Here's
the link to the October solicitations (for comics to be released
mostly in December): (link).
I only made note of a couple of news items. One is that
Smallville
Season 11 is
shifting to a “series of miniseries” format, dropping the “Season
11” branding and sequential numbering, supposedly to remove a
perceived bar for new readers picking it up (link).
This mainly irks me because it will make the weekly purchase from
Comixology quite a bit more cumbersome, especially since they just a
short while ago introduced an efficient “subscription” function
which automatically purchases each week's installment for me and has
it ready for me to download whenever I want, rather than having to
manually go in and make the purchase each week. Being title-based,
the subscription will no longer work. Also, it will be harder
(impossible) to keep reading order straight if you're not
purchasing them week-to-week. Yeah, that
helps the new reader.
Secondly,
and we're far enough along into October as I write this (the 12th) that sales
data for September has been released, it seems that the
September-released “Villains' Month” stunt paid off big time for
DC. More next month, maybe – except that DC's immediate exultation
really rubbed at least one retailer the wrong way (link).
By all accounts, the retailers were the ones who really got screwed
in the resulting debacle.
Whatever, before
“Villains' Month,” there is this one more month of story-driven
rather than stunt-driven comics to get through....
Legion of Super-Heroes #23
“Aftermath”
I
pulled this comic to the front just because it's the last issue of my
favorite comics property for the foreseeable future and I was anxious
to see how it went out. Basically, the story that we get is what
Paul Levitz actually does best, more of a character-based round-robin
than a chapter in some on-going saga. It goes out quietly, but in
style … with some of the best art this book has been graced with in
a long time. Why, oh why?,
DC, did you not put Kevin Maguire over here a long time ago, before
the swan song, and
shame on you for how you've treated him
of late!
Overall,
the Legion is cleaning up after last issue's conclusion to the
devastating events of the past several issues, looking forward to a
long, hard road to get the United Planets back on its feet. Then
comes the final blow – as the UP unceremoniously disbands the
Legion. There is repeated reference to everything of late being
Brainiac 5's fault, I think referring to the #0 issue last year, but
the Legion is keeping this a secret amongst themselves. Anyway, the
members of the Legion scatter, most to their home worlds. Some
reminisce about the “good times.” Some imagine another Universe
where the Legion of Super-Heroes goes on strong. Most interestingly,
it becomes apparent in this final issue that the New 52 Legion of
Super-Heroes we've been seeing in this book – and presumably the
handful of members stranded in the 21st
century in Legion
Lost – are
the Earth-2
Legionnaires, a thousand years after the Apokoliptian warlord
Steppenwolf killed Superman with a spear through the heart as in
Earth
2
#1. So we can hope that someday we will see the “real” New 52
Legion as more or less teased by Grant Morrison in Action
Comics.
Because, for whatever reason, this one failed.
It's
quite (and typically) gracious of Paul Levitz to clear the deck for a
rational reboot of the Legion that does not retcon his own final run
out of existence, and incorporate different facets of the New 52
continuity into his tale along the way. There are, of course, all
kinds of dangling threads and unanswered questions, and I'm sure that
if you examine it all too closely the “Earth 2” solution won't
quite hold up, but I choose to let it work as seems to be Levitz's
intention. Anyway, what about the Lost Legionnaires? I had hoped to
see them reunited with their 31st-century comrades, if only in an
epilogue. They are
from this
Legion, right? But their series occurred on Earth 1. How did that
happen? When they went to the future, if I recall correctly a future
beyond
this title's “now,” and saw the ruined Metropolis, were they on
Earth 2? I doubt it was all thought out that deeply.
In
any case, this being the end, I feel obliged to make some overall
comments on this run. On balance, I enjoyed it, but I can understand
the critics, and there are many, who found it slow. It's very much
old-school comics story-telling, such as Levitz excelled at in the
1980s Legion
run when it was one of the two best-selling titles published by DC –
ah, those
were the “good old days”! I didn't realize how different that is
from modern story-telling, but unfortunately Levitz's efforts here
ended up incorporating some of the least desirable aspects of the
modern style, e.g., too many splash pages, not enough story per
issue. Levitz's Legion
was especially hard hit when DC standardized the vast majority of
their books to a twenty-page, “Holding the Line at $2.99” title
rather than granting it the “elite” status of a 32-page $3.99
title, undoubtedly because of sales, even then, well back before the
advent of the New 52. I had already perceived something of a
subsequent drop in the overall story effect 'way back then. Frankly,
Levitz needs
the space to tell his expansive stories with this legion
of characters.
Nonetheless, the
Legion of Super-Heroes has always been front-and-center in my comics
affection, and I will miss them. I will also be there, God willing,
for the next reboot. May it come sooner rather than later. Until
then …
Long Live the
Legion!
“Split
Screen”
Hands
down, the funniest line in this issue – in this month's DC comics:
“That
'S' … doesn't stand for 'Hope,'
huh?”
Actually, on second reading, it might not be meant to be funny, but
rather dead serious, if the Earth-2 Superman's \S/ is
the Kryptonian glyph for “Hope”....
Anyway,
the story continues right from last issue, with the New God Kaiyo
jumping from body to body, but in the end tempting the heroes of two
Earths with a new devastating weapon and news that Darkseid is
coming. Oh, and Wonder Woman has joined the fray, with the heroes of
two worlds working together, initially to destroy the government's
new weapon in case of an “S-level
event”
– but see above. We also get a flashback of Earth 2's Clark and
Bruce meeting as kids, looking to be about ten or twelve years old
about fifteen years further in the past from this book … but does
that work out mathematically since if this story is happening about
five years ago or so, on the verge of Earth 2's Apokoliptian War,
Helena Wayne (age about seventeen then?) would have had to be born
when Bruce was what, about
that age, ten
or twelve?! Whatever, maybe we don't have all the pieces yet, or I
missed something. In any case, there is very nice interaction
between Alfred and Jonathan Kent, and continued stellar art.
“War
Torn”
The Wonders get
their asses kicked by Steppenwolf's Terrors, but are mysteriously
left alive as the World Army comes into Dherainian air space – and
wondering why Steppenwolf seems so eager for the attack. Hawkgirl is
captured while tracking Sam's killers and the Apokoliptian
connection. Barda and Mister Miracle are fighting Fury when a
(female) Red Tornado appears to take them all into custody of the
World Army. … That does not do justice to this marvelous
(wondrous?) “elseworlds” take on the Earth 2 heroes, which
continues a steadily driving story toward Robinson's departure, only one more issue hence (I believe) although that's two months from now because of “Villains' Month.”
“Atomic
Knights” / The World of Krypton, Part 5: “Fortitude”
In
the lead story, Superman goes from fighting Straith to fighting
against the rest of Pax
Galactica,
to fighting alongside them all against the Devourer of All Living
Things in the Universe – which is a magical construct built around
the dead heart of the green woman's brother's corpse. He destroys
it, winning the status of ruler
of Pax
G,
who then swear fealty and service to hime. He commands them to “go
home, find another quest”
… far away from Earth! Overall it's a bit of a tongue in cheek
story, but it's actually quite fun. Not a lot to discuss, though.
In the backup, Jor-El refuses to go along with the Colonel's plot and
is about to be killed when he is saved by his old friend …
Commander Zod.
“Bat
and Mouse” / Man-Bat in “Marital Abyss”
Batman
continues maneuvering against Wrath, Bruce Wayne's rival Gotham
millionnaire E. D. Caldwell. By the end, Alfred has been captured by
Caldwell, but not before getting proof that Caldwell is indeed Wrath
preparing for an all-out war. The issue takes place subsequent to
Detective
Comics Annual
#2.
Wow, it turns out
that Francine was a Caldwell Technologies spy on Kurt Langstrom.
Man, DC really do have it in for traditionally happily married
couples, don't they? She was seeking a way to weaponize his formula.
But when she used the modified version (see last issue's revelation)
on herself, she discovered “freedom” in becoming an addicted
mankiller.
“Trinity
War, Chapter Four”
We
continue with the standard team cross-over trope of multiple
recombinations of various groups from the three teams as Superman and
company, including the Question, find Doctor Psycho, but he didn't
make Superman kill Doctor Light. Nevertheless, the truth comes out
regarding the raison
d'etre
of the Justice League of America – to defeat and replace the
Justice League. They confront Waller, whereupon the Secret Society
detonates Doctor Light's body. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and her
companions confront Lex Luthor, to whom Pandora is giving the Box.
Sounds like a great idea to me! Wonder Woman claims the Box just as
Batman and his group appear, along with the Phantom Stranger who dies
at the end.
Moving along....
“Down
the Rabbit Hole”
The
cover copy says it all … well, sort of. Actually, while Helena's
been captured and being tortured, Karen has followed them through the
Boom Tube. DeSaad confronts her and succeeds in extracting something
from Karen's mind – and screwing up her powers. Helena gets loose
– she's the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, after all – joins
the fray, but then DeSaad proclaims that he wants them to “ripen”
some more and casts them back through the Boom Tube. Whereupon Karen
implies that he has destroyed
her powers. Remember, they've been acting wonky from the beginning
of the series though.
Superman
Unchained
#3
“Answered
Prayers” / “Epilogue”
Superman
meets Wraith, is overcome by him, then they talk, along with General
Lane. Wraith (“William Rudolph's Ace In The Hole”) is an alien
who arrived on Earth in 1938 (of course), was taken in by the US
government, and has been serving a secret shadow group within the
government ever since – arranging the world order to their liking.
I guess that explains all the great things that have happened. What
I entertained was not
a mistake in issue #1, the erroneous date for Nagasaki, was indeed
just an egregious historical error because here it is explicitly
explained that what the world believes to have been the second atomic
bomb dropped onto Japan was actually just a bluff to fool the
Japaneese into believing that we had more than the single bomb we
used at Hiroshima. That is actually an interesting plot point,
ruined for me by the incredibly stupid blunder regarding a basic
historical fact. Anyway, Lane accuses Superman of cowardice, that he
is unwilling to get his hands dirty doing what is “necessary.”
Wraith
is the real American hero. Wraith does seem to be an heroic figure, who
tells Superman that they've actually fought side by side – only
Superman never knew Wraith was there. Nevertheless, when an
Ascension terrorist plot in Japan gives them the chance to work
together knowingly, Wraith laments that it's unfortunate he will
ultimately have to kill Superman.
In the lead story's
other plot, Lois is in a plane crashed by Ascension in the Arctic –
but is then saved by a seeming miracle. The epilogue has comatose
Lex in his sentient fighting armor showing up at Jimmy Olsen's pad
wanting to be his pal....
Let's
see: “Straith” in Action
Comics,
“Wrath” in Detective
Comics,
“Wraith” in Superman
Unchained.... Where's "Strath"?
“Match
Time”
Superboy fights a
series of battles which are ultimately discovered to be all in his
head due to the influence of the Psycho Pirate who now has Medusa
snakes floating around his head....
Batman
#23
“Zero
Year – Secret City: Part Three” / Bruce Wayne in “The Pit”
Zero
Year
continues its parallel narrative. Thomas Wayne finds and rescues
young Bruce from his fall into the cave. Red Hood attacks and almost
kills adult Bruce, leaving him for dead in his townhouse, but he
makes his way home where Alfred patches him up. Bruce despairs that
he's losing the war, and hallucinates memories of the fall and his
father's belief that the life of the city runs in the caves. He sees
a bat crawling over a bust of his father, and that becomes his New-52
inspiration. … In other characters' “monologues,” Red Hood
tells the gravely injured Bruce how he was inspired to knowledge of
the meaninglessness of everything by the senseless murder of the
Waynes, and that he hopes his killing their son will likewise bring
some child to that same realization. Also, Alfred conveys his guilt
that he feels he could perhaps have saved the Waynes if he had been
in the surgery (I always figured they had died at the scene), as he
had saved so many others before in battlefield hospitals when a
soldier was supposedly too far gone. So he will always be there for
Bruce.
In
the backup, Bruce is 24. He wins repeated to-the-death pit matches
in which he refuses to kill by defeating his opponents until they
will not go against him – which is contrary to his teacher's
intended lesson that he learn that in war you only win by killing
your opponents so they can't
come back.
“Wanted,
Part One of Three: Manhunt”
“Batgirl”
didn't appear except in a flashback scene on page 1. The overall
plot has Commissioner Gordon hunting for Batgirl, Barbara's new
boyfriend's past coming back, and Babs donning ninja gear to track
and help him. Everything converges toward a tragic climax which as
Gordon shooting Ricky dead before his disguised daughter's eyes.
I'm
tired of this story arc. The reader – or at least the reader of
Suicide
Squad
or keeping more or less current in the wider DC Universe if they're
not reading that title – knows that James Jr. is not dead, and
there's the huge plothole that Barbara Sr. should have some role
here. She has
to know that Babs is Batgirl, right? The only explanation for her
continued silence, letting her daughter hang in the wind as a
fugitive target of her own father's unwitting vendetta, is that she
completely cut herself off from them again and is completely ignorant
that Gordon is pretty much aiming to kill Batgirl. That will have
to be addressed.
“World
Turned Upside Down”
Images of
crucifixions, except for Our Lord, always seem somewhat gratuitous
and vaguely sacrilegious to me. They definitely are charged with
implicit connotations that seem inappropriate in super-hero comic
books. Just my opinion.
Anyway, the
Prankster continues to terrorize Chicago, and Nightwing is running
ragged. Then at the climax even as the Prankster goes for the mayor,
Tony Zucco – whose wife, upon learning his past, shamed him into
taking responsibility for his past – shows up proposing that he and
Nightwing work together. Could this possibly be an attempt to write
a story of redemption? What will be Nightwing's reaction?
“Trinity
War, Part 5 of 6”
[from cover]
Basically,
just a bunch more fighting in a melee centered around the Box, until
they find Madame Xanadu who reveals it's not a box at all but rather
a door
… which the Outsider says is time to open. When The Hero Formerly
Known As Captain Marvel touches it, the pulse of magic affects all
magic wielders, imparting visions of other dimensions and universes,
including the Earth 2 heroes.
Supergirl
#23
“Out
of the Past”
Somehow
the notes I took for this comic and the next (Batman
and Nightwing)
vanished from my iPhone, so this is a quick overview from memory.
Kara fights a bunch of her own nightmares given form, but eventually
is worn down and succumbs to the Cyborg Superman's attack, which
basically disintegrates her alive (yeah, that's
what I want to see in my comics, a young girl's body literally ripped
to shreds as she begs for her life), with her matter used to reform
his pre-Cyborg self – whereupon Zor-El, Kara's father, has a
horrified “Oh, shit!
What have I done?”
moment. Just as Brainiac arrives, apparently chasing him down. The
good news? From dialogue, it seems that the disintegration process
scrubbed the Kryptonite poisoning from Kara's cells, which was itself
slowly killing her. Talk about cure being worse than the disease!
“Acceptance”
This
appears to be the final chapter in the long study of the
ramifications of Damian's death. All other efforts to somehow bring
Damian back having failed, Bruce has been reliving the night of his
death over and over again in virtual reality, trying to find a way he
could have saved him. Alfred has called in Nightwing, his first
partner, to talk him out of the simulation – instead, Dick joins
him, and shows him that he could not have done it alone. But he was
alone, and doomed to fail. Afterward, Alfred enters the VR, and also
saves Damian, by preventing him from having entered the final battle
at all. Bruce finds him weeping, and realizes that his own pain and
guilt is hardly less than Alfred's who also lost a son that night.
They share their pain, and together turn the VR off.
The
only way I could see that ending being any better is if there had
been some indication that, had
Alfred kept Damian back, Bruce and the others
would have all died. As it is, hopefully we can put all this behind
us, although I hope Damian is never forgotten in the storytelling
short of a massive reboot. And unless they are going to go back to
where the pre-New 52 DCU was, I'm tired
of reboots.
“Dreams
That Never Were”
This issue is
mostly dream sequences induced by the nerd girl, keeping the Birds in
a dreamworld where we witness some interesting visions until
Basilisk's ride picks up Black Canary and Condor. Batgirl and Strix
manage to break out of the dreams and fight a bit, but are left
wondering how they're going to rescue their teammates. In the
epilogue, Canary wakes up with her Canary Cry gone – dampened by
the presence of a hitherto presumed dead Kurt Lance in suspended
animation.
Batwoman
#23
“This
Blood is Thick: Veins”
In
two main narratives, 1) Kate takes the Scarecrow's fear toxin to
prove her love for Maggie, and Maggie proves hers by staying with her
through the nightmares, and 2) the rest of the crew kidnap a DEO
agent to find out where Beth is being held. He doesn't tell despite
their torture … until Bette appeals to his ambition. Finally,
Operation Batfrack begins, basically the original plan whereby Bane
wore down the Bat before breaking him.
“Operation
Batfrack” – Greatest.
Name. Ever!
“All
Fall Down”
Yeah,
this title is not clicking for me. I'm likely dropping it. The
story is something about the League of Assassins needing Jason to
save them in battle against the “Untitled.” But Roy's allied
with the Untitled to save Jason from the League of Assassins. And
Kori shows up saying that neither one of them knows what's really
going on. Neither do I, other than some more stuff happens that
looks bad.
Justice League #23
“Trinity War, Chapter Six: Conclusion”
“Trinity War, Chapter Six: Conclusion”
ARRGHH!
I hate it when the conclusion of one event leads directly into
another “event.” So what is an “event”? Just another
incident in the continuing narrative.
Here
we have revealed that Pandora's Box is some kind of artifact from
Earth 3, three being the “number of evil.” See my bit of a rant
last month (link)
regarding the perversion of the idea of “trinity” in the new DC.
A rift was created years ago during the Darkseid … Event … that
allowed two survivors from the destruction of that alternate Earth
through into “our” world – Alfred Pennyworth … and this new
female Atom, who's been playing them all. They set about finding
Pandora's Box to allow the others of the Crime Syndicate (evil
doppelgangers of the Justice League) through, which they here
accomplish, along with activating the Apokoliptian tech ripped from
Cyborg to form some independent machine intelligence. It was Atom
who placed a sliver of Kryptonite in Superman's brain that has been
poisoning him slowly as well as triggered his heat vision to kill
Doctor Light and trigger the Trinity War. And the Crime Syndicate
declares this world theirs.
… Continued in Forever
Evil
#1. ARRGHHH!
And
here I liked this sexy new Atom.
“Death
of a King, Chapter Five: Dead End”
Wait!
What is that? A Geoff Johns chapter with an actual chapter-title?
I ask him now – Was
that really that
hard?
Anyway,
Aquaman and Mera escape Xebel with the Xebelians hot on their …
fins? They return to Atlantis where the Scavenger has been gleefully
devastating the city. Aquaman overtaxes his telepathy unleashing the
new Lovecraftian Cthulhu-like Topo on the Scavenger's submarines,
then loses consciousness, bleeding from his nose, ears, and eyes just
as the Xebelians and the First King arrive....
…
only
to wake up six months later, being cared for by Vulko somewhere on
the surface, shirtless and with a beard. Oh
no you'd better not,
Geoff Johns!
In
a side story, Tula and her team basically stand around outside Belle
Reve prison not doing anything until they get word that the Scavenger
is attacking Atlantis.
“Psi
War, Part One”
Man,
can that Kenneth Rocafort draw sexy babes, or what? And he renders
the new “Kryptonian Armor” Superman costume in a manner that even
I
like it! Get him back on interiors, DC! (And to think I used to
dislike his art....)
This
issue is presented by a mysterious narrator who affects an almost
tongue-in-cheek air, and who is ultimately revealed to be the same
Psycho Pirate as appeared on the last page of Superboy,
vide supra.
The bulk of the issue recounts the conflict between the HIVE Queen
and Superman until Hector Hammond shows up – sort of – and takes
her on until he himself is overcome apparently by the Psycho Pirate
who inflicts a sort of cranial deflation on him.
A
side scene checks in with Lois, who is now lying comatose in the
hospital under the vigil of Jon Carroll (whose name Psycho Pirate
apparently can't spell). Then Lois starts awake seeming to realize
that Superman is in trouble.
Anthology
This
one-shot comprises several short stories about various members of
Batman, Incorporated. I'm not going to detail them. The best one
for me is The Knight
in “Without You,”
in which the Squire works her way through her grief, day by day, to
determination to take on the identity of the Knight. Especially if
they don't follow up with some kind of continued presence of Beryl
Hutchinson in the future, though, I'll consider this special issue
just a way to wring a bit more money out of Grant Morrison's
seven-year Batman
magnum opus. They do
give Morrison a page for a good text feature giving his thoughts
about the saga overall, which is worth reading although it should
have been longer.
“True
Strength”
As
often, there are two parallel stories: 1) Calvin and Anya's team
escape Bane and Santa Prisca with news of his planned invasion, and
2) Casey escapes to the roof of GCPD headquarters to trigger the Bat
Signal, but is found and beaten by the Butcher before Batman arrives
and saves her – or does he? She is in bad shape as she pleads with
him to work with Calvin Rose to save Sarah. At the end, Calvin tries
to contact Casey, only to get Batman who tells her that Casey
probably won't make it. In the epilogue, the Outsider (who we now
know to be Earth-3 Alfred) offers Bane membership in the Secret
Society – and he dumps Sebastian Clark.
“Rampant”
Batman
deploys and finally perfects a new way to capture and hold Clayface,
and the issue ends with the villain back in Arkham. Along the way,
however, the question of how Clayface knew of Batman's relationship
with Natalya leads Batman to the mastermind of Clayface's current
very atypical crime spree, the Penguin. Overall, I found this issue
quite a bit harder to follow than previous, maybe a result of
Maleev's very atmospheric but perhaps confusing art.
Teen
Titans #23
“Hello,
I Must Be Going!”
The
first few pages have the Titans thwart an effort by someone in the
late 31st
century dragging Bart through a time portal – and introducing
themselves along the way. Reminds me of the Power Rangers. Or Zan
and Jayna. The rest of the issue is mainly character moments
culminating in Miguel and Garfield leaving to go to Miguel's home
where his boyfriend has come out of a coma. There is a nice passage
where Tim tells Raven why each team member is there, then shows his
own bad judgment of character in saying she should be team leader
should anything happen to him – we know she's a mole for her
demonic father!
DIGITAL
Smallville Season 11 #63-66
“Hollow,
Part 4 of 4"In the end, Tess holds back from exacting justice-in-kind on the attackers at STAR Labs, or on Lex, although in the latter case she comes close to killing him the way he killed her body in the finale to Season 10 on TV. Emil turns out to have survived being essentially gut shot, and in fact is up and about seemingly within a couple of days, and Tess tells him of her choice to be as human as possible given her virtual disembodied state of existence. Lex suspects that there's more to the robot construct that almost killed him than meets the eye as he and Otis analyse scans of the ship from the STAR Labs raid and conclude it is from the alternate "Earth 2."
The introduction of Wonder Woman to the Smallville mythos continues as Ares is incarnate via the machinations of Felix Faust! This is a better story arc than this terse summary would indicate, but it's very late and I'm just about petered out for the day.
Reviews
to be added
* * *
Overall,
a typically mixed bag. I didn't pick up Batwing
for this month, and frankly I'm just not interested enough since I'm
now having to wait two months for the dollar drop. I'd just as soon
wait for the collection. Warning in advance – next month's
write-up may well have a rant on how DC seems to be wanting to drive
me away entirely. I'm seriously thinking about curtailing my
purchases from them severely. Were it not for inertia compounded by
the pre-order lead time that means if I stop something now I've still
got several issues coming, I may have already done so, especially
given the flip side to that being that if I want to pick something up
there's the same lag before I actually receive something I pre-order.
It makes changing course harder than the Titanic
bearing down on the iceberg.
Thanks
for reading.
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