Superman #17 - "I am tired of you invoking the dead of Krypton!"
"H'El on Earth" concludes here as Superman and H'El do battle to decide the fate of two worlds!! In Superman's corner are Superboy and the Justice League. H'El has Supergirl on his side...or does he? After the events of Supergirl #17, perhaps not...
Also, the mysterious cosmic entity known as the Oracle reaches Earth to communicate his wordless message to the Man of Steel. But what could it possibly mean? Is the Earth really...doomed?? This part of the story definitely raises a lot of questions!
Well, some questions are answered by the end of the issue, but many more will have to wait for another day...for whatever the future may hold, it definitely looks like a job for Superman.
Of course that's not all! Take a look at Detective Comics, Green Arrow and more after the JUMP!
Detective Comics #18 - "Another psychotic killer on the loose. Which means there will be more senseless deaths. Something there's been far too many of already."
In the first of what I'm sure will be many issues tagged with the "Requiem" logo and dealing with the fall-out of Batman, Inc #8, the Dark Knight tries to bury his head in his work and thus prevent himself from, you know, feeling anything. Well, if that's your strategy, there's always lots of work for Batman in Gotham City....The Penguin has begun his campaign to reclaim his criminal empire from upstart Ogilvy, the so-called "Emperor Penguin". Not only that, but while Joker was running Arkham, he let one of the most blood-thirsty inmates of all loose on the streets! That inmate? Creepy skin-carving serial killer Victor Zsasz!!
Detective Comics continues to impress! I really love the new-ish creative team of Layman and Fabok...they're trying hard to make this a really great title every month, even though it's been sometimes difficult with all the cross-overs and events happening in the OTHER Bat-books...Kudos to them for pulling it off!
Before Watchmen: Rorschach #4 (of4) - "Why are they doing this? I mean, it's just a blackout..."
Rorschach's story wraps up painfully this month as we rejoin our hero getting the snot beat out of him by a fellow named Lucky P while crime boss Rawhead dances and sings in celebration of what appears to be Rorschach's certain demise. What a jerk! Oh, also, it's the big blackout of '77 and the whole city is going to hell in a hand-basket as looters run rampant throughout! Not the safest place for the pretty blond waitress who's been waiting on Rorschach (well, his alter ego of Walter Kovacs) to pick her up after work...they had a date, if you recall. Unfortunately, there's also a serial killer loose in the city, carving up pretty blond girls just like the friendly waitress...a killer whom Rorschach has been trying to stop, but so far to no avail...
Sort of a bitter-sweet conclusion to this mini-series. It does make a lot of sense for Rorschach though. Only two more Before Watchmen titles and it's all wrapped up!
Green Arrow #18 - "I want Green Arrow's location within the hour or my daughter starts cutting off your fingers."
It's amazing what a difference a new creative team and a couple of issues can make to a title...Green Arrow has gone from flirting with my drop-list to being one of the best comics of the month, all in just two issues! I blame Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. The work they are doing is intriguing, art and story are both great and unique and for the first time that I can recall, I actually CARE about what's going to happen to Oliver Queen!
Speaking of which, Queen's been framed for the murder of the CEO of his father's company and is on the run, without friends, without fortune, and with only about 12 arrows left! He's also being stalked by an opposing archer (and the TRUE killer), a man calling himself Komodo. Oh, and then there's Magus...a mystery man with no eyes who seems to want to help, but also seems intent on being as obtuse as possible. For Green Arrow, it's hard to know just who to trust...
Earth 2 #10 - "I'll state what must be obvious to anyone who's seen things unfold the way they have...Magic is Real."
A sorcerer calling himself Karel Wotan has kidnapped Khalid Ben-Hassan, the Flash and the Flash's MOM, Mrs. Garrick and transported them to the mystical Realm of Nabu to retireve the Helmet of Fate...a magical helmet which contains all of the magical power of Nabu aka Doctor Fate! Although Nabu has passed on, his power remains...seems it was bonded to the aforementioned Khalid in Egypt at the same time as Hawkgirl gained her wings, although Khalid wants nothing to do with it and banished the helmet to this realm.
Well, the evil sorcerer won't take no for an answer...he wants to helmet for himself! Khalid is the only one who can retrieve it from this realm, although since the Flash of Earth 2 is also a magical being, he is apparently allowed to help. His mom? Hostage. Pure and Simple.
Also in this issue, Green Lantern is investigating the train wreck that killed his fiance and nearly killed him. It was no accident. To this end, he is forced to look for help from Hawkgirl! Even though he told her off a few issues back and she pretty much hates his guts at this point...
Worlds' Finest #10 - "Is everyone I ever care about going to be taken from me? Can I ever let my guard down again?"
Huntress and Power Girl are both looking for a little retribution from Holt Industries after Power Girl's private island was invaded and robbed and Huntress was injured by armoured invaders working for Holt last issue. Each has their own methods of retaliation of course...Power Girl's is to cause massive amounts of property damage and try not to kill anyone in the process, while Huntress uses a more subtle approach, choosing a little espionage to get the job done, perhaps learning a little more about the mysteriously vanished Michael "Mr. Terrific" Holt.
Unfortunately, Huntress doesn't entirely finish her mission as while she is working, she gets some really terrible news. Power Girl is forced to explain to Helena that her "not-brother" Damian "Robin" Wayne didn't show up for his planned rendezvous...what could THAT mean?
The Phantom Stranger #6 - "The city radiates greed, desperation, self-indulgence, uncaged carnal desire. And something else: A deep and terrible sorrow."
The Phantom Stranger is in Las Vegas, baby! You can bet he's not there to check out the Celine Dion stage show...he's on the trail of his kidnapped family (well, the kidnapped family of Phillip Stark - the man who the Stranger sometimes becomes, somehow)! He believes that there is a trail here that he can find...but instead he finds a high-stakes poker game being played by the three demonic sons of Lord Trigon...and housed by Lady Luck herself!
Could these demon-siblings of the Stranger's earlier victim, Raven, know who kidnapped his family? Could it have been Raven herself, out for revenge? Or could the answers our hero seeks be even (pardon the pun) Stranger?
Green Lantern #18 - "That's right. I was looking for you. You're Hal Jordan!"
Well, Simon Baz has had an interesting run so far as a Green Lantern...right up until he got zapped by the Black Hand's ring and "killed"! At least, he's been transported to the "Dead Zone"...the same phantom realm of existence that currently entraps both Sinestro and Hal Jordan!!
The difference? Simon still has a RING! Or as Sinestro sees it...HIS ring. Hal's not too sure about that one...however, the ring represents the only chance of rescue from this place of death...certainly something Sinestro and Jordan have competing interests in! The two old enemies have shown that they are capable of working together. However, are they willing??
Well, that's it for me this week! Still waiting for Grant Morrison's final issue of Action Comics. Seems it's been bumped and won't come out until a week tomorrow (at the earliest)! Have no fear though, as in the meantime, we'll be entertained with the "Requiem" issues of Batman, Batman and Robin and Batgirl, as well as the final issue of Ozymandias and more! All of which is coming to your local comic book store TOMORROW!
In the meantime, check out last week's Vacation Checklist at Stryder's Dementia and see what I do when presented with unlimited free time!
OK folks, hope everyone has a great week! Peace!
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