Tynion proves his understanding and mastery of comic writing here with some really poignant storytelling that doesn’t break stride from the tone and pace set by Lobdell.  Jason, Roy, and Starfire are very complex characters that are flawed beyond belief, but when written well are made all the better because of their imperfections.  Tynion writes them that way, and his partner in art renders them beautifully.  This series looks to be in good hands and I for one am breathing a sigh of relief that Red Hood and the Outlaws have found themselves in capable hands.
  

  The Color of Friendship

• Nightwing #19 endures his own paradigm shift like Jason, his successor to the Robin title, did in the above book.  Though continuing to be written by Kyle Higgins, longtime artist Eddy Barrows has gone to Teen Titans and that series’ artist, Brett Booth, begins his run as artist on this book with this issue.  Coinciding with Booth’s jumping on point, Dick Grayson jumps ship from the tragedy that befell him in Gotham following “Death of the Family” and begins a new life in Chicago, searching for Tony Zucco.  Zucco is the supposedly deceased mobster that killed Dick’s parents, but also the father of his pseudo-girlfriend, Sonia Branch.  A complex situation to be sure, but one that Dick cannot overlook.  Though it dredges up harsh memories of the past, Nightwing has to seek out Zucco if he  ever hopes to attain closure on one of the seminal moments of his life.  The issue follows Dick settling into the Windy City and familiarizing himself with its underworld in order to get information on  Zucco.  It also introduces the “Prankster.”  Higgins imagines him almost as an anti-hero rather than the Joker-like Superman villain he was originally written as.  Here Prankster forces a corrupt millionaire to burn his money to prolong his survival when trapped in a room with wolves.  The chances of the man surviving the encounter are very decent, but he is forced to pay monetarily for the privilege.  Not supervillainous, but at the same time not heroic.  Higgins and Booth have created a very compelling first chapter for the new chapter in Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing’s life.
  

  Why So Serious?

• Supergirl #19 finds the Girl of Steel captive after a weakness overcomes her, probably due to her former kryptonite poisoning at the end of the “H’el on Earth” arc.  And as introduced last issue, Karen Starr, aka Power Girl  comes onto the scene, drawn by an unknown force to her Earth-1 self’s rescue.  In Worlds’ Finest she has gone out of her way to avoid meeting Kara, as she has no idea what it would mean meeting her alternate self.  Here she has no choice but to help “herself” and in the process writer Mike Johnson does something very interesting with the two halves of the same person.  When they meet and touch hands, instead of reality unraveling as quantum physicists project in such an unlikely event, they instead become of one mind, literally sharing their memories and thoughts.  After that instant they operate like a well oiled machine to put down a mutant freak that Lex Luthor sicced on them from his ultra-security prison, via neural implant.  Johnson does a really excellent job writing this story in a way that not only advances the title character, but the character of Power Girl from across the New DCU.  As is wont to happen with her, Power Girl’s costume is torn to shreds as she helps get the weakened Supergirl back to her sub-aquatic fortress of solitude, Sanctuary.  Within, Sanctuary ascertains her need and spins her a new costume from more durable Kryptonian fibers.  However, the costume it gives her deviates from the more PC, full body suit to the former skimpy unitard with the “convenient” hole in the chest that serves no other purpose than to display her cleavage.  Also, Mike Johnson makes ample use of this singular event of two genetically identical Karas  to play a very interesting scenario predicated from the taboo of cloning in Kyptonian culture.  Overall, a very interesting, thoughtful, action packed issue.
  

  Two Reflections of One Super Woman

• Vibe #3 takes Francisco Ramon further down the uncharted path his powers have placed him on.  Recruited by A.R.G.U.S and Amanda Waller for the Justice League of America, he is starstruck and wanting not only to make a difference, but find purpose following the horrific event that gave him his powers while simultaneously taking the life of his eldest brother.  From the perspective of such a kindhearted, idealistic young man like Cisco, that is completely understandable.  What he doesn’t know is that Waller put him on the JLA roster because he is theoretically the only being on the planet whose powers would allow him to neutralize the Flash’s speed abilities which come from an other dimensional force, which we know from The Flash to be the “Speed Force.”  So with that as the goal, how does one test that hypothesis?  If you want to fight an unknown creature the best way is to first try your hands against one of its young.  So Cisco is sent up against Kid Flash, aka Bart Allen, of Teen Titans fame.  Their meeting is morally mixed and hints very cryptically about the past (our future) of the younger speedster.  While Cisco begins by attacking Kid Flash, he is unable to continue on his belligerent path as Kid Flash does not behave in a way that engenders antagonism.  The events as I said before are very cryptic and morally ambiguous and begin the questioning of Vibe as to what his real purpose is and whether or not he can trust the people that are giving him orders.  I had my doubts about this book in the beginning.  Damn you, Geoff Johns, you got me!  Johns and cowriter Andrew Kreisberg started the series with the first two issues, but this third issue begins new series writer Sterling Gates’ tenure on title.  Gates is an incredible new voice in comics, so the title has gone from good hands to equally capable ones.
• Wonder Woman #19 marks a nexus point in storytelling that promises a shift in the status quo.  The First Born has been systematically attacking those of his relatives that have been entrusted with his various implements of war.  This issue has him going up against Poseidon and fighting the god within his own leviathan belly.  Going up against his uncle, the two find themselves at an impasse and we see more of the twisted politics of the Greek gods coming into play as they make war and secret intrigues against one another.  However, for the First Born to achieve his ends he must cross paths with Zola’s infant baby, the last born of Zeus’s children.  To do that, of course he will have to go through Wonder Woman who has literally spent the entirety of this rebooted series protecting the baby from fetus to newborn.  As the title shifts to the Amazing Amazon and what she has been up to we see a major parting of ways.  Her Constantine-esque brother, Lennox, decides he is going depart the scene and in the midst of that departure, Orion runs afoul of Wonder Woman and leaves in disgust as well.  I’m not going to shed a tear on this departure, as Orion is a noble character and I feel that writer Brian Azzarello isn’t depicting him nearly as nobly as the son of Great Darkseid deserves.  Best to leave that to the more able pen of Scott Lobdell in Superman.  I will be interested to see how Wonder Woman fares against her eldest brother, the First Born, as he arrives in London in the very last panel of this issue.  Oh the anticipation . . .  She might yet regret the loss of an extra set of New God hands.  Oh well, pride cometh before the fall.
• Sword of Sorcery #7 proves how incredible the main feature Amethyst is.  Last issue had the return of Eclipso, aka Lord Kaala, to the gemworld Nilaa.  After his return we are told that he was the result of a nightmarish blood marriage between House Diamond and House Onyx, hence his power totem, the black diamond.  With the powers of both houses gifted to him he was nearly unstoppable and almost brought ruin down upon all of Gem World.  But for Lady Chandra of House Amethyst he would have succeeded.  Now it lies with Chandra’s heirs, Lady Graciel, Mordiel, and of course Princess Amaya of the Amethyst clan to take him down once again.  They have their work cut out for them.  In the course of a single night, chronicled in this one issue, Kaala has murdered the head of House Citrine, retaken House Onyx from the noble Lady Akikra, and murdered the head of House Diamond taking its armies also under his power.  With one stroke he has regained all his strength and prestige from before his fall.  However, he still has many enemies including the fugitive Akikra who is as dangerous as a cornered dog, Prince Hadran of House Diamond, and of course the young lord and ladies of Houses Turquoise, Citrine, and Amethyst respectively.  The board is set for one hell of a showdown in Nilaa.  It will have to be, because sadly this title is being cancelled as of issue #8.  Next issue is the conclusion to all of it, and what a shame.  This was truly one of the best new series DC has put out.  It was fresh and unique from anything else that they had done, resurrecting a lesser known series and completely re-imagining it in a way that preserved the good, but innovated at the same time.  What a shame, indeed.  The backup feature Stalker on the other hand comes to its conclusion and good riddance.  As excellent as Amethyst is, Stalker is equally as terrible.  THAT is a shame, as the original series from the 70’s, only four issue unfortunately,written by the legendary Paul Levitz was incredibly good. It’s predecessor, Beowulf, which merited a special appearance in the above mentioned DC Universe Presents #19 was phenomenal.  I don’t even care to elaborate on how badly this Stalker series was dealt with.  Suffice it to say, this backup series did nothing to help the cancellation of this title.  It may have been a part of the anchor that dragged Sword of Sorcery below the water to its point of drowning.  Pity.  I will miss Amethyst  and Beowulf greatly.
  

  The Return of the King

   

• Batman Beyond Unlimited #15 begins with the Superman Beyond feature.  Superman is rescued from the Trillians by the the bestial Mangals he liberated from enslavement upon his last visit to Trillia.  Whereas the Trillians view Superman as the terrorist who led to the fall of their society, the Mangals look upon him as a messianic figure.  This is made apparent when Superman sees them for the first time after all the intervening years.  When he liberated them they were small and helpless.  Now they are large and strong.  Apparently, the Trillians never let them grow to full maturity, but rather kept them young and worked them to premature death.  So once again, we the reader are shown a very divided society on Trillia between the over class and the bonded underclass.  Both sides want to eradicate the other, leaving a very morally ambiguous position for Superman.  Regardless of the heinous crimes of the Trillians as a culture, he cannot condone wholesale slaughter of all Trillians, yet at the same time he cannot stand idly by while the Trillians plan the same for their emancipated slaves.  This arc took a little while to reach maturity, but writer JT Krul has pulled this one out and made it into a very thought provoking storyline that raises questions about our own world and social systems.  Next up, in the Justice League Beyond Unlimited feature writer Derek Fridolfs begins a new arc with artist Ben Caldwell providing pencils.  In it the criminal organization known as the “Brain Trust” abducts children and places them in an elite prep school academy to brainwash them into becoming soldiers in an underground army.  The JLB sends their own agent, the “Golden Child”-like Green Lantern, Kai-Ro, in as a mole.  Once he is in the League tracks him to perhaps the most wholesome place in the entirety of  the DCU.  A place that makes Smallville look like a ghetto.  Fawcett City.  Ending in the middle of a fight, it is difficult to see where the story is going from here, but the concept of the “Brain Trust” is solid and I very much look forward to seeing where Fridolds goes in his script.  Lastly, the Batman Beyond feature fulfills a promise made over two years ago before the Reboot from the original Batman Beyond comic series.  Terry McGinnis’ best friend and confidante, Max Gibson, had attempted to infiltrate the network of cyber terrorists called “Undercloud” that were attacking Gotham’s infrastructure.  All of this without Terry’s knowledge.  Now she finds herself in the belly of the beast, integrally tied into Undercloud’s horrific plan to raze Neo Gotham and build it up from the ashes in their own image.  If she doesn’t comply, agents of Undercloud will kill those closest to her.  In the meantime, Terry is sent to a rock concert where a terrorist threat has been issued, although not by Undercloud.  Instead, its one of Batman’s old nemeses, Shreik.  Overall this issue was pretty quality in both storytelling and art.  For those that enjoyed the DC Animated Universe, this title stands as an ark to the legacy of many beloved TV shows.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Justice League #19:  Drawn by Ivan Reis, Colored by Rod Reis, Inked by Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Jonathan Glapion

Green Lantern: New Guardians #19: Drawn by Andres Guinaldo, Colored by Wil Quintana, Inked by Raul Fernandez

DC Universe Presents #19:  Art by Javier Pina, Colored by Jason Wright

Red Hood and the Outlaws #19:  Art by Julius Gopez, Colored by Nei Ruffino

Supergirl #19:  Art by Mahmud Asrar, Colored by Dave McCaig

Nightwing #19: Drawn by Brett Booth, Colored by Andrew Dalhouse, Inked by Norm Rapmund

Sword of Sorcery #7:  Art by Aaron Lopresti, Colored by Hi-Fi

Week 81 (March 20, 2013)

This was a huge week, both in the number of comics I picked up and the quality.  First and foremost, Grant Morrison concludes his run on Action Comics with an oversized issue that promises to be one of the hallmarks of his comics career.  Batwoman enters into a new era after a seventeen issue mega story came to an EPIC end last month.  Legion of Super-Heroes has descended into unmitigated horror as of its preceding issue and moves into what promises to be the biggest story in LOSH history since writer Paul Levitz’s “Great Darkness Saga” plot from the early 80’s.  And who could forget three Bat-titles that follow in the wake of Damian Wayne’s tragic passing.  I am shaking just recounting the possibilities this week holds in store.  Let’s jump in:

• Action Comics #18 concludes Grant Morrison’s MASSIVE opening arc of this flagship Superman title.  As with most things Morrison, I’m not entirely sure I got all of it.  It is steeped in 5th dimensional nonlinear geometry and what could vaguely be filed under the heading of quantum mechanics.  Superman is fighting Vyndktvx, and by extension Superdoom and the Anti-Superman Army.  It’s pretty technical, but insanely engaging to read.  Superman’s position seems impossible to extricate himself from, except when he realizes an inherent flaw in the logistics of Vyndktvx’s attack.  As he discerned on Mars when fending off the Multitude, the unfathomable numbers of this angelic hoard were merely a fifth dimensional projection of one being, Vyndktvx.  Likewise, by choosing to attack Superman at various points throughout his life, Vyndktvx is able to optimize the torture quotient of his assault upon the Man of Steel, but conversely traps himself in a relativistic conundrum hinging on Superman’s perception of the situation.  When Superman realizes that he’s been attacked at other points in his life he also realizes that due to the quantum physics of the 3-dimensional plane in which we exist he would have survived all the previous assaults by Vyndktvx and therefore would have gained de facto the knowledge of how to defeat the mad 5-D villain.  Grant Morrison and his dynamic duo of artists, Brad Walker and Rags Morales, really did a great job of tying together their entire run on the book and making it meaningful.  Lex Luthor made an appearance defending the Man of Steel and another antagonist from earlier in this series, Adam Blake, and his Neo-Sapien brotherhood come back to Earth and lend Superman a hand as well.  The people of Earth are promised immortality and eternal happiness if they shun Superman in his moment of greatest need, but humanity rallies behind their savior and grant him the key to victory.  The backup feature by Sholly Fisch was a little insubstantial, but in fairness his amazing backup feature in #17 was no doubt supposed to be the ending of the arc until Morrison got DC to extend his run by one issue to fully tell the grand finale as he envisioned it.  This one features kids in a Superman Museum in the 31st century featuring almost no dialogue and just seems propped up with toothpicks.  There was meaning behind it, but it still had the air of being rushed.  Despite that, this issue as well as the other eighteen issues of the series (remember there was a #0 issue in there, too) were amazing and a tribute to Grant Morrison’s genius.  A must read, whether in single issues or graphic novel format.
  

  Vyndktvx’s 5-D Dilemma

• Justice League #18 was a nerd spasm with the League auditioning new members and writer Geoff Johns pulling out all sorts of fan favorites along with some really obscure characters.  Zatanna, Firestorm, and Black Canary come up , but Johns also brings in Platinum of the Metal Men, Element Woman (female version of Metamorpho) which he’d messed around with in Flashpoint, Goldrush, and a female version of the Atom.  Other than exploring the need of a new member to the team and introducing the hint of a coming conflict, there wasn’t much point to this issue.  The Shazam backup feature had good art from Gary Frank, but vexing plot development: Billy Batson running away from responsibility, because he’s a punk.  If he were any other version of the character than this it could be legitimately reasoned as a kid afraid to fail, but it’s not.  It’s Geoff Johns’ bizarre attempt at rebooting an edgier Billy and his running away from conflict just comes off as him being a self interested brat.  This series just does not work for me, main feature and backup.
• Justice League of America #2 brings about Geoff Johns’ second attempt at a team book.  The first issue was a really solid opening chapter that showed promise, albeit suffering slightly with its breakneck, abbreviated introductions to six lead characters.  This second issue continues that promise with a pretty substantial plot.  Its shorter in length, giving some of its page count to the Martian Manhunter backup feature.  There is some quality character development on Catwoman, as well as Steve Trevor.  The main villain seeking to create the “Secret Society of Super-Villains” from the end of Justice League #6 a little more than a year ago finally shows his face and seems to be a completely new character, or perhaps a drastically different take on an old one, because I do not recognize him at all.  All in all, a really enjoyable, edgy series.  I think that Geoff Johns is trying to be edgy with the two Justice League titles and that is where he fails with the main series.   When you have tertiary characters like Catwoman, Katana, Hawkman, etc, you can be edgier.  When you try that same thing with the main DCU characters, even to a degree with Batman, you just alienate them from the audience reading them.  Maybe that’s what Johns is going for, but that’s a really low bar to aim for and a really crappy status quo for readers to expect.  The Martian Manhunter backup was too edgy for me and I did not like it.  If J’onn J’onnz was to die at this point I wouldn’t care at all.  That is sad, because I always liked him.
  

  Kindred Spirits

   

• Batwoman #18 is a new beginning for the character, but also a reaffirmation of what her life has become.  Medusa and her kidnapping of dozens of Gotham children was the plot that pervaded the first seventeen issues of the title, but with last issue that has been laid to rest.  However, in fighting this titanic battle for the innocents of her city, Batwoman had to make a devils deal with the D.E.O. and become their leashed super-agent in order to complete her mission with impunity and keep her father out of prison for his outfitting of her with Army equipment.  This latter aspect of her life was overshadowed by the pressing quest to find and subdue Medusa before the children came to harm.  With the mission accomplished she is becoming aware of the shackles she’s got herself tethered with.  As she plays her role in this issue taking down Mr. Freeze to obtain some of his freeze tech for the D.E.O. she runs afoul of Batman and confuses her father, cousin Betty (her sidekick Hawkfire), and the Batman as to what her motives are.  After defeating Medusa, Batwoman proposed to her alter-ego Kate Kane’s girlfriend, Capt. Maggie Sawyer.  This issue picks up with Maggie looking for a new place for the two of them, completely overstepping any reaction from the Gotham policewoman as to the revelation that her lover was the vigilante she had been hunting.  Probably the right decision by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, but I still would have been interested to see what the initial conversation was before her acceptance of this rather unorthodox situation.  This series continues to be amazing, although this particular episode was a little less exciting after the high octane ride the past couple of months have given us with the conclusion of the “Medusa” mega-arc.  Also Trevor McCarthy’s art pales in comparison to Williams’.  I feel they do him a disservice, as he is a good artist, by pairing his artwork next to Williams’.
• Green Lantern: The New Guardians #18 brings Volthoom’s wrath upon Carol Ferris, Saint Walker, and Larfleeze.  To accomplish this, series artist Aaron Kuder has been replaced with three artists for the three different sequences in the narrative.  The Carol Ferris segment is drawn by Hendry Prasetyo and features Carol living a life without love.  She’s completely ignored her obligations to her father and their family company Ferris Aircraft, following her dream to become a fighter pilot.  Though this sounds ideal for her, with Volthoom’s altered timeline it is anything but.  Larfleeze’s segment is drawn by Jim Calafiore and features the paragon of greed first with his family that he has desperately wanted to find for ages and then as a Blue Lantern.  Both times, he barely gets into the altered reality before his inherent greed overpowers his senses and collapses the concept in on itself.  Saint Walker doesn’t so much live a life without hope, so much as lives a life without loss, this time around having gotten a green power ring saving his planet before his family died in the quest for the blue one.  He also is unable to follow the reality through as in his heart he knows it is not true.  Like Kyle last issue, each of the other “New Guardians” prove too powerful in their spirit for Volthoom to truly get the better of forcing Volthoom to seek out someone he knows he can manipulate: Atrocitus.  That may be a lead in to next week’s Red Lanterns issue, because Atrocitus hasn’t been a New Guardian for awhile.  This issue was really well written and really cut to the heart of these three incredible lanterns.
• Supergirl #18 presents a major turning point for the Maiden of Steel.  She has been alienated upon waking up on a planet whose language and culture she is unfamiliar with.  Things looked up for awhile as she made a friend in Siobhan McDougal, aka Silver Banshee, but then with the introduction of H’el onto the scene she was given the hope of returning to her homeworld and being reunited with her family.  With last month’s issue of Supergirl as well as the conclusion of Superman #18 it is now an intractable fact: Supergirl can never go home again.  That is sadly pointed out in a moment where she emerges from a solar satellite where she is convalescing from green kryptonite poisoning.  After exiting the solar chamber she begins to say “I want to go home,” but stops and corrects herself, “I just want to get back to Earth.”  Her expression in this moment is truly heartrending.  In the meantime, Lex Luthor plots against her from his state-of-the-art, super-prison, via neural implant that projects his consciousness to an offsite computer.  Also a strange connection between Kara Zor-El and Karen Starr, the Kara Zor-El of Earth 2, is teased at.  This issue featured a guest writer, Frank Hannah, and he picks up and continues the series in intriguing new directions.  Coming off of a massive event like “H’el on Earth” can be dangerous, providing a jumping off point for readers of certain series if they don’t sink a hook right away.  This issue sunk a hook.  What’s to come has great promise.
  

  You Can Never Go Home Again

• Legion of Super-Heroes #18 continues down the cataclysmic road that issue #17 began.  The United Planets are still reeling from the assault of Tharok against the technological advances of the 31st century and the death toll mounts.  The last issue focused on Legionnaires stranded on Rimbor and the Promethean Giants.  This one goes back to both locations and the plight upon them, but also adds Earth and the Legion’s headquarters in Metropolis to the stage.  Mon-El, Shadow Lass, Lightning Lass, Shrinking Violet, and Cosmic Boy leave Earth for Webber World, an artificial planet that is nothing but technology to try and establish the devastation there.  Brainiac 5, Dream Girl, Star Man, Chemical Kid, and Element Lad attempt to get a cruiser prepped for their own departure from Earth. Ultraboy, Glorith, and Chameleon Boy attempt to escape Rimbor using Glorith’s magic, and Phantom Girl, Invisible Kid, and Polar Boy continue to try and regroup after their crash landing on the fabled Promethean giant.  This arc has all the hallmarks of another cosmic epic on the scale of writers Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen’s 1980’s opus, “The Great Darkness Saga.”   This issue lost a little steam, but issue #17 had two advantages.  Firstly, it had the element of surprise, following a very calm “nothing is happening” issue directly into a sucker punch in the readers’ collective gut with literally all Hell breaking loose.  Secondly, it had Keith Giffen’s Kirby-esque artwork magnifying the already nuts plotline into a tour-de-force thrill ride.  Scott Kolins and Tom Derenick do a good job, but like McCarthy above in the Batwoman review, they have the misfortune of standing in the very long shadow of Giffen.  I am pumped to read further into this amazing arc which promises to be a historic one.
• DC Universe Presents #18 is a one shot like last month’s issue that gives spotlight to Jason Todd’s fellow outlaws.  Issue #17 was a focus on Roy Harper that really laid bare the kind of person he is as well as his hidden strengths and virtues.  This month we are shown Princess Koriand’r, aka Starfire.  Born into royalty, her sister sacrificed her to slave traders to buy peace for the realm.  This issue tells about her time as a slave on a ship that is larger than the Earth.  Inside are entire civilizations that the slavers raid and sell when needs be.  This issue wasn’t large in the action department, but did present an interesting study into the mindset of the enslaved.  How sometimes those that aren’t free are so weighed down by their bondage that they do not want to be free because of the terror it inspires in their comfortable minds.  This issue was once again written by Joe Keatinge, who wrote the  Arsenal issue last month.  The art is done by newcomer Federico Dallocchio.  The writing is thought provoking, if not action packed, and the artwork is very lovely, representing the beautiful heroine well.  Not a bad issue at all.
• Nightwing #18 hits Dick Grayson while he’s down.  Last issue had Nightwing mourning the loss of his friends and the circus he grew up in and was trying to save.  It had Dick struggling with his own sense of denial, telling those that still cared about him that he was fine when he was really anything but, festering pain and anger deep in his belly until the pressure burst.  All the while Damian, the most socially inept, insensitive member of the Bat Family, followed him to intervene when the inevitable sword dropped.  Damian stopped him from stepping over the line and told him exactly what he needed to hear to ease his battered and bruised soul.  This issue opens with Damian dead and the old wounds he’d seemingly healed torn open and wrenched deeper by the loss of this “little brother” who knew him possibly better than even Batman.  What it comes down to is that he is losing his past.  The circus he grew up in was terrorized and some of the older members like the clown, James Clark, and his former girlfriend, Raya, brutally murdered by the Joker, the circus folds, and then Damian, who had served as his Robin when he donned the cape and cowl of Batman, dies suddenly saving Gotham.  Then Batman comes to him with information that a criminal scavenger that sells crime artifacts in underground auctions has plundered Haly’s and put John Grayson’s trapeze outfit up for sale.  The Collector last showed up in Scott Snyder’s Detective Comics run, pre-Reboot, running afoul of Dick Grayson’s Batman.  Now its a rematch in his Nightwing identity.  Though he goes in angry, the outcome of the confrontation ironically heals him and proves the truth in something Damian told Dick before he died.  But of course Dick can’t be happy for long.  When deciding to finally meet with Sonia Branch (nee Zucco), daughter of gangster that killed his parents, she reveals something about her dad that once again shows how Dick’s past is continually eroding beneath him, leaving him very little closure.  Kyle Higgins is KILLING IT!  His Nightwing run is seminal.  I may have liked other runs as much as this one, but I’m not sure.  All I know is that this is a really emotionally driven, introspective, thought provoking title that continually amazes.  Juan Jose Ryp yet again provides equally stunning interior art, really drawing out the latent potential in every heartbreaking frame.  This two issue interim arc between “Death of the Family” and the next major story arc of the title has been phenomenal on every imaginable level.
  

  Painful Memories

• Red Hood and the Outlaws #18 following the shocking ending of last issue vis-a-vis the booby trapped helmet that the Joker whipped together, Jason lays in a medically induced coma, facing his greatest enemies.  With the revelation a few months prior that the Joker for all intents and purposes created him by selecting him and guiding him towards the Batman, the Clown Prince of Crime is the first of Jason’s adversaries.  However, the real adversary he fights is himself.  A mob of Bat family members, past and present, as well as his former allies converge on him at once and Batman is the one who pulls him out.  This is writer Scott Lobdell’s last issue on the series and he might be taking his character from his complete alienation of his past as Robin and bringing him back into the fold, or perhaps he’s just tempering the fiery character of the failed Robin, but in either event, he presents a single heartwarming tale for the jaded anti-hero.  Despite all he has done and the pain he has put them through, Bruce and Alfred love him and do everything in their power to help him come back to life, literally and metaphorically.  Tyler Kirkham does fantastic guest art on the title, really bringing out the twisted nature of Jason’s psyche.  Well worth picking up.
• Vibe #2 was a half and half issue.  Half of the issue played catch up and was boring for those who have read Justice League of America #1 & 2.  Recounting all of the snippets of Cisco Ramon’s appearances in the first two issues of the overarching JLA title, it does inform those who didn’t read the aforementioned title and gave context to those that did, but still, didn’t hit just right.  The other half of it hit a cord with DC fans that know their obscure characters.  A transdimensional invader comes through to deliver a note to an emissary.  It hands it to Vibe right before an A.R.G.U.S. agent zaps him.  The note was meant for the character, Gypsy, whose father apparently is a potentate in another reality.  A far departure from her previous back story, she is exactly like Vibe.  Few know who she is so few care if they do a MASSIVE overhaul.  What is clear is that A.R.G.U.S. likes to kidnap the daughters of powerful men.  Darkseid’s daughter is their prisoner.  This unknown king’s daughter is also their prisoner.  They better pray that Gypsy’s homeworld doesn’t form an alliance with Apokalips, because they are literally playing with fire and poking some VERY big dogs with an annoyingly sharp stick.  I want to believe Geoff Johns knows what he’s doing, but he is quitting the only good book he is currently writing.  So I put my faith in cowriter, Andrew Kreisberg.
• Wonder Woman #18 concluded a maxi-arc in the odyssey of Zola’s baby.  In Wonder Woman #1 writer Brian Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang introduced us to Zola, a human woman who bore Zeus’s newest bastard.  The Amazing Amazon has gone on a long journey to protect the young woman from the various gods of Olympus and upon its birth, to recover the baby from those same, meddlesome gods.  That story finds its conclusion a year and a half later.  However, it continues the tale of Zeus’s first born child, exiled and awoken millennia later with rage and vengeance on his mind.  Those same gods who tried to strong arm and kidnap an innocent child, now have to contend with a vengeful demigod fueled by distilled hatred.  Also Azzarello has re-introduced us to the New Gods of New Genesis, represented primarily by Orion, foster son of High Father and (perhaps still unbeknownst to him) the eldest son of Darkseid.  Azzarello keeps this series afloat, sometimes peaking on the wave of awesome, and other times lulling in the trough of mediocre.  This concluding issue of that first major crisis features art by alternating artist Tony Akins and Cliff Chiang, as well as a third penciller, Goran Sudzuka.  This one was pretty good and a must read if you have been one of the faithful, reading it from the inaugural issue.
• Sword of Sorcery #6 accomplished quite a bit.  It fully introduced us to the new lord of House Turquoise after the death of Princess Amaya of House Amethyst’s grandfather, Lord Firojha.  It also introduces another newly minted House head following another shift in power.  Most importantly to the DCU in general is yet another reason why I want to see John Constantine strung up by his toes.  He singlehandedly brings the harbinger of utter ruin upon Princess Amaya’s home, but what’s worse, he uses her to invite it in.  In fairness to Constantine, however, the doom that he has sent to Nilaa was born in the Gemworld and exiled to Earth thousands of years ago.  Still, its a pretty low thing to do, considering how Amaya pulled his bacon out of the fire in the Justice League Dark Annual.  The Stalker backup feature isn’t even worth talking about.  Just horrible.  Get this issue for the main feature and then close it up after the conclusion.
• Batman Beyond Unlimited #14 begins with an interim chapter in Batman Beyond following the conclusion of the hellacious “10,000 Clowns” arc and the coming one called “Undercloud.”  Though its a one shot, it is monumental if one followed the animated “Batman Beyond” series.  In the series Terry McGinnis constantly had to bail on his long suffering girlfriend, Dana Tan, and play it off like he was doing errands for his boss, the aged Bruce Wayne.  After the events of “10,000 Clowns” and her brother Doug unleashing hell on earth upon Gotham in the form of 10,000 suicidal Jokerz from around the world Dana is put in a situation where everything clicks.  When Doug attempted to kill their father in the ICU, Bruce Wayne, 80+ years old and dying himself from liver failure, got out of his hospital bed and fought the twenty something maniac, allowing the Tans to get Mr. Tan to safety.  When Doug took his sister as a hostage, Batman referred to her by name.  The math is right there and Dana FINALLY figures it out and a new era in Terry’s tenure as Batman begins.  The issue is also good, because Dana was often a set piece on the show and more of a plot device than an actual character.  This issue was her issue.  It was narrated by her, gave her history with an intimate look into her traumatic upbringing with a psychotic for an older brother who despite his evil nature she still loves, and tells us what gives her peace.  Adam Beechen makes this series come alive for those of us who mourned the TV series’ cancellation.  Although, I do have one beef.  In the “Justice League Unlimited” episode entitled “Epilogue” we are told that Terry discovered that Bruce Wayne was his biological father when they did the liver transplant and found out him and Bruce were identical tissue types.  In this issue the liver came from someone else.  You messed up, Mr. Beechen, but I’ll forgive you because the rest of this issue and those preceding it were truly mind blowing.  Also, kudos to Peter Nguyen who takes over for regular Batman Beyond artist Norm Breyfogle.  The art is truly beautiful, underscoring the moving narratives within.  Unfortunately, the Superman Beyond plot is leaving me whelmed.  I thought there was going to be some moral ambiguity with the Trillians claiming Superman destroyed their world, but really they are just an overclass that resents having their property taken away.  Superman freed their slaves and now they are angry.  Boo-effing-Hoo.   On to the next.  The Justice League Beyond Unlimited  story finishes off in this third installment with a new Flash, this time a young African American woman named Danica (last name to come soon, I am sure).  This arc was over relatively quickly when compared with the previous Kobra arc that spanned almost an entire year’s worth of issues.  However, despite the brevity and the quick take down of what could have been a truly formidable foe on the level of most of the greats this issue had its poignant moments that really speak to the superhero genre, why they do what they do, and gives a comprehensive intro to the next scion of the Speed Force.  Perhaps the best moment came after Superman personally extended an invitation to Dani to join the JLB.  After accepting his gracious offer, she challenged him to a foot race, which every speedster since Barry Allen have done.  Derek Fridolfs write this one as well as providing inks for Jorge Corona’s pencils.  Truly a great end to a relatively short arc.  This issue was phenomenal overall.

This crop was amazing, though statistically they had more shots at it with the increased number of entries.  Several of these are must gets to comic fans in general, regardless of genre.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Action Comics #18: Drawn by Rags Morales & Brad Walker, Colored by Brad Anderson, Inked byCam Smith & Andrew Hennessy

Justice League #2:  Art by David Finch, Colored by Sonia Oback

Supergirl #18:  Drawn by Robson Rocha, Colored by dave McCaig, Inked by Oclair Albert, Julio Ferreira & Mariah Benes

Nightwing #18: Drawn by Juan Jose Ryp, Colored by Bret Smith, Inked by Roger Bonet & Juan Albarran

Red Hood and the Outlaws #18:  Art by Tyler Kirkham, Colored by Arif Prianto

Batman Beyond Unlimted #14: Drawn by Peter Nguyen, Colored by Andrew Elder, Inked by Craig Yeung

Week 77 (Feb. 20, 2013)

This was a massive week with so many incredible books coming out.  The conclusion of Batwoman’s main storyline begun September of 2011, the beginning of the last arcs of the Green Lantern titles as they have been since 2005, the introduction of two new series, and perhaps the most powerful issue of Legion of Super-Heroes we’ve seen since Paul Levitz returned to the title in 2010.  A lot of stellar storytelling, without further ado:

• Justice League #17 concludes the “Throne of Atlantis” event in perhaps one of the most morally ambiguous, honest endings.  With Arthur’s former adviser and friend, Vulko, revealed as the architect of the war between Land and Sea, Arthur has to subdue his brother King Orm, aka Ocean Master, to usher in peace.  Of course, he succeeds, however the cost is very painful to behold.  Since the first time he appeared in Aquaman, Ocean Master has been a very fair leader.  His home was attacked and he responded harshly.  No one can deny that point.  His treatment by his brother and the Justice League, who already have been portrayed as unsympathetic bullies, is hard to watch.  This is the birth of a villain and I can’t say that I won’t be cheering Orm on in the future.  When you marginalize a person with legitimate grievances you create concrete animosities.  And the hollow victory bought by offering his brother up like a herring on a silver platter is very hollow, considering that people still do not trust Arthur.  Perhaps its super realistic, but I again find it lackluster and hard to love the protagonists.  Better luck next time, Geoff Johns.
  

  The Birth of a Super-Villain

• Action Comics #17 delivers the first half of Grant Morrison’s big finale on his Action run.  The issue’s really a recap of all the things that define Superman as a comic book icon and as a paragon of heroism.  Starting with the Kents who shaped this young, omnipotent alien into a compassionate everyman, the issue shows how many people Superman has touched over the years and to what degree.  The fifth dimensional madman Vyndktvx offers the people of Earth eternal life and their hearts desires if they refuse to help Superman in his hour of need.  That hour is now, and even with a multiversal behemoth throwing him around like a ragdoll, and depsite his own warnings to stay back, the people come to his aid.  Also rushing to his aid is perhaps the most unlikely of people.  Morrison tells this story brilliantly, tying everything he has done together with a quick narration by Vyndktvx himself, breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to us.  Sholly Fisch tells a heartwarming backup story that will have occurred after the next concluding issue of Action Comics.  Superman goes back in time somehow to talk to his father on the night he and Ma both die.  It’s sweet, it’s heart warming, and very personal.  Superman doesn’t tell them they are going to die, and even though Pa intuits that this might be the case, he doesn’t want to know either.  The two just share one last moment of happiness together, and Clark gets the chance to, in essence, say goodbye.  The scene is very reminiscent to but much briefer than Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman #7 in which Superman gets that chance in that story’s reality.  Just a great issue heralding the end of an era to come next month in Action Comics #18.
• Justice League of America #1 is a decent introductory issue.  When starting a group book there are two ways to go about it: assemble immediately or have the team snowball, with members joining as the issues accumulate.  In this one issue, writer Geoff Johns harkens back to a brief moment at the end of his first arc of Justice League with a scene involving two men meeting, hinting at the formation of a fraternity of supervillains.  Beginning with this interaction, the comic then goes to an overarching conversation between former League liason to A.R.G.U.S., Col. Steve Trevor, meeting with current liason Amanda Waller in the interest of creating a second team sanctioned and moderated by the American government.  A Justice League of America.  As they discuss each member, the story cuts to the recruitment of said member in whiplash cutaways that do the bare minimum to introduce that character to you.  If you haven’t read Catwoman, Green Lantern, Stormwatch, The Savage Hawkman, or the two new ongoing series Katana and Vibe, that’s just too bad.  On the outside of this conversation also is a quick, tense scene of an Oni masked hero racing through a jungle from unknow assailants, bleeding out and attempting to get a message through.  This was the aspect of the book that buoyed the plot up and compelled the reader to know more.  At issue’s end he makes it back to A.R.G.U.S. and his identity is revealed, but his message has yet to be delivered.  I liked this first issue.  I am familiar with the characters and was able to fill in the blanks, but that may not carry over to new readers.   Art provided by David Finch is liney, dark, and ominous, really setting a harsh and uncertain tone to the overall plot which engages the reader almost immediately.   I will liken this series to a baby born of a diseased mother, the metaphorical mother being Justice League.  Geoff Johns has shown in JL that he seems incapable of writing a team book without losing the characters within to pettiness and ego, rendering them unrelatable caricatures of their current solo selves.  Here the new series is exhibiting what could be the beginnings of these symptoms of the diseased parent, but not without some signs of vitality.  Time will tell as to how this series comes out.  Martian Manhunter is perhaps the most disgusting character that the reboot and, I am assuming, Johns himself has birthed into this New DCU.  J’onn J’onzz was an alien that came to Earth as a stranger in a strange land, curious and full of optimism.  His delving into human society was about finding what was good in this strange new species.  Here he is a cold, hollow figure with incomparable power that dwells on the harsh, sinister motivations in men and offers it back in kind.  Maybe Johns and his bosses are trying to be edgy, but they are failing horribly and taking down beloved characters as collateral damage.
  

  The Mission

• Batwoman #17 is a red letter issue.  There has been a continuous plot stretched over three story arcs of missing children in Gotham having been kidnapped by Medusa and Batwoman attempting to find them and bring them home safely.  That has also been the goal of Capt. Maggie Sawyer of the Gotham City police, who also happens to be the girlfriend of Batwoman’s alter ego, Kate Kane.  This third arc has had Batwoman teamed up with Wonder Woman to stop the crazed gorgon, Medusa, from using the children as a sacrifice to lure Ceto, the Greek goddess who birthed all monsters into the world, back into reality.  With this final issue Ceto is summoned forth and Batwoman and Wonder Woman must find a way to stop her from tearing the fabric of reality to pieces.  There is so little I can say about this issue because of how remarkable it is in both story and art, brought to us by J.H. Williams III in both capacities with co-writer W. Haden Blackman’s assistance.  In both her identity as Batwoman and Kate Kane, this issue changes everything.  The missing children plot that consisted of these first seventeen issues was interesting, considering the main issues that dominated her first solo appearance, pre-Reboot.  Well with this overarching plot concluded, Williams and Blackman tease us on the last page with a return of Batwoman’s personal ghosts.  I am dying to read the next issue in March and would urge you to do the same.
  

  That’s a Game Changer

• Green Lantern #17 ushers in the “Wrath of the First Lantern” event, which also is the last event in the runs of the current Green Lantern titles’ creative teams.  Obviously, Geoff Johns’ run on Green Lantern is the most lamented of these casualties with his having been on this title longest of any of the current series writers and also being the visionary that brought Hal Jordan back to life and reimagined the GL mythology to the complex, multifaceted marvel it currently is.  After the Green Lantern Corps Annual last month, Volthoom, the first Lantern, is released upon the universe.  The issue begins with a brief explanation of how he came to meet the Guardians and what he embodies and then proceeds billions of years later in our present to show what he plans to do.  Somehow Volthoom is possessed of infinite power including the ability to warp and manipulate time to venture into tangential universes predicated on every single decision ever made or that ever will be made.  That coupled with a sadistic desire to feed off of pain like an emotional vampire paints an even more twisted villain than the inhumanly cold Guardians.  Also in this issue, newly minted Green Lantern, Simon Baz, comes face to face with the Black Hand on his quest to find Hal Jordan and by extension stop the Guardians.  This event promises to be a stunning finale to what has been an incredible eight year run on the title and the Green Lantern line of books.
  

  VOLTHOOM!

• Green Lantern Corps #17 brings Volthoom into Guy Gardner’s life both literally and figuratively.  The emotional vampire attaches to the surliest of the Green Lanterns like the Ghost of Christmas Past and Christmas Might Have Been preying on the raw feeling that lie beneath Guy’s cynical attitude.  Anyone who knows how abraisive Guy can be can only imagine the horrors from his past.  We are shown them and alternate versions of them as Volthoom tortures Guy over his mistakes the circumstances of his life that held him back from where and who he wanted to be.  Peter Tomasi plays this issue like a stratevarius, plucking the heartstrings of his readers who can’t help but empathize with our sarcastic hero.
• Green Lantern: New Guardians #17 mimicks Green Lantern Corps with Volthoom trapping Kyle Rayner in his temporal web.  Next to Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner is my favorite Green Lantern and this issue proves why.  Kyle is someone who had horrific things happen in his past, including his girlfiend being killed and her mutilated body stuffed into his refridgerator and his father walking out him and his mom when he was very young.  Volthoom plays his sick games by altering these events to torment Kyle, but to Kyle’s credit Volthoom has to bust out his A-game, as Kyle continues to see the silver lining to most of the things he’s exposed to by the sadistic First Lantern.  In trying to torment this paragon of will power, Volthoom only proves to us how strong and amazing Kyle is and how the greatest heroism sometimes is just refusing to let life and circumstances get you down.  Tony Bedard is amazing and as stated above his run on this title is ending in May with the twentieth issue of this series.  I have to say that I saddened by his departure considering this issue and all the issues he’s written in this line that has been exemplars of storytelling.  Aaron Kuder’s run also ends with #20 and he will also be missed as he too renders the subject material with grace and eloquence second to none.
  

  The Unsinkable Kyle Rayner

• Nightwing #17 gives the epilogue to “Death of the Family” from the perspective of Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing.  As a result of him being in the lives of the people at Haly’s circus several members including their clown, James Clark, and his former girlfriend, Raya, are killed and the rest hospitalized after the Joker’s attacks.  Alfred tries to console him and he says he’s fine.  He goes to visit the survivors in the hospital and those that don’t hold a grudge try to tell him he’s not to blame and its not his fault and he says he’s fine.  He goes to the funerals and his ambiguously romantic friend Sonia Branch (nee Zucco) tells him not to blame himself and he says he is fine. However, when criminals try to pillage the remains of Haly’s Circus, he goes bat-sh** crazy.  As solicited on the cover, Damian is the only person that can bring him back from the brink.  Ironic, considering how sociopathic Damian is and what his usual modus operandi when dealing with criminals consists of.  What this issue does so well is underscoring how incredible the relationship is between these two truly is.  When Dick took over the role of Batman following Bruce’s disappearance it was his choice to take Damian on as Robin and his faith that Damian could be more than the psychopathic killer his mother, Talia Al-Ghul, fashioned him into.  As a result I think that this issue shows him looking out for his “older brother” and not letting him cross lines he will regret.  Also it shows how well he knows Nightwing.  Dick told everyone he was fine and did a good job putting up the charade, but Damian knew with complete certitude that he was not.  Damian puts up a facade of apathy that in a lot of instances isn’t a facade, but rather him just not caring.  But here despite his cavalier attitude, he cares enough to follow Dick for several days to make sure that when the pressure building up within him finally burst out, he’d be there to stop him from breaking his moral convictions.  Kyle Higgins writes it quite well and with art by Juan Jose Ryp, the issue comes off quite well.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #17 provides a thoughtful epilogue for Jason Todd after the “Death of the Family” storyline.  Jason is someone that was burned early on by the Joker and has thick skin when it comes to such things, but tender flesh beneath.  While the others may have been really messed up by what the Joker did, Jason has already been lured into a trap by the Joker with his supposedly departed mother as bait and beaten to death and blown to smithereens.  However, learning that the Joker was the architect of his becoming Robin and most of the misfortunes that led him to that horrible place doesn’t fail to register.  So going back one last time to the Manor and the Cave he talks to various members of the family and says his farewells once again out of duty.  Though its a perfunctory visit, Bruce tells him perhaps the only thing that could heal a wound like finding out the Joker engineered your traumatic childhood, “No, Jason. He didn’t make you. I never did either. You made you.”  The visit seems to end on a high note, except that the Joker is not one to let things end with his having the last laugh.  When Jason retrieves his signature red hood and puts it on there is a surprise waiting for him within.  I have NO idea what that means for future stories, but its still a chilling ending point.  Scott Lobdell is close to ending his tenure on the title and appears to be  throwing a live grenade into the works for his successor James Tynion IV to pick up.
  

  We Are the Masters of Our Own Destinies

• DC Universe Presents #17 follows Red Hood and the Outlaws by spinning a yarn about Roy Harper, aka Arsenal, that captures his history, his flaws and virtues, and how he is viewed by those around him.  Arsenal has been depicted in the past as a hard edged, loose cannon whose actions often result in a self destructive spiral.  In this new DC Universe he is more buffoonish, and jocular.  Starting off with him missing a mission with teammates Red Hood and Starfire, he’s made fun of and called worthless by his “friends.”  In reality he is in Hong Kong, imprisoned by the Triad after attempting to rescue Killer Croc, a Batman villain he ran afoul of in Red Hood and the Outlaws #3 and who consequently helped him get back on his feet.  Shackled in the basement of a Triad hideout, Roy not only steals a “quarter” from one of his tormentors  but also uses it to break his shackles over the course of hours and then cleans out the  place with nothing but a tool box.  Yes he is a bit of a joke, but what he’s capable of doing when he puts his mind to the task is no joke, nor is the lengths he will go to help someone that showed him a modicum of kindness when he most needed it.  Joe Keatinge writes this incredible one-shot and Ricken provides art.
• Legion of Super-Heroes #17 was brutal.  This issue was incredibly good on all fronts.  The writing by Paul Levitz was phenomenal, taking place on Rimbor as well as a far distant location (whose importance to the plot becomes integrally crucial) amidst explosions and complete chaos.  All of that rendered on the page gorgeously by artist Keith Giffen with his Kirby-esque pencils.  Shortly after being elected leader, Phantom Girl is dealt perhaps the worst hand imaginable as she and two other Legionnaires become marooned after a malfunction of their spacecraft crashes them into an unknown locale.  Across the universe Ultra Boy, Glorith, and Brainiac 5 witness an equally cataclysmic disaster on Rimbor after a massive planet-wide electrical malfunction.  The lead up to this issue has been in the works since the very first issue of the rebooted series almost two years ago, and the consequences will be felt forever.  This is a DARK turn in the world of the 31st century.  If you are a fan of the Legion, you will feel this issue deep in your bones.  I had to set this issue down twice to get my bearings and take a few breaths.  Levitz and Giffen hit this one out of the park. It should be noted that these two collaborated almost exclusively on Levitz’s first run on the characters in the 80’s.  Thirty years later, they’ve come a long way but haven’t taken one step backward.  I can only imagine that Levitz got Giffen on this arc for the very reason that both of them needed to be on it for sentimentality sake.  If you love the Legion read this book.  If you don’t love the Legion, please don’t.  Not to be an elitist, but if you don’t understand and love the characters, you wouldn’t appreciate the truly sorrowful events chronicled within.
• Supergirl #17 picks up on two of the conflicts Superboy ended on last week.  Wonder Woman took on Supergirl and Superman took on H’el in the hope of giving Superboy a chance to disable the Star Chamber that is literally draining our Sun of its energy to power H’el’s device to travel back in time and prevent Krypton’s destruction.  Wonder Woman proves to be the only one capable of literally smacking some sense into Supergirl.  The latter of which still trying to convince herself that H’el’s scheme won’t be an act of mass genocide.  However, Super Girl’s super-denial is no match for Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth.  The Maiden of Steel is unable to break its hold on her body nor on her conscience.  Superman does prove as successful when dealing with H’el, but after painfully coming to terms with the truth, Kara is unable to continue her association with H’el, regardless of how much she would like to go home.  With this alliance shattered, the heroes of Earth rallied against him, and the Oracle arriving in Earth’s orbit, the stage is set for the finale of “H’el on Earth” in Superman #17.
• Wonder Woman #17 has Wonder Woman meeting up with her old mentor, War (Ares), in the bar Hera and Zola snuck out to and journeying to the secret hiding place of Demeter where Hermes has spirited Zola and Zeus’s infant to.  On the other side of the world the First Born reveals his benefactor with the metal neck to be Cassandra and with the prophetess’s help goes to seek his weapons, hidden by his uncle Poseidon.  This issue is interesting, but I am really looking forward to the end of this plotline with the gods meddling with one another and progressing to the Amazing Amazon in contemporary settings with some of her classic stable of villains.  Brian Azzarello’s writing is good, if not drawn out, and Tony Akins’ pencils are excellent.
• Vibe #1 is another case of “here’s to lowered expectations.”  The character was an F-list character to begin with and something of a practical joke whenever he made appearances in second string DC titles.  George Perez, legendary artist and writer, absolutely hated him as a caricature of Hispanic Americans.  However, considering that main character Cisco Ramon is from Detroit, Justice League of America writer Geoff Johns couldn’t help but put him in the line up.  On the plus side, being as under appreciated as he was left Johns and series writer Andrew Kreisberg with the freedom to revamp him however they wanted.  Now having his vibratory powers linked with boom tubes from Darkseid’s invasion of Earth, he’s become something of a dimensional expert and border cop.  Right from the start his role as a superhero is linked to the JLA title and his success tied to his freedom, unbeknownst to him.  Another obscure character cameo comes in an imprisoned woman in a cell labeled “Gypsy,” also a veteran of Justice League Detroit.  Johns and Kreisberg also set the hook at the end by hearkening back to the reference in Justice League #6 to Darkseid’s daughter, and the further shocker that she is in fact in A.R.G.U.S custody.  Bit of a spoiler, but still a good reason to get into this title.  Game well played, Johns.  I’ll buy your series for the time being . . .
  

  Daughter of Darkseid

• Sword of Sorcery #5 returns Amy to Gemworld and to her mother, Lady Graciel of House Amethyst.  With her return the pair travel to the capital of House Turquoise to visit the tomb of Amy’s father, Lord Vyrian.  When they reach their destination not only do they finally uncover the identity of his betrayer, they are also assaulted by two rogue assassins of House Onyx.  More interesting is the choice of the next Lord of House Turquoise after the events of this issue.  In the Stalker backup feature, writer Marc Andreyko attempts to make the revamp of this character work, but fails.  Sorry.  Even Andrei Bressan’s awesome art can’t rescue it.
• Batman Beyond Unlimited #13  contains both a beginning and and end.  For starters, this issue begins the second arc of Justice League Unlimited Beyond called “Flashdrive.”  The storyline stymies me a little bit as there seems to be two things going on in the plot that don’t have any connection to one another.  The main body of the story picks up on a scene from the “Batman Beyond” movie entitled “The Return of the Joker.”   In the flashback portion of the film, the Joker kidnaps Tim Drake and turns him into a child Joker with chemicals and gene therapy and Tim ends up killing him.  That is the end of what is shown in the movie, but this issue continues it on, with Batman creating a morgue for supervillains so that when they die there will be no resting place their followers and acolytes can use to gather or make into a monument.  This morgue is built on the lowest sublevel of the Batcave that only Bruce and Barbara Gordon know exists.  There is a break in and it is neither Bruce nor Barbara, raising the question of who could have known about it and how they got in considering the fail-safes put in place by Batman, the most paranoid man alive.  Cut to a female docent at the Flash Museum having speedster abilities and an attack on the re-opening Museum drawing in Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Merina, Micron, and Green Lantern Kai-Ro.  I know that eventually there will be a connection made, but right now I am totally lost.  Next comes the conclusion of “10,000 Clowns” in Batman Beyond.  This one is pretty procedural and ends in a logical sense.  Batman (Terry McGinnis) faces off against Joker King and the latter’s defeat is clearly an eventuality, but the consequences are what are relevant here.  The ending of this seems to be heavily influenced by the Christopher Nolan film “The Dark Knight”, with the question lingering as to whether Joker King won or lost, and with the assertion that he didn’t win, the further question of did anyone really win?  In the Superman Beyond feature, the Trillians have captured Superman and put on a show trial for his “crimes” against their race, which again are still pretty vague.  I don’t feel confident commenting on this storyline, so I will abstain until further on into its plotline.    Overall a really good issue that delves into the animated mythology in interesting ways that take me back to the days I watched them as a wide eyed child or adolescent.
• Womanthology: Space #5 delivers another slew of stories at varying lengths that run the gamut of relevance to the genre of Space.  One deals with an ungainly girl in elementary school who is tall, lanky, and extremely clumsy except when she runs which is when she feels the most free.  In her school’s play she is cast as the comet and all she has to do . . . is run.  The next vignette is entitled “The Wind in her Hair” about a girl living in a dirigible  who desires freedom and a tin-man looking automaton living on the polluted ground below who wants to take the tree he has cared for his entire life up above the poisoned clouds where “she” can grow and thrive.  A chance meeting between the girl and the gardener droid gives both the hope that they need to see their dreams through to fruition.   Writer Allison Pang and artist Chrissie Zullo create a story that is both romantic and ethereal with the bronze daguerreotype look of a 1920’s German Expressionist film.  The remaining pieces, while still very good are more abstract and not as readily synopsized.  This series has proven to be innovated and very compelling.  This is the fifth of six issue, so I would suggest that if you missed these and aren’t in a place to go back and catch up, wait for the collection to come out and then read them all in their entirety.  Truly a breathtaking series.

This really was the most consistantly excellent week of February. Those titles that I have praised highly just prove how poweful and dynamic the comic medium can be to the newcomer and faithful alike.  I pray that next month finds these same titles meet the mark set here and perhaps exceeding it once more.  One thing is for certain, this week was a good week to be a comic book fan.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Justice League #17:  Drawn by Ivan Reis, Colored by Rod Reis & Nathan Eyring, Inked by Joe Prado, Oclair Albert & Sean Parsons

Justice League  of America #1:  Art by David Finch, Colored by Sonia Oback & Jeromy Cox

Batwoman #17:  Art by J.H. Williams III, Colored by Dave Stewart

Green Lantern #17:  Drawn by Dan Jurgens, Colored by Alex Sinclair & Tony Avina, Inked by Phil Jimenez

Green Lantern: New Guardians #17:  Art by Aaron Kuder, Colored by Wil Quintana

Red Hood and the Outlaws #17: Art by Adrian Syaf, Robson Rocha & Ken Lashley, Colored by Blond

Vibe #1: Drawn by Pete Woods, Colored by Brad Anderson, Inked by Sean Parsons

Womanthology: Space #5 “The Wind in Her Hair” segment: Art by Chrissie Zullo

Week 73 (Jan. 23, 2013)

This week is shaping up to be a juggernaut.  So many incredible titles are coming out in so many amazing events: “Death of the Family”, “Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army”, “Before Watchmen”, “Throne of Atlantis”, and “H’el on Earth.”  Throw in Batwoman and Sword of Socery and you have a real party.  I am literally shaking with anticipation to crack the first book of this massive week.  So let’s not keep me waiting any longer:

• Justice League #16 brings on part three of the “Throne of Atlantis” crossover.  I have had a great deal of negative feedback on most of Johns’ current endeavors, and most notably in this title.  He’s bastardized a great deal of things and I stick to my previous opinions.  However, in this issue he returns to doing what he had done  so well prior to the Reboot.  This issue is rich in allusions to other DC characters and concepts, such as Dr. Magnus and the Metal Men, Dr. T.O. Morrow and Red Tornado, Tula of Atlantis, etc., reintroducing them in conversationally appropriate ways and with interesting new contexts.  What he also does is humanize all parties involved.  Though I don’t enjoy how nemish and shortsighted he’s made seminal characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, perhaps there is a realism within that is necessary to the execution of this very morally complex plot.  Conversely, what Johns did seven and a half years ago with Sinestro, making him not a straight out psychopathic villain but rather a complex antihero, he does in this series with Aquaman’s brother, King Orm, aka Ocean Master.  Stakes are high and tensions are at a breaking point.  This issue marks the halfway point and despite my aversion to this series, Johns has me hook, line, and sinker.  In the SHAZAM! backup feature Johns has progressed past the ludicrous beginnings of the series and entered into a new version of the Captain Marvel mythology that is both rich and nuanced.  I really enjoyed this one, actually.  Although, Billy does revert back to his child self at the end, which could mean a return to the awful presentation of Billy Batson that Johns so unskillfully presented before.  My hope is that being in an adult’s body for even the short duration that four months of comics equates to will at least marginally mature him so we don’t have to witness his infantile crap for another slew of issues.  I have hope for this series after reading this issue, but retain the past failures of the series pragmatically within memory.
  

  Atlantis Rising!

• Batwoman #16 returns our protagonist to her hometown of Gotham as it descends into utter chaos with the advent of Medusa herself.  With Wonder Woman accompanying her, the duo this arc dubs the “World’s Finest” sets out to subdue Medusa’s mythological forces (complete with gargantuan Hydra) and rescue the children abducted by the mad gorgon.  Its all hands on deck.  Not only are Batwoman and Wonder Woman on the streets of Gotham, but most of the Gotham City Police Department led by Batwoman’s lover, Det. Maggie Sawyer, and DEO agent Cameron Chase and Director Bones.  In this penultimate chapter of the arc spanning storyline its all or nothing.  Batwoman has found Medusa and the missing children.  Medusa’s horrifying plot is revealed in full as she attempts to resurrect the literal “mother of all monster” into the mortal world with the sacrifice of the innocent children.  However it goes down, next issue is the end of this first overarching storyline and the end of Batwoman’s first real test as a Gotham City superhero.  J.H. Williams III does a stunning job rendering this story from an equally stunning script by W. Haden Blackman and himself.  I don’t know if I will be able to wait until February to find out the end of this conflict that has almost been two years in the making.
  

  The Mother of All Monsters

• Green Lantern #16 picks up with Simon Baz after learning the truth behind the bombing he was framed for and the appearance of B’dg, Green Lantern of Sector 1014.  The stunning revelation last issue was that the Green Lantern Corps is aware of the Guardians of the Universe’s plot to destroy free will throughout the universe with their Third Army.  B’dg comes to Earth seeking Hal Jordan, the greatest of their number, to enlist his aid in stopping their masters from realizing their mad scheme.  To his dismay, the ringslinger he finds is not only a rookie, but inherited his ring from Sinestro and Hal, both of whom have disappeared.  Baz is needed regardless if the Corps is going to stand a chance against the Guardians.  Before he can leave, he has things to attend to on Earth and despite B’dg’s impatience, Baz proves himself to be a Green Lantern like no other as well as possessing an incredible amount of will, on par with all of his Earth lantern brothers.  Another awesome issue from Geoff Johns and artist Doug Mahnke.
• Green Lantern Corps #16 unites the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles in anticipation of next week’s Green Lantern Corps Annual #1.  Stripped of his ring and rank, Guy Gardner returns to Earth a broken man attempting to find a new purpose in life.  As with most things Guy does, he mismanages his actions and ends up being arrested . . . by his brother and sister.  While they are interrogating him in lock up, the Third Army attacks and takes out guards and inmates alike.  Its looking bleak for the Gardner siblings, but help is not far away in the form of Simon Baz, newest Earth Green Lantern, and B’dg, squirrel Green Lantern of Sector 1014.  With their aid a crisis is averted and Guy becomes aware of the Guardians plot and his being a casualty of it.  Elsewhere in the universe, John Stewart continues his mission with Fatality of the Star Sapphires to find the missing pieces of Mogo (the deceased planet GL) and reunite them so the slain Green Lantern can reform and become whole.  Though not much is revealed about this, the reformation of Mogo seems like it will have a great impact on events, but the fact that the Guardians willed it to happen portends ominous tidings.  I cannot wait to see what the Green Lantern Corps Annual next week has in store for us, the GL’s, and the universe in general.
• Green Lantern: New Guardians #16 is one of those issues that you wait for for a very long time and once it arrives you swoon at its near perfection.  I have compared this second arc of the series after the “Ring Thief” arc that comprised its second year of publication as similar to “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”  Indeed, with Kyle’s transmogrified ring he has the ability to channel all seven colors of the emotional spectrum.  From previous experience in Blackest Night we know that this convocation would lead to him becoming a White Lantern.  He’s obviously mastered Green, and has preternatural talent with Blue (hope) as we saw in New Guardians #0.  With the help of Atrocitus he’s mastered Red (hate), Arkillo with Yellow (fear), and the seeming lack of help from Larfleeze he’s tapped Orange (greed).  Indigo-1’s tutoring of Indigo (compassion) was glossed over, which not only doesn’t make sense, considering its immense power, it also undermines his having to do anything past that, taking into account that Indigo Lanterns (or Tribesman, if you will) can channel any emotion they are in contact with.  That all aside, Violet (love) is the last emotion that stands between Kyle and his complete mastery of the emotional spectrum.  However, Kyle is one that has been stunted in the love department for almost his entire life, finding it hard to vocalize, so this last hurdle is the most difficult for him to surmount.  And wouldn’t you know that this would be the time that Ganthet, his former mentor and now Guardian of the Universe gone mad, would arrive with his Third Army thugs to snuff out Kyle before he can become a threat.  The stakes in this series have never been so high and Kyle will either shine brighter than he ever has or be snuffed out like a candle in the wind.  Tony Bedard is a brilliant.  Period.  Aaron Kuder adds to this masterpiece issue with peerless pencils and inks.  I am bookmarking this issue in the annuls of my mind.
• Before Watchmen: Minutemen #6 closes out the series and does so with crushing impetus.  The saga of the Minutemen, chronicled narratively and visually by the incomparable Darwin Cooke, has been one that cuts to the heart and character of its band of players.  Most of them were glossed over in the original Watchmen series by Alan Moore, but with DC’s exploration of the Before Watchmen line, each gets their overdue turn in the limelight.  Following the murder of the Silhouette and her long crusade to stop child predators and Nite Owl’s picking up of that crusade after her death events point to Hooded Justice, the most secretive Minuteman of the bunch, as the murderer and torturer of young children.  This issue is the final account that ties up the series and answers questions that has been lingering through several Before Watchmen series.  From the Ozymandias series “What happened to Hooded Justice, and why are the Comedian and the Government so keen to keep it a secret?”  From the Nite Owl series “What is the secret that is so damning that Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl (and main character in Minutemen), which he is so keen to keep hidden forever?”  This issue answers those questions and more in a truly terrifying and unbelievable sequence of events that will alter forever the way most readers look on the background cast of characters in Watchmen.  Darwyn Cooke’s prowess with a pencil and pen and his genius as a writer are unparalleled here and stand as an eternal monument to his place in comic book history.
  

  The End of an Era

• Legion of Super-Heroes #16  returns to the Levitz-ian paradigm of storytelling with multiple stories and issues being put forward.  First on the docket, Chamelon Boy, Lightning Lass, and Shrinking Violet go to Takron-Galtos, the United Planets’ prison world, to check on the status of the Fatal Five member, Validus.  Since Legion of Super-Heroes #8 last April, the resurrection of the Legion’s most powerful group of antagonists, the Fatal Five, has been in the offing.  Bit by bit, evidence that they have been reforming in secret is being brought to light.  Validus, thought to be safely locked in a cube of inertron is one of the last pieces to the puzzle.  On the other side of the universe, at the Legion HQ, Brainiac 5 is busy trying to ascertain the cause of Glorith’s abduction last issue to Barcelona and the why and how of her causing a time rift, bringing forth denizens of that city from across its long history.  Lastly, and as an interim plot between these plo tpoints, the Legion election is drawing to a close and the Legionnaires debate amongst themselves who should lead the team as the votes are tallied to decided said leader.  This series is ironically one of the most realistic, because of the writing style of Paul Levitz, who gets that with a team of this size a lot of crazy things are going to happen simultaneously, and that with young heroes like these egos and hormones are going to stir things up.
• Nightwing #16 brings the “Death of the Family” tie-in of this title to a close as it did in both Batgirl and Batman & Robin, with the Joker holding a platter in front of the title’s protagonist and the solicitation that a conclusion will come in Batman #17.  The twofold storyline of this title’s tie-in was really well played by writer Kyle Higgins.  Last month’s issue setup quite well an inventory of everything Dick Grayson had built up and the people whose trust he had earned.  Following the Joker’s reemergence and Dick’s realization that he had made them all targets, he did his best to cut ties and ferry everyone around him to safety.  This issue shows not only how great his failures are, but to what lengths the Joker would go to make a point and just how resourceful he can be.  One scene I think shows his attention to detail at its most nightmarish +throughout the entire line of Batbooks.  Admittedly the human tapestry in Batman #16 was gruesome, but pales in comparison to the detail and and scope of his carnival show at Haly’s.  Like Tim, Jason, and Damian, Joker really gets to the heart of what should be Dick’s main strengths and shows how they are really his greatest weaknesses. For Dick it’s his compassion and interpersonal nature.  So much of what he worked his entire life to build could very well burn down in the space of a single evening.  I have no idea what the title holds after the final page of Batman #17 and the first several pages  of Nightwing #17, but I am going to be there for both.  Good ending or bad, I sense ill tidings for Haly’s and its owner, the benighted Nightwing.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #16 crosses over with Teen Titans as the Outlaws (Starfire and Roy Harper) team up with the Titans to find their respective teammates (Jason and Tim) who were kidnapped by the Joker and brought to Gotham.  Both series are written by Scott Lobdell, who clearly is more than qualified to execute this crossover.  The issue in fact reads more like a Teen Titans issue than a Red Hood issue.  In fact, they don’t actually show Jason or Tim once in this issue.  Jason’s red hood yes, but not the man who wears it. Most of the issue is Roy and Starfire hauling the Titan’s “turkey out of the fire” as they fumble to fix the fallout from the Joker’s trap the Titans fell into, and the aforementioned teens being really angsty and resentful for it.  It is interesting seeing how the two teams gel as they are forced to work together, and some very interesting backstory of Roy’s is revealed as he begins to relate with the overly emo teens he’s having to take charge of.  On the periphery of this issue’s storyline are two seemingly unrelated references, one to Dr. Hugo Strange doing a book signing and the other to Deathstroke throwing knives at three pictures of each of the Outlaws and a brief comment on how he sometimes takes jobs simply for the fun of it.  I don’t know if this is Lobdell introducing plots to the two titles post-“Death of the Family” or what, but they are intriguing to say the least.
• Supergirl #16 begins with the awakening of the giant crustacean looking beast that blew the Horn of Confluence in Superman #1 seventeen months ago, as well Superman #0 five months ago, and ends with the first image of the master whom the herald’s horn summons.  In between, H’el’s nightmarish plot for our solar system nearly reaches its conclusion and without Superman or Superboy (see last week’s review of Superboy #16) the Justice League is force to muddle though.  Flash’s task is to find Supergirl and get her away from H’el and out of the way of his endgame.  However, the Maiden of Steel is dead set on saving her home planet even at the expense of our solar system and every living thing residing within.  Her hopes and dreams are understandable, but her blindness to the value of human life and our right to existence is deplorable at best.  She’s a teenager who is homesick.  Its no excuse, but a reason to hold onto as she backs the wrong team.  Mike Johnson does an excellent job writing this series, especially its larger implications into a wider storyline, and Mahmud Asrar draws it decently well.
  

  Advent of the Oracle

• Superboy Annual #1 was a little trippy, taking place in a pocket dimension contained and generated by a device that Superman took off an evil space pirate in some far off quadrant of the universe.  The whole of the issue revolves around Superboy and his Kryptonian progenitor, Superman, blundering through different, shifting locales within, battling the denizens of this temporal prison as well as the sentient dimension itself.  The title falls under the “H’el on Earth” crossover event, but fails as an issue and an annual to do anything relevant to that goal.  If anything it hinders, rather than explores it.  So what does it accomplish?  Very little.  I think writer Tom DeFalco was aiming to further characterize the two characters in relation to one another, showing their differences and how each would cope with the other.  It did not, in my opinion, accomplish that in any significant way either.  All it did was bring out their worst characteristics of both in caricature.  I respect Tom DeFalco and the work he has done on this title since taking it over greatly.  I also have enormous respect Scott Lobdell, who wrote this series initially, and who tried to show the disjointed dynamic of these two men in the last issue of the Superman title.  He didn’t pull it off, in my opinion, either.  As Superboy #0 primed us to believe, Harvest preprogrammed Superboy to hate Superman and want to kill him.  That hasn’t happened yet, which begs the question of what that was about if they aren’t going to run with it?  This annual falls under the category of not really relevant or necessary to read.  If you fail to read it, you lose nothing in understanding the larger events going on in the series or miss out on a worthwhile yarn.  Better luck next time.
• Catwoman #16 is a bit of a disappointment as the title goes.  I was a fan of writer Ann Nocenti’s early work on Green Arrow, but that has not translated to good writing on the rest of that series or through to this series.  The “Death of the Family” tie-in turned out to be a joke of an issue, and not a funny one the Joker would take pride in.  This two issue run beginning last issue and concluding here was laughable as well and thoroughly pointless.  Dealing with the current whereabouts of the Black Diamond, perhaps it will be the two issues that introduces Eclipso back into the DCU, but I doubt that will have any importance either.  I tried to find something good to say about this issue, but just couldn’t.  It was the opposite of what is good.
• Blue Beetle #16 was a swan song to the seventeen issues of this series that have come out, ending in the Tenebrian Dominion and linking the continuance of fifteen year old Jaime Reyes’ (Blue Beetle) journey to the Threshold series and the “Hunted” reality show.  Jaime does his utmost to fight his way out of the grasp of the Ebon warriors of Lady Styx and get home to his family, but that isn’t in the cards . . . at least not yet.  He tries really hard.  However, when his last flicker of hope is blown out, he has his armor send a video file across the far reaches of space (It’s a comic, just go with it) to the emails of his parents and best friends telling them Jaime is going to come home someday, but in the event that he can’t, just how much each of them meant to him.  It is a beautiful moment despite the tragedy that befalls Blue Beetle as it plays out.  His words to each party involved are brief, but just right, clearly touching each person deeply.  Succumbing to his captors the issue closes, but it does so not with finality, but with infinite possibilities.  I was leery about this series when it first came out and for awhile it teetered on the edge of getting dropped.  I am so glad I saw it through to this last issue.  It was worth every step of the journey and I will continue to follow Jaime into Threshold.
• Wonder Woman #16 brings the narrative back on track, setting the main characters’ sights (literally) on the baby of Zola and Zeus.  With the help of Wonder Woman’s brother, Milan, the group are able to see that the baby is in the arms of both Hermes and Demeter in the latter’s stronghold.  We are given further information about just why Orion has come to Earth and what his intentions are regarding the Gods of Earth.  In the Arctic, we see the First Born battling the forces of one of his unnamed uncles that were sworn to guard his burial place as well as the unmasked benefactor of the First Born who dug him out of the tundra.  The identity of this person caught me a little off guard and I look forward to future revelations regarding that character.  Finally Zola and Hera, who really hate one another and have tried to kill each other often, find a common ground and begin to thaw in their relations with one another.  This issue by Brian Azzarello really was intriguing, as well as giving evidence of greatness to come in future installments.  Cliff Chiang remains an incredible artist and renders all aspects perfectly in the tone dictated by Azzarello’s story.
  

  The Baby with the Starry Eyes

• DC Universe Presents: Black Lightning and Blue Devil #16, like last time,  is a placeholder, but one that ends the current story arc.  Here’s hoping the next three issues are better.
• JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull #2 was yet again confusing.  I’m going to have to do two placeholders in a row, because while this series has yet to come together in any meaningful way, I hold out hope that it will eventually when writer B. Clay Moore decides we should start to understand it.  Honestly though, this issue and its predecessor were just random events thrown into a metaphorical blender.  The only thing that links the two are references to the children disappearing and then being incinerated from the inside out.  Other than that the characters, their origins, motives, and affiliations are all a complete blank.  Holding down the fort is Tony Harris with incredible art.  Barring that and its association with the other two JSA: Liberty Files miniseries, I would say pass this one up.
• Sword of Sorcery #4 begins with an Amethyst story taking place after she concluded her stint in Justice League Dark #14 but before she returns to her “home world”, the gem world of Nilaa.  Asking Constantine to take her quickly to Chicago for a last taste of pizza before returning to a world without Italian food from which she may never return, she stumbles across more evil magic on Earth that demands her attention.  This little yarn wasn’t that interesting or important to the main story, so we’ll chock this installment up to a less than exciting vacation and continue with the series anew next month, this time back in Nilaa where the character truly belongs, both inside and outside of the narrative. Also this month begins the Stalker backup feature written by the DC Universe Presents: Black Lightning and Blue Devil scribe, Marc Andreyko.  I didn’t care for his above storyline and I can’t say that I liked this one either.  It was okay.  Much better than the Black Lightning and Blue Devil story, but the problem was that he was re-imagining a work of genius from the past with which I had a deep affection.  Paul Levitz wrote four issues of the Stalker series with Steve Ditko on pencils, before the series was cancelled due to the comic book implosion of the late 70’s.  With the original, it was a true swords & sorcery title that had a very straightforward, dark, and twisted character.  This run by Andreyko tried too hard to make him grandiose and relatable and totally missed the mark on all counts.  It then proceeds to show him living through the ages and emerging in the here and now, which again is completely WRONG for this title.  For those who want to know more about what the original series is about, I am going to put this link to my review of the Steve Ditko Omnibus in which the four issue of the Stalker series are collected: https://offthepanelcomicreview.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/review-the-steve-ditko-omnibus-vol-1-starring-shade-the-changing-man/
• Saucer Country #11 tells the story of Governor Alvarado returning with her ex-husband, Michael, to the farm he grew up on.  Taking a detour from aliens, this story focuses on another folklore very akin to alien sightings but far more terrestrial.  Instead of little gray men, this issue has little winged men and women.  As children, Michael and his sister, Beth, used to see fairies and go on magical adventures.  He relives some of these memories including the last great encounter before things changed and he and Beth were forced to abandon belief in what they knew in their hearts actually happened.  Upon revisiting the events with people who were around back then, Michael realizes the truth behind the trauma that conjured fairies in the mind of two young innocent children.  The harsh reality that he discovers and the way the mind coped by sugaring the event over with fairies leads the reader to wonder what that holds for the existence of aliens and their role in the larger story being told here.  Paul Cornell continues this magnum opus, spawned from a lifelong fascination with alien mythology, with great talent and insight, constantly making the reader think and always keeping any inkling of what is going on cleanly out of reach.

Thus ends an incredible week of comics.  I am giddy as the fallout of the better titles play out in my head.  I dare say this may be the best week in comics I have read this month and perhaps in a long time.  Not all the best, but collectively there was a high quotient of awesome that is rarely matched let alone surpassed.  We’ll see if next week, the final of the January, can stand the test.  While I highly doubt it, I will be there to test them.  Hope you will too.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Justice League #16:  Drawn by Ivan Reis, Colored by Rod Reis, Inked by Joe Prado & Ivan Reis

Batwoman #16:  Art by J.H. Williams III, Colored by Dave Stewart

Green Lantern: New Guardians #16:  Art by Aaron Kuder, Colored by Wil Quintana

Before Watchmen: Minutemen #6: Art by Darwyn Cooke, Colored by Phil Noto

Supergirl #16: Art by Mahmud Asrar, Colored by Dave McCaig

Wonder Woman #16: Art by Cliff Chiang, Colored by Matthew Wilson

Week 68 (Dec. 19, 2012)

I have been waiting a long time for this week in comics.  Green Lantern and Green Lantern: The New Guardians are without a doubt the two best titles in the Green Lantern line up, Batwoman is a top tier title, two “Death of the Family” intros in Nightwing and Red Hood and the Outlaws, and of course the introduction of Orion and the New Gods into the New DCU in Wonder Woman.  That said, let’s get to ’em:

• Green Lantern#15 first and foremost tells us that Hal and Sinestro are in a place called “The Dead Zone” which is outside of the land of the living.  It doesn’t say that they are dead, just that they are in the Zone.  On Earth, Simon Baz, newest Green Lantern of Earth, tracks the owner of the van he stole in hopes that he can shed light on who stole the van before Simon did, setting up the explosives.  What Simon finds is much more sinister, especially when the Third Army makes an appearance in all their assimilating terror.  Also interesting is the advent of B’dg, the squirrel GL of Sector 1014, who reveals to the reader that the Green Lanterns have become aware of what the Guardians are doing with their newly minted Third Army.  Geoff Johns is amazing and has made this series so amazing for its whole seven year run.  This main title has seemed to skirt the issue of the Third Army, never directly dealing with it in lieu of introducing Simon Baz.  With the resolution of his innocence in the bombing of a Dearborn factory it would seem that his role in the DCU can become more cosmic, turning more prominently toward helping his fellow corpsmen fight the Third Army.  Though it hasn’t been said directly, it would seem to me that the Third Army is targeting the homeworlds of Green Lantern members.  Time will tell if I am correct in this assertion.
  

  Enter B’dg of Sector 1014

• Green Lantern: The New Guardians #15 picks up with Kyle, his “coach” Star Sapphire, Carol Ferris, and sole Yellow Lantern, Arkillo, heading towards Okaara in the Vega systems to meet with Larfleeze, the sole Orange Lantern.  The idea is to get the master of the Orange light of Avarice to help Kyle master greed himself, thereby getting him closer to complete control over the emotional spectrum.  As with every Lantern title that is coming out under the “Third Army” banner, this issue features an attack by the Third Army that claims a very dear casualty for the readers.  Tony Bedard is slowly mounting the plot towards an incredible vista that is glorious to imagine.  And for the first time since issue #0 three months ago, Aaron Kuder provides interior art.  I am glad to see him back, as I have become a fan of his style, but putting it side to side with the previous issues done by Andrei Bressan, it really isn’t that different.  The end of the “Third Army” storyline is coming close to its resolution in January and this series looks to keep pace with that schedule.  January 30th can’t come soon enough in my humble opinion.
• Batwoman #15 marks the return of Batwoman to Gotham with Wonder Woman in tow.  However, the issue focuses on Batwoman’s paramour, Det. Maggie Sawyer.  Since the first issue a little over a year ago Maggie has been the lead on the investigation of Medusa’s mass kidnappings of small children.  Batwoman has traversed the darkness and attacked head-on the shadowy pockets where Medusa’s minions dwell with contacts in the DEO and the masked community.  She fights the good fight unaccountable to anyone.  Maggie is bogged down with limited resources, jurisprudence, and a foe that is far beyond her experience.  She is the mouthpiece of the case, who for these sixteen months has had to look the parents in the eyes and give them comfort and confidence that their children will be brought home safely.  Though she isn’t going to the places that Batwoman is or kicking as much ass, she is the one who holds the fort down and gives hope.  This issue pays tribute to her, a bad ass cop and a woman who has been through hell.  Throughout we are made privy to her thoughts, fears, past traumas, and aspirations.  J.H. Williams III does art on the first and last page of the issue with Trevor McCarthy doing the rest of the interiors.  Since it breaks from the Batwoman/Wonder Woman perspective the transition is not inappropriate, but I will admit that McCarthy’s, which isn’t terrible, is not as engrossing as Williams’ incredible panels.  I believe next issue will not only return to Batwoman and Wonder Woman fighting Medusa, but also Williams on art duty.
  

  The Lanterns of Greed

• Before Watchmen: Moloch #2 delivers the second half of the life of Moloch the Mystic.  Moloch lived a life of sin and corruption, hurting people to assuage the pain of being shunned and oppressed himself because of his physical deformities.  After years of incarceration and numerous apprehensions by one costumed adventurer or another, Moloch finds salvation in the Lord, repenting his past wrongs and attempting to make right on them.  Enter Adrian Veidt, the former mystery man Ozymandias.  He offers Moloch a job, as well as a chance to reenter society as a productive member.  The childlike exuberance that Moloch shows throughout the issue is truly heartrending, especially when you already know his ultimate fate.  Ozymandias may be a hero in title, but his methods are cold and calculating, and the ultimate scheme that makes itself manifest in Alan Moore’s original graphic novel includes giving Moloch terminal cancer to facilitate his nightmarish plan.  Topically, this issue is awful, because a good man who just wants a chance at redemption is exploited and purposefully afflicted with the most horrible of afflictions.  That’s the doom and gloom of Alan Moore for you.  However, J. Michael Straczynski, who writes this two part series, plays up the born again christian aspect of Moloch’s story so that when confronted with the reality of what Ozymandias has done to him and why, Moloch accepts that the goal is virtuous and that as a sinner his death could mean the salvation of billions.  He got a bum deal, but he accepts his role in a larger drama and gains absolution through his suffering in an almost Christ-like fashion.  Even though Ozymandias did this without his knowledge and with no thought for his volition, it comes out right and almost has a happy ending.
  

  Absolution Through Death

• Catwoman #15 has Selina going back to work after the lackluster two issue “Death of the Family” story.  Across the board, the tie-ins have been doing what I feel to be very important things, whereas this one was not only not ominous, it just didn’t accomplish anything at all.  Oh well . . .  She pulls one heist for fun, crashing a rich teen’s party while her parents are out of town, but later takes on a job to steal an artifact from the “Black Room” of A.R.G.U.S..  That artifact being the Black Diamond, which we know from previous incarnations of the DCU to be the talisman of Eclipso.  The circumstances of this situation are far more interesting than the actual execution.  The information we get about the Black Room feels like it will be important to the impending “Trinity War” event down the road, as well as a clue into the really random headings placed on titles that fall under the “Black Diamond Probability.”  Most of the banner events get press and/or advertisement.  Thusfar the “Black Diamond Probability” has not, which makes it that much more intriguing.  We’ll see if the underground hype pays off or is just a smokescreen.
• Nightwing #15 brings Dick Grayson into the fold of the Joker’s “Death of the Family” plot.  Since his first issue, a year and a half ago, Dick has inherited the circus he was raised in and discovered his familial tie to Gotham and the shadowy forces that have governed it for centuries.  Like Bruce, his goal as these events have progressed is to turn Gotham around and make good on the evils that have led to the great city’s decline.  In the process, he’s reestablished old relationships as well as new trusts with the members of the circus, gambling on the group’s future as a staple of Gotham City entertainment.  With the Joker coming on the scene, that trust is stretched to the breaking-point as obviously Nightwing has painted a bullseye on their chests as an exploitable weakness.  Since those members of Haly’s Circus that remain have done so, also gambling on Dick’s dream, their safety is paramount in Nightwing’s mind, adding further desperation by the former Robin to take down the Joker before his insanity imperils more of his friends.  As we’ve seen in the other books under this event’s banner, the Joker’s individualized plots against “the Family”  are minutely designed to cut deep at their intended targets.  One of the lynch pins in the Nightwing plot is a red-headed ghost from Dick’s past that adds further depth to the overall scheme.  Color me intrigued as we await issue #16.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 fleshes out perhaps the most interesting of the Joker’s plots under the “Death of the Family” event in his plan for Jason Todd.  Writer Scott Lobdell has quintessentially linked Jason, aka Red Hood, to the Joker in his #0 issue of this title.  Jason was for all intents and purposes a hobby the Joker took up out of boredom, putting a street punk with family issues in the path of Batman upon faking his mother’s O.D-ing on drugs, setting up a situation where this punk would be taken on as Robin, and then setting up this punk’s death to mess with the Batman.  In this issue, after staging an eerily familiar scene of Jason’s girlfriend, Isabel, O.D-ing in her apartment, the Joker abducts our red masked protagonist and places him within a maze that sloooowly reveals tokens of every stage of his journey to being Robin through his death at the Joker’s hands, not only proving that the Joker knows who he is but that he was also present every step of the way!  Lobdell really struck a nerve with his revelation of the Joker’s connection to Jason in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0, and in this issue begins to play that nerve like a Stradivarius.  I can only image that next month’s concluding issue will do nothing less.
  

  The Hard Truth

• Supergirl #15 ushers in the next chapter of the “H’el on Earth” event with H’el evicting the Man of Steel and his cloned protege, Superboy, from the Fortress of Solitude.  With Supergirl in tow he sends her into the bottled city of Kandor to retrieve an object of crucial importance to their plot to resurrect Krypton.  The story is framed with a reminiscence of one of Kara’s last days on Krypton in the company of her best friend, Tali.  With the memories of yesterday so fresh in her mind, and the sighting of her comatose friend within the Bottle City, the rationale of Supergirl falling for H’el’s psychotic plan, veiled though it may be in sugary lies.  She does so out of loneliness, out of a sense of cultural and social loss, and out of a burgeoning passion.  Though she is misguided, her journey is still really engrossing and compelling.
• Legion of Super-Heroes #15 takes a break from the usual pace of things with a magical jaunt to the city of Barcelona.  One of writer Paul Levitz’s newest creations, Legion rookie Glorith, protege of veteran legionnaire the White Witch, is transported by an enigmatic voice in a dream through a portal to Barcelona.  When the Legionnaires later go to find her, the city is descended into chaos as denizens and scenes from throughout the city and surrounding area’s past spring up.  These include dinosaurs, cavemen, Inquisition era mobs complete with torches, and 20th century guerrillas.  Not seeming to connect with the large dilemmas the Legion has been facing, as is Levitz’s authorial style, this issue still is really engaging and quintessentially a Levitz Legion yarn.  And as it doesn’t connect with any overhanging plot from the recent past, that doesn’t mean that it won’t intertwine later into a characteristically complex storyline.  
• DC Universe Presents: Black Lightning and Blue Devil #15 just was.  I’m only putting it up here as a place holder.  Not a good series, but maybe it will facilitate something interesting in a later appearance by one or both of these characters in another series.  Otherwise, not good.
• Wonder Woman #15 is delving into something that I have been waiting for since the inception of the New DCU: The New Gods.  Jack Kirby’s legendary creations have always been among my favorite DC characters and concepts.  With the first arc of Geoff Johns Justice League I was horrified with the abysmal depiction of Darkseid and his hoards of Apokalips.  With Brian Azzarello’s exploration of the New Gods from New Genesis I am hopeful that the DC will have a second chance at doing right by Jack Kirby’s work.  Here Orion is sent to Earth to treat with one of the sons of Zeus, the blind vagrant Milan.  Wonder Woman and her brother, Lennox, also seek out Milan in their attempt to locate Hermes and the abducted baby of their friend, Zola.  As is characteristic of both Wonder Woman and Orion, misunderstandings are made and the two immediately resort to violence.  Though last issue did give a hint at the reason for Orion’s coming to Earth, the main points are still a mystery, but I remain hopeful that good things will come of this story arc.
• JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull #1 is a return to an Elseworld that I greatly enjoyed.  For those not in the know, Elseworlds are re-imaginings that take DC characters out of their normal surroundings and insert them into brand new contexts.  The most famous Elseworld is probably Superman: Speeding Bullets where Kal-El, last son of Krypton, is rocketed to Earth from his doomed planet where he lands in Gotham City and is found by the childless Martha and Thomas Wayne, raised under the name Bruce Wayne, witnesses their murder and later dons cape and cowl, becoming Batman, albeit with flight, super strength, super speed, and heat vision.  JSA: Speeding Bullets was a series that took the Golden Aged DC characters and re-imagined them as deep cover covert operatives of the United States Armed Services during WWII, originally written by Dan Jolley and drawn by Tony Harris.  Drawn by returning artist, Tony Harris, and written by B. Clay Moore, this series under the subtitle The Whistling Skull deals with deep cover operatives of what appear to be strictly British Intelligence, although that may not hold up to be true as the story unfolds over the forthcoming five issues.  Starting out with a five page jaunt to the Japan of 1940, Dr. Midnight, Hour Man, and Wildcat (all American) are seen with the Skull and his sidekick, Knuckles, both British.  The rest of the issue is a disjointed progression of jumping back and forth between England in the 20’s and Switzerland in the 40’s.  In Switzerland there is a mysterious, mystical malady that is killing locals in a horrific fashion, but the cause and its ties to the larger war happening in Europe is not alluded to.  To my knowledge the Whistling Skull and Knuckles are completely new characters with no basis within comic lore, and regardless of this being the case or not, are very poorly introduced in this first issue.  The premise is interesting to be sure, but as a first issue this one failed to develop a cogent premise.  However, because I enjoyed the original two series in collected graphic novel, I will ride this one out.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #5 brings the miniseries to the brink of realizing its subject, namely He-Man and the Masters of the Universe becoming reestablished.  From issue #1 five months ago, we have seen an Eternia where He-Man and the Masters have been placed under a state of amnesia and the forces of Skeletor carving out little fiefdoms of control.  Skeletor himself is locked in Castle Grayskull, attempting to wrest the fabled power it houses from the imprisoned Sorceress and even the spirit of Grayskull itself.  Adam and Teela have landed on an island controlled by Evil-Lyn and while escaping from her forces, led by Teela’s amnesiac father, Man-at-Arms, the two come across He-Man’s sword, aptly sheathed in stone.  Upon drawing it from the stone in Arthurian fashion, he not only remembers who he is, becoming He-Man once more, but also awakens all of his allies from their own forgetful somnambulism.   Next issue, the final of the six part story, promises to be a He-Man adventure like we have known in the past.
  

  Drawing the Sword of Power from a Stone

• Sword of Sorcery #3 continues the Amethyst plot as Princess Amaya of House Amethyst continues to acclimate to her life in the Gem World of Nilaa.  Her evil aunt, Queen Mordiel, proposes a meeting with Amaya and her mother, Graciel, at neutral ground at their brother Bhoj’s country estate.  The results are predictable, but the information and characterization revealed within this parlay are truly intriguing taken together with what we already know of Gem World. The issue also takes us up to the moment in which John Constantine snatches Amaya back into our world, as seen in Justice League Dark Annual #1 with the portal stone. Writer Christie Marx and artist Aaron Lopresti really deliver an engrossing look into what would seem like a froufrou, utterly ridiculous title.  On the contrary, Amethyst is a very intricate book of feudalism and realpolitik, with almost as much intrigue but way less sex than “Game of Thrones.”   The Beowulf feature reaches its concluding installment as the enigmatic woman, identifying herself only as “Grendel’s mother,” explains to our protagonist the rationale behind his creation as a direct result of the superhuman advent, as seen in Justice League #1, and a human supremacy movement by the villain Regulus, as seen in Suicide Squad.  Tony Bedard foreshadows a great many things about what Beowulf is, yet withholds a great deal up to this issues conclusion and the ending of this chapter in the saga of Beowulf.  The feature does end with a solicitation that “Beowulf will return in 2013!” so all hope isn’t lost that answers will come.  In the meantime, the next issue of Sword of Sorcery will contain the Stalker feature written by Marc Andreyko and drawn by Andrei Bressan.  Writer and artist are both fantastic, and I am excited by the title itself, which was based off of a Paul Levitz four issue series from 1975.  I will stay on this series with great enthusiasm and I would encourage others to do the same.
• The Unwritten #44 is an exemplary reason why this series is incredible.  The main character, Tommy Taylor, descends into the Underworld to rescue the woman he loves, Lizzy Hexam.  This endeavor mirrors a Golden Age superhero comic that a character in the series past wrote, which itself was obviously mirrors the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.  When he gets into the Underworld, his guides are the slain children of the warden of the French prison that Tommy was held in close to the series beginning.  Both children were incredibly round, complex characters, killed far before their time both literally and literarily, but creators Mike Carey and Peter Gross prove how wide reaching this series is by returning them to the narrative in a very thoughtful way.  The issue shows the workings of Hades in the world of The Unwritten, as well as sets up its most unlikely of Underworld Kings, again another resurrected character from issues past.  This book is stunning.  Read it.
  

  The Tinker Descends Into the Underworld

And so ends the last real week of comics in December.  Next week has a few stray titles for the day after Christmas.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Green Lantern #15:  Drawn by Doug Mahnke, Colored by Alex Sinclair, Inked by Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, Tom Nguyen & Doug Mahnke

Green Lantern: New Guardians #15:  Art by Aaron Kuder, Colored by Wil Quintana

Before Watchmen: Moloch #2: Art by Eduardo Risso, Colored by Trish Mulvihill

Red Hood & the Outlaws #15: Drawn by Timothy Green II, Colored by Blond, Inked by Wayne Faucher

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #5: Drawn by Philip Tan & Pop Mhan, Colored by Lee Loughridge & Jim Charalampidis, Inked by Pop Mhan, Jim Charalampidis & Lebeau Underwood

The Unwritten #44: Art by Peter Gross, Colored by Chris Chuckry

Week 64 (Nov. 21, 2012)

On this third week of November I welcome a slew of my favorite titles: Batwoman, Green Lantern: The New Guardians, Legion of Super-Heroes, Wonder Woman, and The Unwritten, as well as some stand up series that are far from chopped liver.  This promises to be fun.

• Justice League #14 is heading the series in a better direction.  Still a sham when compared with the writer Geoff Johns’ current Green Lantern run as well as most of his previous projects, but its getting there.  The whole thing with the Cheetah was interesting, and while I was thinking it was pretty pointless in the long run, Johns hints at an overarching context to it.  What really grounded the story and made me like it was the romantic little interlude at the end where Superman takes Wonder Woman to Smallville to see where he grew up.  I’ve fought against the idea of this relationship tooth and nail since it was introduced at the end of issue #12, but sonuvagun, Geoff Johns has sold it to me.  The scene I mentioned above was really poignant and humanizing.  It was about how godlike beings can exist in a the real world and how idealists can survive in an imperfect one.  It made me like Superman and Wonder Woman, which I should have already, but Johns stumbled with in the initial batch of issues.  I reiterate, this is not even close to being one of DC’s best series, but I would be remiss if I didn’t give it props for making substantial progress towards being a thoughtful, relatable series.  And of course I would be VERY remiss if I didn’t also credit guest artist Tony Daniel on his awesome two issues on this title.  I love his artwork so much and it really supplemented the awesome factor of issues #13 & #14.  The less said about the SHAZAM! backup feature the better.  Gary Frank’s art is solid, but its toothpicks holding the plot together.
  

  Down On the Farm

• Batwoman #14 was . . . AWESOME!!!  Truly this series is unprecedented.  I go into every issue with high hopes and any other time that assertion precedes the fall, as rarely do comics exceed expectations.  This one took my breath away.  I had to set it down for ten minutes somewhere in the middle just to get my thoughts together.  Batwoman and Wonder Woman are hot on the heels of Medusa and in this issue the search ends.  They find Medusa and we, the readers, get to see her and experience her inner monologuing in the most personal of terms. This last part is something interesting that Williams and Blackman have really utilized effectively throughout this arc to encapsulate the many strong egos co-mingling within its pages.   Each arc the two writers have pioneered far out narrative styles to characterize and differentiate the storylines from one another.  This time around, that narrative technique of deeply rooting the plot in the varying perspectives of the two heroines, Batwoman and Wonder Woman, is what adds so much ambiance and charm.  Wonder Woman is all but perfection and the paradigm of the feminine warrior, so obviously Batwoman is intimidated as hell to be in her midst and overcompensates so as not to sound like a tittering fan girl.  Batwoman represents the same dark mystique and cold justice that her male counterpart does, and as such Wonder Woman is in awe of her and how cool and calculating her every action is amidst some truly horrific events.  That mutual respect as well as the very personal and realistic reactions to the unrealistic vistas they encounter is what I personally enjoyed above all.  Reading this title is a must for all comic book fans.
  

  The Dark Heart of Gotham

• Catwoman #14 finally brings Catwoman face to face (to face) with the Joker.  Gotta say, after all the buildup in other titles, it was a bit of a let down.  I mean sure there is some discomfort involved, but really the Joker’s entire shtick in this issue is just one giant annoyance tactic.  Sorry if that ruins anything, but while seemingly ominous at first, this “I Just Want To Have Some Fun, No Hard Feelings” Joker doesn’t fit with the ultra-homicidal incarnation that is being shown in the other books.  I mean, yeah, sure he’s gonna have a lot of fun doing whatever, but he’s going to be a lot darker than we see here.  I really love Ann Nocenti’s writing, but this is one issue that I feel she was ill equipped to write.
• Green Lantern: The New Guardians #14 feels more and more like the television series Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Kyle Rayner, fourth Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, is put on a quest by Star Sapphire Carol Ferris of Earth (who is also the lover of Green Lantern Hal Jordan) to use his unique Lantern ring which has been inundated with the seven colors of the emotional spectrum to in turn master those other emotions and channel their energies.  He has mastered green, of course, and as of last issue under the tutelage of Atrocitus, the red energies of rage.   This issue begins with him mastering the indigo light of compassion, but also getting instruction from Indigo-1, primary Indigo Lantern, on how one masters the “good” and the “bad” emotions in harmony.  From here he goes to the only Yellow Lantern left in the Universe: the fear god, Arkillo.  Arkillo is a truly complex character and as the issue goes on his experience with Kyle in the latter’s search for the true heart of fear is reciprocated back upon him, also showing him his own path.  There is a lot happening in this issue, including further revelations of the Guardian’s sinister plot for the universe as a whole.  Series “artist” Aaron Kuder is yet again MIA on this issue, instead being substituted by Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna.  Not gonna lie.  I love Kuder’s artwork, but his tardiness in what has been solicited as his run on the book is really starting to irritate me.  It appears that he will return as series artist next month on issue #15, and I truly hope that this isn’t more smoke being blown.  He’s good and I want to see his art on the book very badly.
  

  Kyle’s Power Has Always Been His Lack of Fear to Admit That He Is Afraid

• Legion of Super-Heroes #14 returns to three major plotpoints: the resurrection of the Fatal Five, the rationale behind Comet Queen’s betrayal of the Legion on the Dominion homeworld, and most recently the three Braalian terrorists that K.O.’ed Cosmic Boy.  The latter-most point is what really moves the plot and delivers the pathos of the plot.  Since the beginning of this series over a year ago, Element Lad has been taking Chemical Kid under his wing and showing him the ropes, like a less psychotic and more super-powered Training Day.  This even included Element Lad sitting on the sidelines and letting Chemical Kid take down Renegade, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, just giving encouragement and advice when needed.  In this issue, writer Paul Levitz takes the training of Chemical Kid to the next level.  With Element Lad also being incapacitated by the Braalians, Chemical Kid has to truly go it alone if he and his unconscious mentor are going to survive.  Levitz OWNS the Legion of Super-Heroes title.  He didn’t create the title and he isn’t the only person to write this panoply of characters, but he’s the one that made the Legion what it has become and a series worth reading.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #14 begins with the Outlaws coming back from Starfire’s homeworld, Tamaran.  Superman intercepts them, and the first explored connection outside of the Superman Annual of the “Thirteen” several months ago is made.  Supes and Starfire are just two parties in the overall plot alluded to as the “Thirteen Scions of Salvation.”   With this issue, two members are brought together to at least contemplate the ramifications of what is going on.  The second half of the story, considering Jason Todd’s figureheading of the title and the times surrounding the other Batbooks, was inevitable.  The Joker makes his play at the former boy wonder with a giant, symbolic sucker punch.  Harkening back to the zero issue two months ago, writer Scott Lobdell revisits the twisted past of the two characters that he re-engineered.  The Joker MADE Jason Todd through a very sick social experiment, and like he has been doing often in the main Batman title, recreated the catalyzing event to get Jason’s attention.  What comes in the next two issues promises to be bleeding edge storytelling.  I am on the edge of my seat, waiting.
  

  “A REALLY Twisted Joke”
  or
  “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One . . .”

• Blue Beetle #14 has Jaime Reyes and his scarab Khaji-Da going to the Scarab homeworld with fellow Blue Beetle, Khaji-Kai.  Tagging along is the Mayan chieftain, Sky Witness, who was the last to wear the scarab, Khaji-Da.  This title is beginning to wrap up and the stakes are rising.  The zero issue of this title from September told of the first host that Khaji-Da attempted to meld with and that young woman, centuries older, is solicited to be making an appearance in the next two issues: Lady Styx.  Evil incarnate, it would appear that for Jaime its out of the frying pan and into the fire.
• Supergirl #14 brings us chapter three in the “H’el on Earth” event.  Following Superman #13 the Maid of Steel is forced to really look at the reality of Superman’s blood relation to her and the destruction of not only her homeworld, but her very way of life.  Enter H’el, who offers her a chance at the renaissance of their shared culture and those they love.  This very well could answer the question of how Superman (in Superman #0) and Superboy (in Supergirl #0) could have been present on Krypton in their current forms shortly before its destruction.   Following last week’s Superboy #14 this issue also shows the fate of Kon-El after his run in with H’el.  Next week Superman #14 resolves the ending of this issue as well as advances the crossover event.
• Nightwing #14 does so very much in this one issue.  Harkening back to the zero issue of September, this issue continues the two part reunion of Lady Shiva, the peerless assassin who also happened to be Dick Grayson’s first opponent in superheroics, with the first Robin.  Well, she is back and it would seem she is gunning for Sonia Branch (nee Zucco), daughter of the man who killed Dick’s parents, but also financier of his Coney Island-esque “Amusement Mile” project.   Obviously there is some conflict in his emotions there.  The events of this issue also tie into the Penguin, who across the Bat-books has been waging turf wars and seizing up Gotham through legitimate and illegitimate means.  And as one would expect from another major thing going on across the Bat-books, this issue is also a tie-in to the “Death of the Family” event with the Joker paying a visit to an old friend of Dick’s.  Things are starting to get real.
• DC Universe Presents: Black Lightning & Blue Devil #14 has the same tone as the other arcs in this line, setting up new characters and premises from the past DCU into the newly rebooted one, but its a little lackluster for me.  Perhaps its because I never really cared a lot about either character, but this one, though so similar to other arcs, doesn’t resonate with me.  Still, its worth picking up if you want to watch a universe being reborn from the ashes.
• Wonder Woman #14 is an issue about the children of Zeus.  The origin of Siracca is revealed, as is the identity of that massive, face-eating behemoth that emerged from the ice of Antarctica.  Both children of Zeus, wronged by the gods and fueled by anger, their pain is palpable.  From the beginning of this run, writer Brian Azzarello has portrayed a soap opera of the familial quarrels of the gods that is nothing short of a . . . well, a Greek drama.  All of this segues nicely into that mold put forth by Azzarello.  What excites me, however, and throws a total curve ball to the aforementioned Greek mythological framework is Azzarello’s insertion of the New Gods of New Genesis into the works.  I am very excited, as I feel that Geoff Johns really fouled up the Apokalips invasion, as well as its despotic ruler, Darkseid.  Here’s hoping that Azzarello does better.
  

  The New Gods

• Sword of Sorcery #2 continues to impress.  Starting with the third installment (owing to its intro as a zero issue) of Amethyst, more and more mysteries clarify and  the series settles into a very engrossing medieval fantasy treat.  In the gem world of Nilaa, there are several noble houses that are ruled by families representing various gems.  Princess Amaya is the heir to House Amethyst, as well as another house, which we learn of in this issue.  We see House Citrine in this issue in great detail, as well as introduction to houses Onyx and Turquoise   House Diamond, which we were introduced to last issue, continues to be an intriguing kingdom fraught with internal discord and intrigue.  Those internal divisions promise to have great weight to the future of this title and our protagonist, Amaya.  I really love this feature.  The backup feature of this issue is the Beowulf story, as re-imagined in a retro-medieval futuristic amalgam by writer Tony Bedard.  Also on its third installment, Beowulf has awoken from his cryosleep and has been brought to the hall of King Hrothgar where the legendary warrior faces the bio-engineered Grendel.  Going through to its conclusion we meet Grendel’s mother in this issue, as well as ponder how this post-apocalyptic future ties into the larger DCU.  This entire book was a pure delight to read for those who have a penchant for the fantastical and adventurous read.
• The Unwritten #44 finds Tom Taylor descending into the world of fiction, a giant discordant mess after the wounding of Leviathan, on his way to the world of the dead to rescue his insubstantiated lover, Lizzy Hexam.  The brunt of the issue is focused on his journey through the wreckage of the fictional word, torn asunder by Pullman, just as Lizzy was by the same villain.  With the wounding of the Whale, the denizens of this realm have fallen into hard times and danger has become much more prevalent.  Mike Carey and Peter Gross are geniuses of the highest caliber and I eagerly await the resolution of the crazy ending of this issue next month . . .

Such a good week of books, that have me clamoring for their successors next month.  Batwoman, Wonder Woman, Greeen Lantern: The New Guardians, and Red Hood and the Outlaws at the forefront.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Justice League #14:  Drawn by Tony S. Daniel, Colored by Tomeu Morey, Inked by Matt Banning & Sandau Florea

Batwoman #14: Art by J.H. Williams III, Colored by Dave Stewart

Green Lantern: New Guardians #14:  Art by Andrei Bressan & Amilcar Pinna, Colored by Nei Ruffino

Red Hood & the Outlaws #14: Art by Pascal Alixe, Colored by Blond

Wonder Woman #14: Drawn by Tony Akins, Colored by Matthew Wilson, Inked by Rich Burchett

Week 59 (Oct. 17, 2012)

• Justice League #13 was as trite as it has always been.  Maybe there is an interesting story happening in the background, but all I could focus on was how unrelateable the characters are.  I very much dislike Wonder Woman in this series.  I am not a fan of Superman either.  They are flawed characters, I understand, but there is a point where you have to give them some amount of credence as characters.  The romance between Wonder Woman and Superman made sense topically when it was introduced at the tail end of the last issue, but seems really forced now that we see it in the light of day, two months later.  Its been advertised as the status quo, which is alarming, considering how bad it is.  The whole thing was hard to read, which is a shame because Tony Daniel is providing art, and I love his artwork a great deal.  The back story of Barbara Minerva, aka The Cheetah, is the topic of this and next month’s issues, and writer Geoff Johns takes it in what might be an interesting direction, but for the abysmal characterization of his cast that overshadows whatever is happening plot-wise. The backup this month breaks away from “SHAZAM” (Thank God) and replaces it with a story following Steve Trevor and Green Arrow forming a pact that is solicited as the beginning of Justice League of America.  I begrudgingly will buy a copy come January.  Not out of any merit given to its beginnings (FAR FROM IT), but just so I can say I gave it a fair shot.
• Green Lantern: New Guardians #13 was good, however a little lackluster by itself.  I’ve learned to  be forgiving with the way writer Tony Bedard structures his arcs, as the first arc had its sketchy first issues that blossomed into an incredible storyline down the road.  This one has that promise and the issue gets to the heart of the matter, yet I feel it could have been done better.  Starting off with the red light of Rage, Atrocitus tries to get Kyle to feel rage over the death of his girlfriend, Alex, who died when he first became Green Lantern because he was Green Lantern.  He doesn’t feel rage over this though, so why the flashbacks were necessary I’ve yet to figure out.  Context I suppose. I feel that there is a lot going on underneath it all that I’m unaware of, which will probably be revealed later.  In any event, it was a well plotted story, and one that strangely wasn’t drawn by series artist Aaron Kuder.  Instead Andrei Bressan and Amilcar Pinna split the artist duties on this one.  Two issues in and the series artist is already playing hooky?  Hmmmmm . . .
  

  Kyle, Thou Art Unleashed . . .

• Batwoman #13 is nothing short of stunning.   As ever, J.H. Williams III and cowriter W. Haden Blackman present an intensely personal, yet action packed story headlining Batwoman and Wonder Woman.  Following the same trail she has been since issue #1 a little over a year ago, Batwoman is seeking “Medusa”, responsible for the abduction of dozens of Gotham’s children.  After learning that Medusa isn’t an organization, but rather a person, most likely the snake haired gorgon herself, Batwoman seeks out Wonder Woman for aid.  This issue picks up on their team up and all around the story is incredibly well done.  Batwoman is as chill and confident as her male counterpart, but despite that fact her inner monologue is that of a wonderstruck child.  Similarly, Wonder Woman, unfamiliar with Batwoman, is enthralled by her steely demeanor and her ingenuity.  Delving into Greek mythology, I think this arc does a much better job than the current Wonder Woman series.  No offense, to Brian Azzarello.  Williams and Blackman are just that good.  Also Williams’ artwork is RIDICULOUS!  His pages are set up with nonlinear panels and artistic layouts.  I want to read #14 right now!
  

  J.H. Williams III’s Sprawling Labyrinth

• Before Watchmen: Minutemen #4 is an issue about horror.  Though you could argue that the entire Minutemen title has been since its about the gilded lie that was the Golden Age of the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s.  However, this issue highlights and centers in on the horrors that each and every one of the Minutemen had to face.  The Silhouette was always a character who plunged into the darkness in defense of the innocent, namely children.  She had no illusions, possibly because of her sexual orientation, and especially considering the horrors she endured at the beginnings of Nazism in her native Austria.  Her sapphic nature was also the cause of a horror for all of her teammates, following her ghastly murder beside her longtime lover, Gretchen.  Horrors beget horrors, as those closest to her react to the injustice that they partially caused.  Even the Comedian, half a world away in the Pacific Theater rings in with his own horrors and twisted attempts at justice.  In every brushstroke and every letter put to paper, writer/artist Darwyn Cooke proves himself a maestro.  This series cuts deep to the soul, eliciting such macabre beauty and tender sorrow for anyone who possesses a human heart capable of feelings.  It just needs to be read to be believed.  Pure artistry.
  

  Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned

• Catwoman #13 is a prelude to “Death of the Family” in a very horrifyingly minimalistic way. After returning home from a heist, Catwoman is assailed by small mementos of her departed friend, Lola, which should have been destroyed in the firebombing of the latter’s apartment.  Just out of sight each time is a figure shrouded in shadow with a discernibly large smile.  Getting the impression that she is being watched, we, the readers, KNOW she is.  Further, she is engaged under the auspices of a routine robbery in a life or death game of chess. Literally. Marking the first issue of Catwoman in the present, writer Ann Nocenti knocks it out of the park.  Can’t wait to see where she takes the series, after how she bailed out the sinking ship that was Green Arrow.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #13 concludes the “Blight” arc, as well as Starfire’s return to her home planet, Tamaran, whose citizens had long ago forsaken her.  We see further her evolving reconciliation with her older sister, Komand’r, aka  Blackfire.  Also we see how she has won not only the loyalty of Jason and Roy, who follow her to another planet steeped in all out war, but also the loyalty of dozens of other “men and women” from several other worlds, including a Dominator named DePalo.  Dominators are almost exclusively an amoral, evil race.  That she would welcome one into her innermost circle and call him friend really speaks to the depth of her character.  I would also like to commend writer Scott Lobdell for writing a complex, yet endearing Dominator.  The issue marks what appears to be a giant  blow to what has been the status quo in a sector of space for generations.  Scott Lobdell is an incredible writer and gets a lot of help from Timothy Green II in the visual half of the narrative.  After this issue, Lobdell is bringing his new charge, Superman, into the fold of this series with a crossover that must coincide with his mention of the “Thirteen” in this series and his Superman Annual #1. And if that wasn’t enough, the last full page panel ties in the return of the Joker to the path of Jason Todd.
  

  OH NO!!!!

• Legion of Super-Heroes #13 returns the title to the multistory paradigm that Levitz pioneered in this title thirty years ago.  In a mining asteroid chain, Cosmic Boy, Element Lad, and Chemical Kid track down the pirates that raid the mines, only to find trouble in the form of three very powerful denizens of Cosmic Boy’s homeworld, Braal, among the brigands.  Back on Earth, Brainiac 5 works on the conundrum of how and why Comet Queen turned on the team when the Legionnaires attempted to rescue him and Dream Girl from the Dominion homeworld.  And for a brief moment Levitz returns to the topic form several months ago of the Master Circuit that could recreate the villain Tharok of the Fatal Five.  It looks like for the next two issues at least, Scott Kolins will be on art duty.  His style has very rough edges and adds an urgency to the scripting.  Coupled with Levitz’s writing, the two halves come together in a very compelling whole.
• Nightwing #13 ushers in the two issue arc of Lady Shiva’s advent to Gotham City, written by guest writer, Tom DeFalco.  She came to town before in Nightwing #0 last month when Dick first put on the Robin costume.  Now is their first rematch since that seminal confrontation.  In the meantime, Dick is still attempting to invigorate Gotham in his own way by renovating Amusement Alley with a permanent place for his circus and other carnival attractions to take root, sort of like Coney Island in New York.  And alongside him in an ambiguous role as financier is Sonia Branch (nee Zucco) who hardlines as a savvy businesswoman most of the time and a flirtatious femme fatale at other times.  Interesting.  With Sonia on one side and Lady Shiva on the other, Dick is going to have his hands FULL!
• DC Universe Presents: Black Lightning and Blue Devil #13 introduces the characters Jefferson Pierce, aka Black Lightning, and Dan Cassidy, aka Blue Devil to the New DCU.  Pierce is a high school history teacher and Cassidy a movie stunt man.  Both moonlight as crimefighters, one with electrical abilities and the other with a magical suit that give them their powers, but as of yet aren’t explained.  Taking place in LA they fight against the kingpin of crime, Tobias Whale.  Marc Andreyko write this five issue arc with Robson Rocha on art.  Its an interesting first issue, but the jury is out on whether or not its substantial.
• Blue Beetle #13 was really good. Writer Tony Bedard makes it good.  I am lukewarm on the premise and the character, and yet once again, I find myself genuinely wanting to see what happens next.  The Zero issue last month picked up with the character’s fate following Justice League International Annual #1 when OMAC sent him halfway across the known universe.  He was given a brief look at the past of his scarab, Khaji-Da, and its melding with a human host, Sky Witness, a Mayan chieftain, before eventually connecting with the present and his being in Reach Space, the Scarab’s backyard.  In the aftermath of this Jaime and his scarab, Khaji-Da, come across a resurrected, crazed Sky Witness and another scarab-elite, Khaji-Kai, who is willing to trade Jaime’s freedom for the secret to overcoming his scarab’s control.  With a connection to the events of Green Lantern: New Guardians #9-10, Bedard is pushing the limits of what it means to be a Blue Beetle and the capacities of the sentient mind to overcome enslavement.  That also ties into what he is contributing to in the “Rise of the Third Army” event in the Green Lantern books.  Good stuff.
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #3 was interesting, but I am still not certain about where they are going with it, but I’ll hold out judgement until the end of the six issue run.
• Supergirl #13 reunites Supergirl with the businessman who first imprisoned and experimented on her, Simon Tycho.  After he was nearly killed by the explosion of his space station, he is reconstructed on a cytoplasmic “exoskeleton”  and become as strong as Kara.  Finding his way to her own seeming “Fortress of Solitude” called Sanctuary, Tycho has found the sunstone memory devices that Kara’s father, Zor-El, had sent from Krypton with his daughter.  Using his new body’s nervous system he has not only uncovered the entire record of Kryptonian science, history, and culture, but the language itself.  That said, he was then able to learn their language and now able to actually speak and communicate with Kara.  He also reveals to her the stunning fact we learned at the end of last month’s Zero issue: her own mother, Alura, shot her father, Zor-El, who was attempting to send her to Earth to be safe.  From this story comes what I have always wanted from this title and begins the end of what put me off a bit by the first year of storytelling:  Kara Zor-El is becoming acclimated to Earth.  Kara as an outsider is not interesting.  Seeing her get comfortable on Earth, setting up meaningful friendships and relationships with the superheroes of our planet as well as regular people, and having a life like a regular person is imperative to her being the incredible character she was in the past.  Mike Johnson writes this one solo, but brings in Sami Basri on art which I am excited about.  Basri’s art on the title Voodoo was what made that series incredible and what drew me in.  His work on Supergirl is no different.
• Wonder Woman #13 brings us back into the main narrative two months after the conclusion of issue #12, that had QUITE the surprise ending.  The main point of which was Hermes, the messenger god, whom had been one of Wonder Woman’s closest friends and confidantes in the protection of Zola from Hera, abducting Zola’s baby after birth and taking him to Demeter for who knows what purpose.  Hera was reduced to a mere mortal.  That picks up with Diana’s attempt to find Hermes, however, to do that she must find someone to fill the role Hermes had once fulfilled, vis-a-vis instantaneous transportation.  There is a demigod named Siracca, the wind, who has this ability but wishes to avoid Wonder Woman.  It is she whom Diana will have to win over if she wants to have any chance of keeping her promise to Zola and reunited mother and child.  What worries me the most started at the end of issue #12 and may or may not have continued on page one of this issue.  Orion of the New Gods definitely clawed his way out of the ice somewhere on Earth on the last page of Wonder Woman #12.  Wonder Woman #13 opens with a savage looking gentleman also emerging from ice in Antarctica and biting a man’s face off.  Writer Brian Azzarello better not have f***ed with the New Gods like Geoff Johns did in his opening arc of Justice League. That is all I am saying.  Also, welcome back to cycling series artist, Tony Akins, who takes his shift on the title after a tour by Cliff Chiang.
• Sword of Sorcery #1 rounds out the background of Gem World in the Amethyst.  I thought that the house Amethyst was the ruling dynasty of the whole thing, but apparently there are other kingdoms, one of which is Citrine, and awenother is House Diamond.  As can be imagined, House Diamond is a major player.  The politics also unfolds as to how the houses interact and balance power.  Also, while I thought in the Zero Issue that the main character’s name is Amaya, not Amethyst.  Darn.  In the backup feature, Beowulf, the titular hero in a Norse style post-apocalyptic future makes his way to Danelaw at the behest of King Hrothgar to defeat Grendel.  Its interesting seeing how writer Tony Bedard adapts the Old English saga into a fresh context.  I look forward to seeing how both segments pan out next month in the title’s second (technically third) issue.
  

  The Kingdom of Diamond

• American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #5 ends this incredible miniseries in Scott Snyder’s American Vampire-verse.  Dracula is being steamed towards his Black Sea palace where, should he mount his “second throne”, he will have complete control of every vampire on the planet.  Head Agent of the Vassals of the Morningstar Linden Hobbes and former agent, Felicia Book, have made an alliance with the “Firsts”, vampires whom represent the last of their individual species after Dracula annihilated their brethren.  It all comes down to this final confrontation to prevent a Vampiric Holocaust.  The result changes the whole tenor of the series and what we have come to expect from writer Scott Snyder.  Insane!
  

  Another American Vampire is Born

• Saucer Country #8 takes the Alvarez campaign on the road and with each stop on the campaign trail Prof. Kidd and various members of the staff are going to suss out some connection to the abduction of the Governor and her ex-husband, Michael.  In the process more details emerge about the government’s connection and how the different groups that have emerged thus far relate to one another.  Over the past couple of issues the back stories of these groups, most recently the Bluebirds, have come to light, and now the world of Saucer Country is shrinking and these parties are being drawn closer to intersection.  Paul Cornell said that he began conceptualizing this series from his love of UFO mythology and his passion for the topic truly shines through in his exploration of it within.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Green Lantern: New Guardians #13:  Art by Andrei Bressan & Amilcar Pinna, Colored by Nei Ruffino & Pete Pantazis

Batwoman #13: Art by J.H. Williams III, Colored by Dave Stewart

Before Watchmen: Minutemen #4:  Art by Darwyn Cooke, Colored by Phil Noto

Red Hood & the Outlaws #13: Art by Timothy Green II, Colored by Blond

Sword of Sorcery #1: Art by Aaron Lopresti, Colored by Hi-Fi

American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #5: Art by Dustin Nguyen, Colored by John Kalisz

Week 55 (Sept. 19, 2012)

This might be my favorite week of Zero Month.  The titles that came out were for the most part incredible in their scope and the quality of their stories.  Green Lantern: The New Guardians reinvents itself for the next phase in its development, Red Hood & the Outlaws delivers an incredible new origin for one of the DCU best antiheroes conceived by the maestro Scott Lobdell, J. Michael Straczynski serves up the next INCREDIBLE chapter in his four part Before Watchmen: Nite Owl series, and DC Universe Presents serves up a double sized issue that gives origins on five cancelled series, three of which I still lament the passing of.  I hope you folks enjoy them as much as I did.

• Green Lantern: The New Guardians #0 is an issue I have been waiting for since the first solicitations were released months ago.  It ushers in the second arc of the series, complete with a new panoply of Lanterns.  After the falling out of the last group upon the revelation that their gathering was a hoax by the former Guardian, Ganthet, Kyle Rayner is left to pick up the pieces.  Returning to Earth to commune with Hal Jordan about the genocidal insanity of their former bosses, the Guardians of the Universe, he instead finds Carol Ferris, herself trying to meet with Hal to ascertain things of a more personal nature. Moments after this meeting the showdown between Hal, Sinestro, and Black Hand erupts in the cemetery, as shown in last month’s Green Lantern Annual #1.  Carol then dons her Star Sapphire ring to lend a hand to Kyle and her lover, only for the two of them to arrive at approximately the time in which Hal and Sinestro disappear.  Troubling as this is to both, Hal’s disappearance takes a back seat when Kyle’s ring begins to show a very peculiar ability following his adventures tracking the ring thief.  Reading his future, Carol predicts that he will have to master the seven emotions and channel the corresponding colors of light to, fingers crossed, rescue Hal and defeat the Guardians. Considering the scope of this aim, its probable that this current arc will encompass another full year’s worth of storytelling.  The Guardians’ mad plot to destroy all sentient life in the Universe promises to be a story spanning all four books and allowing for a long journey of twists and turns. Perhaps the most interesting twist occurs at the end of the issue with the Guardians visiting their former colleagues the Zamaronians on the Star Sapphire homeworld.  Though I was expecting a larger cast in this first issue, it does create a very solid jumping off point for the the new storyline to build off of.  New to the series as well is artist Aaron Kuder, taking over for Tyler Kirkham from the first twelve issue run.  His art is really fascinating, blending the styles of Mike Choi and Chris Burnham.  So to recap the awesome: Carol Ferris is Star Sapphire again, Kyle seems to be a standalone Indigo-esque Green Lantern, Tony Bedard remains at the helm, and new series artist Aaron Kuder’s panels look amazing.  This is gonna be a great year for this title.
  

  Has anyone ever seen the show “Avatar: The Last Airbender?”

  
  

• Batwoman #0 is a true origin tale for Batwoman as it provides both an origin of the character and the comic.  Batwoman got her first solo series after a guest stint on Detective Comics two years ago.  The main arc of that run ended with her realizing that the blond psychotic she’d been fighting was her twin sister whom she’d thought murdered when they were small children.  Her sister, Elizabeth, masquerading as a psyched out Alice from “Alice in Wonderland”, then falls to her seeming death.  This issue picks up at that seminal moment and has the character, Kate Kane, recap her life from earliest childhood toward this moment and the decisions that led to her becoming Batwoman.  Seemingly having an elektra complex, she is driven throughout her life to live up to and win the admiration of her father.  That journey pushes her sanity to the brink and seemingly when she achieves her desire of measuring up to what she imagines to be her father’s mark, the schism of that moment, watching her long lost sister plummet out of her life once again, breaks her emotionally from her father, Col. Jacob Kane, setting up the beginning of this title’s first issue.  So not only does writer/artist J.H. Williams III and co-writer W. Haden Blackman create an origin for the character, they also create one for series, which seemingly sound like they should be the same, but really aren’t.  Williams’ artwork varies in this issue, demarcating past from present with stark lines and pastels in the former and hazy, vibrant art in the latter.  Well worth the one month break in the action of the current Batwoman/Wonder Woman team up.
  

  Sisters At War

• Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3 follows the second Nite Owl, Dan Dreiberg, on his quest to find a slayer of prostitutes.  He does so at the behest of the very alluring masked madam, Twilight Lady, who while helping him locate the killer, slowly seduces him with her very penetrating wiles.  Through her flirtations and analysis of his character, we the reader learn a lot more about who Dan Dreiberg is than either he or us suspected. Considering how nemish he was in the original series, the interactions between Dan and the Twilight Lady, whose name is revealed to be Elizabeth Lane, is very charming, intimate, and more than a little sexy.  Nite Owl’s partner in crime-fighting, Rorschach, also has his place in this issue falling under the sway of an evangelistic minister who has a darker side to him.  J. Michael Straczynski is an ideal storyteller for these Before Watchmen books, as his stories echo the tones of the original that have resonated through the past two decades.  Andy Kubert’s art has a lot to do with the success of the visual narrative of the title, and should be noted that his late father, Joe Kubert, comic book legend, died while working on this title.  Rest in peace, Sir.
  

  The Twilight Lady Plays Her Game With Nite Owl

• Justice League #0, like the first two entries this week in DC’s “Zero Month”, eschews an origin tale of the classic variety and instead gives the backup feature of the past several issues of the title, SHAZAM, the headliner position.  I have made no secret that I do not like Billy Batson in this Geoff Johns written monstrosity, and I do not like the interpretation that is coming out of it.  I think I have become comfortably numb, because as I read this story I know that I disagree with how it is being written, and though I can see what Johns was attempting to do, I do not believe that it is accomplishing the goals set.  However, my objections fall on deaf ears, so accepting that’s what it was going to be, I shut up and just went with it.  The Wizard gives Billy Batson his powers and then seemingly dies.  Not sure I agree with him just ceasing to exist right off the bat, but again, who am I to criticize?  Billy still seems like a punk and I only pray that he evolves as a character, because when it comes to flawed characters, they can be better than perfect characters, there is no denying that.  Yet when you make a character too flawed you reach a point of diminishing returns.  I hope for Johns’ sake that such a point is never reached, because his good name is beginning to tarnish in my opinion.  As stated in this review’s preamble, Justice League usually has a backup feature, and since the regular backup is the main story in this issue, Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver tell a tale of Pandora, the fallen Wizard from the main SHAZAM story, and the merest hint of the third immortal, the Question.  Sorry, in my mind the Question is best left as a fallible mortal human being.  Nice try, Geoff.  I am still unconvinced you have a clue what you are doing with the Question.
• DC Universe Presents #0 takes the concept of the “Zero Issue” and injects it with anabolic steroids. Contained within are not one, but five origin stories of five series that were canceled at the end of the New 52 “First Wave.”  The first item on the docket is perhaps my favorite cancelled title and most lamented, OMAC, written and drawn once again by the phenomenal team of Dan Didio on words and Keith Giffen with Jack Kirby-channeling pencils.  The segment opens with Maxwell Lord and Brother Eye chiding the otherworldly scientist, Mokkari, for his lack of results and control over his research on what he deems “The OMAC virus” that will synthesize the recipient into a “One Machine Attack Construct.”  Brother Eye and Max then have a tete-a-tete about the nature of their relationship.  As per the conversation between Batman and Brother Eye at the end of the Justice League International Annual last month, Brother Eye reveals the rational and history behind his creation from a Mother Box leftover from Darkseid’s invasion of Earth in Justice League #1-6.  The conversation ends in a stalemate that results in the eight issue OMAC series.  Its clear that writer, Dan Didio, told this story to give further gravitas to what he will do with the eponymous character and Brother Eye in the new Justice League of America series out next year.  The next segment is Mister Terrific, written this time by James Robinson, was most likely meant to segue into his use of the character in his Earth 2 series.  I didn’t read past issue #1 of this series, so my commentary on it will be rather uninformed.  Sorry.  I do remember the probability matrix of his dead son telling him he should become Mister Terrific.  This little tale has Michael Holt putting on the T-mask and activating his T-spheres, essentially becoming Mister Terrific.  Before he goes out to embrace his superheroic destiny, however, he first enters a rift in space time and sees his future’s most likely course.  This shows him the Justice Society that James Robinson is building in his Earth 2 title, as well as the Mister Terrific of Earth 2, Terry Sloan, killing him.  He fails to remember this when he exits and returns to his original plans of superheroing in the eight issues of his now cancelled series.  There is one last trick from Terry Sloan that writer James Robinson slides in there.  Terry, you tricky devil . . .  Third up is Hawk & Dove, written by Rob Liefeld, but not drawn.  Marat Mycheals steps in to fulfill artist duties on this vignette.  The story didn’t really facilitate anything, except giving a little backstory as to how Dawn (Dove) took over for Hank’s (Hawk) brother, Don, as the avatar of peace.  It says “To be continued…” at the end, but I don’t know if that is just generically saying that someone will pick up the pieces eventually . . . probably, but there wasn’t anything really left by this tale to elaborate on.  Blackhawks, written by Tony Bedard, goes back to the Apokalips invasion as seen in Justice League’s opening arc, and shows the origin of Mother Machine during that conflict.  I dropped the title after the first issue, so I am not as sure what this portion was about, but once again the ending makes it sound like this vignette is introducing a plot somewhere down the road in the DCU’s near future.  The final tale, also by Bedard, is Deadman, which is unfortunately illustrated by Scott McDaniel.  This tale is one that was worth telling.  In the original Deadman series, Deadman is given life after death to track down his killer.  The New 52 series writer, Paul Jenkins, told me in Chicago when I met him that he wanted to take a different direction with the Deadman and do something more in line with his understanding of the character.  This issue, goes back to his first possession of a person and wouldn’t you know it, that person whose life he is supposed to help is the man who killed him.  Deadman approaches the problem in the understandably harsh way, only to see the error in his thinking.  Not only does Bedard tie up that GIANT loose end in the plot of the original five issue run, he also validates the shift in the character that Jenkins pursued in his interpretation.  So ends the GIANT DC Universe Presents #0.  I think that it was well worth the doubled pricing.
• Nightwing #0 is the first of two “Robin” origins this week, and I chose to read it first because Dick was the first Robin, and as we read, the one who created the persona.  The origin that writers Kyle Higgins and Tom DeFalco come up with is pretty similar to the one we know and love.  Dick is part of the “Flying Graysons” trapeze act in the circus that is visiting Gotham.  A local hood, Tony Zucco, cuts the wires and Dick’s parents die in the fall.  Taken in by Bruce Wayne, Dick seeks out his parents killer and through knowledge of body language deduces that Bruce and Batman are one and the same.  That is all canon, pretty much.  Where this zero issue deviated and does something novel is the end confrontation when Dick first dons the costume and faces the assassin, Lady Shiva.  She thrashes him pretty good and comments that he should come to her when he wants to reach his full potential.  Lady Shiva is coming to Gotham next month in issue #13, and this issue sets up a backstory that will no doubt define that encounter, making it more interesting to us, the readers.
• Red Hood and the Outlaws #o takes a different approach to the Robin origin and presents Jason Todd like we have never seen before.  Jason’s infamy as a DC character stems from the controversial way he died; letting the readers vote on whether he survived the explosion set by the Joker after he mercilessly beat him to a bloody pulp with a crowbar in a warehouse full of TNT.  As a Robin, he is seemingly forgettable until he died.  Scott Lobdell used that point to write a zero issue that plays on this key fact.  It is literally the cliffsnotes to the first life of Jason Todd, from his birth to his death.  We see how his parent’s met, a shadowy scene of him being conceived, his early childhood traumas, his adolescent rebellion, his meeting with Batman, and the rash decision that landed him into the hands of the Joker leading to his death.  The final scene rests on his eyes opening again after death, ushering his second life that has lead us to the present in the previous twelve issues.  Lobdell changes the story of his death from the infamous 90’s “Death in the Family” storyline, to one that is more resonant with the character he is forming.  But even after ALL of that, Lobdell tops himself, and ends the issue with a very brief recap of the WHOLE issue from the Joker’s perspective, showing just how intimately he is connected with Todd as Robin, even BEFORE the incident in the Middle East where he bludgeoned him within an inch of his life and blew him to smithereens.  All I have to say after reading this zero issue is: Gotta love Jason and gotta love Lobdell.
• Catwoman #0 ushers in new writer Ann Nocenti’s run on the title.  Her take on the character doesn’t seem to draw off of or explain what previous writer, Judd Winick, has done with the title, which leads one to believe that Nocenti has something new in mind for the character.  Selina is depicted here as an orphan who, unlike how she has always been depicted in the past, has a brother instead of a sister.  The two grew up in an orphanage that taught the children to he high end cat-burglars to steal for the orphanage’s benefit.  She lost track of her brother and after getting a job in the mayor’s office to try and locate him, she discovers that her name is an alias given to her and that she has another one.  When she tries to probe deeper she is nearly killed to silence her and stop her from finding her true identity.  Years later, when she tries again the files are gone.  So Nocenti sets up the question of “Who is Selina Kyle, really, and why is keeping her identity a secret from her so important?”  I for one intent to read on and find out.
• Legion of Super-heroes #0 features the whole team, but really focuses in on the character Brainiac 5.  Shortly after the founding of the Legion there is a catastrophe on Colu with ancient terror machines constructed by the original Brainiac over a thousand years ago suddenly becoming operational again.  The Coluans have always been an analytic, peaceful people (except for Brainiac) and are ill equipped to fend off these terror attacks.  The Legionnaires intercede to save the people of Colu and their greatest treasure . . .  With the help of Brainiac 5 the day is won.  However, despite his altruism, there is a dark secret that the fifth Brainiac hides that connects to his evil forebearer.  Paul Levitz writes a really engaging story that adds extra dimensions to an already multifaceted character.  Lending guest pencils to this issue is the great Scott Kolins.  His art is kind of simplistic, but there is something really evocative about the lines.
• Supergirl #0 opens on Old Krypton and deals with the last days of that doom planet from the perspective of Zor-El and featuring prominently the his daughter, Kara aka Supergirl.  The plot itself is pretty paper thin.  The issue really has three interesting points: the creation of the shield generator that protects Argo City from Krypton’s destruction, the mysterious appearance of a character from Earth (in the present time), and the answer to who shot Zor-El.  In the holomessage Kara saw earlier in the series from her father, he is cut short by a mysterious intruder who shoots him ending the message.  It is really for the latter two reasons that this issue is worth reading.  Otherwise, it isn’t really that engaging.
  

  WHAT IS SUPERBOY DOING ON KRYPTON HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO!?!
  (HE’S ONLY SIX MONTHS OLD!!!)

• Birds of Prey #0 was as forgettable as when I dropped it several months ago.  Following the Team 7 #0 issue, Dinah Lance breaks away from the pack after whatever event disbands the group, seeking out a blackmarket sale of a specialty incendiary.  The meet goes down at the Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge and she adopts the bird moniker, Black Canary, and meets for the first time both Starling and Batgirl.  The only really interesting thing about this issue is the revelation that she didn’t actually kill her husband, Kurt.  He is actually kept in stasis by former colleague and Team 7 member, Amanda Waller.
• Blue Beetle #0 technically takes place in the present, right after the events of Justice League International Annual #1.  However, it does have the scarab attached to Jaime Reyes, Khaji-Da, reveal his origin from creation centuries ago light-years across the Universe to attaching himself to Jaime’s back one year ago.  The interim time involved both the origin and DCU introduction of Lady Styx, perhaps the freakiest villain in the DC pantheon, and also an explanation of the rise and fall of the Mayan Empire, which Khaji-Da influenced.  Finishing up in Reach Space, this zero issue sets up the next pulse pounding chapter in Blue Beetle.  Good times.
• Wonder Woman #0 deals with the Amazonian princess from her twelfth birthday to her thirteenth.  As a pariah, due to her supposed birth from being formed out of clay, she wants to distinguish herself from her peers.  Hearing her pleas, Ares, god of war, takes it upon himself to train her for a year until her thirteenth birthday, when she will be required to perform an impossible feat in her mother’s honor.  Wonder Woman, regardless of which incarnation, has always stood as a paragon of strength, nobility, and a warrior’s mettle.  That is precisely what Ares attempts to teach her, but the divergence at the end between what she does and what he expects of her sets the mold for what the New 52 Wonder Woman stands for.  A pretty good issue that defines the character, albeit still sticking to a very marginalized representation of the Mighty Amazon.
• Sword of Sorcery #0 is the third installment of DC’s “Third Wave” titles.  This is a dual feature title, headlining the title Amethyst, starring a brave young woman by that same name, written by Christy Marx and drawn by recently emancipated JLI artist, Aaron Lopresti.  The secondary feature is Beowulf, written by Tony Bedard (who is awesome) and illustrated by the great Jesus Saiz.  In the main feature, Amy is a strange girl with multicolored hair who moves around like a nomad with her mother from town to town.  Her impending seventeenth birthday means that they both are finally going to return to their “home”, even though Amy has no idea what that means.  Home turns out to be in a magical kingdom of Gems, ruled by her evil aunt, Queen Mordiel, of the house of Amethyst.  I assumed that Amy’s name is Amethyst as well, but I might be wrong there.  Either way, it proved to be a stunningly beautiful opening chapter to this epic saga, written and drawn to perfection.  In the Beowulf feature, we enter into a post apocalyptic world that has reverted back to the age of Vikings.  It follows the tale of Beowulf in that the warriors of “Danelaw” go to “Geatland” under orders from King Hrothgar to fetch the fabled warrior, Beowulf, to aid that former kingdom against the scourge called Grendel.  Beowulf proves to be a military experiment or something, as he emerges from a cryostasis chamber in an abandoned military complex.  Tony Bedard is a writer of great skill and ingenuity.  Jesus Saiz draws a grim, Norse-like setting with natural ease, assuring the success and authenticity of Bedard’s script.
  

  Return of the Princess

• Batman Beyond Unlimited #8 opens with the next installment of the epic storyling “10,000 Clowns.”  Gotham is besieged by Jokerz from across the globe, unified by a central leader, the Joker King.  Suicide bombings erupt throughout the city, Bruce Wayne is dying in a hospital bed of liver failure, Max has been abducted by unknown assailants, and Jake Chill, aka Vigilante Beyond, enters the scene.  This story was intense to begin with, but cranks the dial up several more notches.  Superman Beyond has the Man of Steel hidden away in the Fortress of Solitude, forced to watch as the robotic monstrosity unleashed by Lex Luthor’s daughter wreaks havoc on his city.  The MetroPD special unit commander, Walker, is driven to overload on nanotech to even be able to contend with the situation.  Superman decides to try one last gambit, in spite of the kryptonite field around Earth that threatens to kill him if he leaves the Fortress.  Finally in the Justice League Beyond Unlimited feature, “Konstriction” moves into the next stage.  The Ouroboros leaves Apokalips after a transformation into its next developmental phase and heads back home to Earth.  On both sides preparations are being made.  The Kobra Queen readies herself and her disciples for the fulfillment of the Serpent’s prophesy.  The JLBU members go to make time with their loved ones before the end comes.  Terry McGinnis (Batman) communes with Bruce Wayne to get advice from his mentor and employer.  As ever Bruce gives stoic support as well as some wily tricks from up his proverbial sleeve.
  

  The Killing Joke

• The Unwritten #41 takes us back a few steps to the aftermath of the cataclysmic “War of the Words.”  You could even say that it takes the reader “back to where it all began.”  Richie Savoy carries the wounded Tom Taylor back to the Swiss mansion where he was accused of mass murder.  Inside the ghosts of everyone who had died because of him haunt the pair.  The story is mostly told through Richie’s perspective, which is fascinating considering he comes to the conclusion by issue’s end that he is among the victims of Tommy’s “story” because he is a supporting character in it, and wants to be the main character in his own story.  This issue sort of becomes the first step in that process, as he is the protagonist, considering Tom is catatonic for a majority of it.  Once again, storytellers Mike Carey and Peter Gross pull out the stops and tell a really poignant tale that breaks new ground, but also reincorporates exceptional characters from storylines past.
• Womanthology: Space #1 was good.  There is very little I can explain about it, since it is titularly an anthology of little vignettes that showcase strong female characters, written and drawn by women.  I got this because several of my favorite female comic creators were billed to have submissions throughout the run: Mindy Doyle at the forefront of this issue’s talent.  I am a fan of the short, avant-garde stories these women spin.

So ends the third week of September.  One more to go . . .

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these images and give credit to those whose work they are.

Illustration Credits:

Green Lantern: New Guardians #0:  Art by Aaron Kuder, Colored by Nei Ruffino

Batwoman #0: Art by J.H. Williams III, Colored by Dave Stewart

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl #3:  Drawn by Andy Kubert, Colored by Brad Anderson, Inked by Joe Kubert & Bill Sienkiewicz

Supergirl #0: Art by Mahmud Asrar, Colored by Dave McCaig

Sword of Sorcery #0: Art by Aaron Lopresti, Colored by Hi-Fi

Batman Beyond Unlimited #8: Art by Norm Breyfogle, Colored by Andrew Elder