Despite being rather busy roasting chestnuts and hanging stockings and whatnot, I STILL managed to read a bunch of comic books this week! It's all about prioritizing, right? In any case, Santa may be coming to town tonight, but the Joker and H'El are both already here...
Supergirl #15 - "His voice is so cold, like the deepest, darkest corner of space. But his words...If he can really save Krypton...I have no choice but to follow."
"H'El on Earth" continues as Supergirl agrees to help H'El with his plan to somehow go back in time before Krypton was destroyed and save the planet! This, despite the fact that she knows almost nothing about H'El or his alleged plan. Well, Kara hasn't shown very much capacity for calmly and rationally thinking out her decisions and coming to the smartest conclusion in the past, and this is no exception!
H'El takes Kara to the Fortress of Solitude (he "liberated" it from Superman and his guest/patient Superboy in last week's Superboy #15) and, with a touch, simlutaneously shrinks her and teleports her INTO the "Bottle City of Kandor"! This is the saved Kryptonian city that Brainiac had on his spaceship. All of it's inhabitants are in stasis and it's guarded by robots, but that shouldn't stop Kara and H'El's astral projection from retrieving a special quantam crystal power source! Kara is reluctant to remove this crystal, which the city needs, but H'El convinces her that it's all good due to the paradox of time travel. Yeah, right...
Oh, incidentally, Superman and Superboy are still hanging around in the snow outside the Fortress of Solitude while this is going on, unable to gain entry...crazy! Maybe they should try going down the chimney!
See what's happening in Gotham City and elsewhere, after the JUMP!
Nightwing #15 - "NO BODY LIKES A KNOCKOFF"
"Death of the Family" is hitting Dick Grayson where he lives, as the Joker decides it's time to teach Batman's first little bird-boy his proper place in the big scheme of things! The big mystery these days is whether or not the Joker knows the secret identities of the Bat-Family. He claims he does, and his plan seems to prove it! For rather than targeting Nightwing directly, Joker is targeting what's closest to Dick's heart these days...Haly's Circus!!
Or maybe it's just a co-incidence, the Joker DOESN'T know that Dick Grayson is Nightwing, and he just killed Jimmy the Clown because, hey, no-one bites Joker's style!
On the other hand, Joker has also broken Dick's first love and would-be assassin, the little red-headed girl named Raya, out of Blackgate Prison! That certainly points to Joker knowing the TRUTH about Nightwing (and everyone else's) identities! Even if Batman is still in denial....
Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 - "Damn you, Bruce. You were either wrong--or you lied. Now an innocent woman is paying the price."
Jason "Red Hood" Todd is NOT smiling when he hops out of new girlfriend Isabel's shower only to find her lying on the floor dying of an overdose while a G.C.P.D. SWAT team is breaking down the door! And here I thought that the Joker wanted everyone to put on a HAPPY face!
If Jason didn't want to have to deal with "Death of the Family" he sure picked a bad time to spend the night in Gotham...he's far too predictable and manages to get himself kidnapped and paralyzed by the Clown Prince almost immediately...and that's when the REAL fun begins! Remember in Red Hood #0 how the Joker took credit for "creating" Jason? Now he's more-or-less revealing all the facts to the former Boy Wonder...and how will Mr. Todd deal with the fact that his most hated enemy, the man who literally KILLED him, may also be the man responsible for making him the "Outlaw" he is today???
Oh and what of Starfire and Arsenal? They just intercepted a phone call for Jason from Sgt. Harvey Bullock! Now they're on their way to Gotham to provide an assist! Rather than finding Red Hood, though, they run smack dab into...the Teen Titans!!!
Green Lantern #15 - "I'm going to shoot you. I'm going to shoot you dead and then they're going to call me a hero."
So Simon Baz, who's gotten a Green Lantern ring (the malfunctioning, merged ring(s) of Hal Jordan and Sinestro) but has no clue how to use it, is still trying to prove that he's not a terroist and had no intention of blowing up anything. He just had the bad luck to steal a van with a bomb in it! To do this, he's travelled to the van owner's house. He is under the impression that before he stole the van, someone else stole it, stuck a bomb in it and then parked it under the bridge where HE stole it.
He's not too bright, as he never even CONSIDERED that maybe the dude who owned the van was the same dude who built the bomb! No problem though, because he's a Green Lantern now, right? If only he actually had a LANTERN instead of just the ring...or even KNEW that his ring needed to be charged!
Oh, in other, much more dire circumstances, the entire population of a planet in Sector 2820 has been transformed into mindless extensions of the mad Guardians' will by the Third Army!! Isn't anyone going to do anything about this?
Also, we get another page of what's happening with Hal Jordan and Sinestro. This month, the mysterious hooded figure they are following through an unknown land breaks the bad news to them...they're DEAD...
Birds of Prey #15 - "If you believe that his soul is bonded to the steel, and the steel is smelted...then what of your husband's soul?"
The Birds of Prey are still in Japan where, with help from new ally Condor, they have to free Katana from the cluthces of the suicide cult known as the Daggers! It gets worse as they discover that not only do they need to free Katana, but they have to stop the Daggers from destroying Yokohama with a dirty bomb planted somewhere in the sewers!! Does anyone else think that this may call for a super-epic ninja battle! Well guess what...you're in luck!!
This issue marks some changes for the team...win or lose, Katana has decided that she is needed in her homeland and is leaving the team! Batgirl already has a replacement in mind, but will Starling and Black Canary be on board??
Wonder Woman #15 - "Things I make, I'm never done with. I try to make them better...in case things get worse."
Diana and Lennox head off to consult yet another sibling of theirs, a brother this time, on the advice of their sister from last issue. This brother, named Milan, is a homeless guy living in the tunnels under New York. He seems to have oracle-like abilities but isn't too keen on using them! Not only that, but Wonder Woman isn't the only one petitioning his help! He's also been approached by Orion!
Interestingly, while searching for Milan, Wonder Woman has a secret visit from her uncle Hephaestus, the smith who forged her bracelets and armour. For reasons of his own, he gives her an upgrade! She may need it!
Catwoman #15 - "Girl, I'm going to fall in love tonight. It's a full moon."
Catwoman is acting particularly wild and reckless this issue, dealing with the emotional fall-out of her confrontation with the Joker last issue. As such, she accepts a job that she might not normally take. She agrees to break into A.R.G.U.S...specifically to steal whatever is kept in the safe in the Black Room! A.R.G.U.S. is an advanced research facility in Washington, D.C. and the Black Room is where they keep all of their supernatural oddities. For example, the dagger that created Cheetah over in Justice League was stored inthe Black Room! It's bad news FOR SURE.
Of course that's not going to stop Selina Kyle! She's the Catwoman! Not only that, but she does fall in love...with something called the Black Diamond! It's not really a jewel...in fact it may be a shard of Hell!
Before Watchmen: Moloch #2 (of 2): - "We are doing great things here, Edgar. Amazing things."
In this second comic about the most prominent "super-villain" of the Watchmen universe, we learn more about Moloch aka Edgar Jacobi's life AFTER he reformed. He's served his time and given up his criminal ways...he's even been offered a job, by Adrian "Oxymandius" Veidt!!
Of course, this proves to be a mixed blessing at best, as his health, while working for Mr.Veidt, starts to deteriorate fairly rapidly...strangely, this happens at the same time as Dr. Manhattan's ex-girlfriend Janey Slater (whom Adrian Veidt is also "helping") starts developing problematic and chronic breathing problems...
So I have to admit that I originally thought that this two-parter about Moloch was pretty unnecessary. However, I found that this issue was rather poignant and filled in some gaps in the original Watchmen quite nicely! I quite enjoyed it!
Wow so that's it for another week in the DCU! But before we go, perhaps you are wondering what lies beneath the Joker's face on the latest gatefold covers above? I gotchya covered...
Oh former Robins...will you never learn??
New Comic Book day this week is a little light, what with it falling on Boxing Day, but there ARE new books shipping. I'm getting Aquaman, Justice League and another Before Watchmen title!
For Marvel fans, Amazing Spider-Man #700 will also be released! I'm no Marvel Zombie, but it's sort-of a big deal...
Oh, I survived the end of the world over at Stryder's Dementia! Here's hoping this New Age will be even better than the last...
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and all that good stuff! See ya once more this year? Or perhaps NEXT YEAR...Next Week! Peace and Love ya'll...
One correction to make, Hephaestus is not Wonder Woman's uncle. He's her half-brother (and cousin at least). But otherwise, good reviews.
ReplyDeleteD'Oh! You're right of course...I thought he was Zeus' brother but nope...he's yet ANOTHER Wonder Sibling :D As an only child, it boggles my mind..
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