Justice League #13 - "I don't BELIEVE in Humanity! People are Animals! Animals that fool themselves into thinking that they're something more."
The Justice League is going through some growing pains and it's Wonder Woman versus The Cheetah in her first New 52 appearance this month! Cheetah, it turns out, is an old friend of Diana's named Barbara who used to work with her and Steve Trevor categorizing potentially dangerous mystic items that were brought back from the field. Next thing you know, Barbara's pricked her finger on a magic dagger and become possessed by the goddess of the hunt, the Cheetah!
This comes at a time while the team is still dealing with the potential relationship brewing between Superman and Wonder Woman, the resignation and subsequent disappearance of Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan, internal power struggles as Batman and Aquaman debate who should lead the team, and Cyborg's sad lack of a social life and struggle to accept his new life as mostly-a-robot. Flash, however, is doing fine. He's cool, thanks...thanks for asking!
"Death of a Family" continues to taunt both us and Gotham City, plus Wonder Woman, Supergirl and more after the JUMP!
Catwoman #13 - "I see faces in the flame and smoke, the face of every doomed kid I'd ever bunked with. It's a memory that burns."
In this month's OTHER prologue to "Death of the Family" we see Catwoman being baited and manipulated by a mysterious shadowy figure. Although Selina remains clueless, as the reader we can be pretty sure who's behind this. Even if he chooses, in THIS book at least, to remain a FACELESS presence.
Yes, of course I mean the Joker! There are rampant hints throughout the background of this book, many so obvious that I have a hard time believing that Selina hasn't put two-and-two together! It all starts as a stuffed kitten toy floats by Selina's head tied to a shiny heart-shaped balloon. Selina recognizes the toy as one that belonged to her best friend Lola, killed a while back in a big explosion! Things get stranger as the issue progresses and Selina is offered a job cheating at a life-sized, high-stakes chess game being played throughout the city. Bizarre. Careful, Catwoman...I think you may be the pawn!
Supergirl #13 - "I...I remember now...My last days on Krypton!"
Before the Zero Issue, you may recall that Supergirl was lured under the Atlantic Ocean only to find a strange Kryptonian structure and her old nemesis, Simon Tycho, the man who held her captive as soon as she awoke on Earth and whom Supergirl believed she killed after their first meeting! Of course, we knew he survived by having half his body grafted onto that of a strange brainless alien jellyfish man! Gross.
Anyway, Tycho's lured Kara to this underwater structure that, it turns out, grew from part of her space pod! This is automatically a stupid thing to do, as the pod RECOGNIZES Kara and responds to her commands. Tycho is NOT that smart, for a ultra-rich businessman villain. He doesn't even realize that his first and last names should start with the same letter! Geesh.
So bottom line...Supergirl's got her OWN Fortress of Solitude type place. It's at the bottom of the ocean and it calls itself "Sanctuary". All she needs to do now is take out the TRASH!!
Wonder Woman #13 - "Who did that? The Last Amazon. Diana of Themyscira...Wonder Woman."
Wonder Woman is trying to fulfil her promise to her friend Zola and save the girl's baby, her half-sister and a child of Zeus, who was taken back in issue #12. Unfortunately, Hermes is no longer with Diana and her friends to tell them where to look. Instead, Diana chooses to go and find yet another divine half-sister, Sirraca, the WIND...Only problem is, the Wind doesn't TRUST Diana.
Meanwhile, the full-blooded children of Zeus (actual gods, as opposed to demi-gods) are gathering on Mount Olympus, now under Apollo's control, to discuss what to do about Diana and the changing status quo. They're worried about a prophecy of upcoming war and death. Athena refuses to join them, leaving the entire proceeding to commence "without Justice". That sounds bad...
Nightwing #13 - "The streets of Gotham City are quiet. Quiet as the grave."
With The Joker back in town, Nightwing is expecting a busy night in Gotham...seems that all the other criminals tend to use him as an excuse to wreak havoc. Instead, however, he finds that the place is dead! A quick visit to The Penguin to dig up dirt reveals the reason why...Lady Shiva is coming to town! We saw her in the Zero issue where she easily beat up both Batman and Dick's Robin...now she's in Gotham...and those in the know are hiding their heads!
In other news, progress continues on Dick's rejuvenation of Amusement Mile...Sonia Branch makes another appearance along with her assistant, Melody Martin. I don't remember seeing the assistant before and have to wonder if she's actually Lady Shiva (she's got the right alliteration!). Penguin said that the Lady was young, about Dick's age....
Oh, we also get a cameo by a VERY PISSED OFF Batgirl who accuses Dick of being unreliable and storms off looking for the Joker to punch his stupid face in! Grrrr! More on that in Batgirl #14, I guess...
Red Hood and the Outlaws #13 - "I am here to tell you--pain and suffering is easy...You want to experience something unique? Try life. Hope. Love."
Starfire is still firmly at the forefront this month as we wrap up the "space odyssey" story-line we've been on for the past few months! It's the final battle against the Blight with the fate of the planet Tamaran hanging in the balance! Incredibly powerful alien beings battle throughout space and planetside! Stuck in the middle of this? Red Hood with his twin pistols and Arsenal with his BOW AND ARROW.
So what are a couple of humans and their hot alien princess friend to do? The same thing the Outlaws ALWAYS do. Improvise....
We also get a little teaser...sort of a "meanwhile, back on Earth" kinda deal. The sort of teaser that involves a certain Clown Prince of Crime! "Death of a Family" strikes again!!
Birds of Prey #13 - "Konichiwa, Bitches."
The Birds of Prey head to Japan this month to tangle with the Dagger Clan! Although the Birds are still feeling the effects of being poisoned by their former teammate, Poison Ivy, they manage to get back on their feet to help Katana, who's sword was stolen by the aforementioned Dagger Clan and taken to Japan. Of course, the bad guys KNEW Katana would follow them to attempt to retrieve the sword that she believes houses the soul of her dead husband! In other words, it's a TRAP!!
Not only that, but the issue opens with some random dude planting a bomb, and a caption that states "24 hours until detonation." We don't know where the bomb is or what will happen when it goes off, but it continues to count down throughout the book. At the end of the book, there are still 12 hours until detonation...next month? Ka-Boom???
Before Watchmen: Minutemen #4 (of 6) - "People have an amazing ability to cope with the madness of life. It's called Denial."
The slippery slope of Idealism falls into the gutter this issue, as what's left of the Minutemen deal with the outing and subsequent murder of the Silhouette! Some dude calling himself the Liquidator found out she was a lesbian and killed her for it. Charming. Of course he pays dearly for his crime, shockingly at the hands of a vengeful Sally Jupiter! The Original Silk Spectre steps up her game and proves she DOES have a redeeming quality or two, after all!
We also get a lot of great characterization of Mothman, the Original Nite Owl, the Comedian and more through their reactions to their former teammates' death, not to mention WWII. Nazis, lesbians, hate crimes and a book of children's poetry! Madness....
ANNNNDDD...that's it for another week! Oh wait...wanna see what's under the gatefold for Catwoman #13? Of course you do. Here ya go:
Stay Tuned next week as we look at new issues of Batman Incorporated, The Flash, Superman, Teen Titans and MORE! Buy 'em all tomorrow!
Also, go read Stryder's Dementia as I try to figure out what's important in this life, despite having a silly little monkey brain...
Have a great week! Peace!
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