Comic Book Case

Batman #26 (So is Batman going to do anything here?)

Joker continues to kill people looking for a laugh while Riddler recovers courtesy of a black market surgeon. Riddler later sends a message to Joker that the news reports which forces Joker to call Carmine Falcone and telling him to kill Riddler within the hour. The attempt fails as Riddler is with Poison Ivy who kills the men sent to do it. Joker shows up at Falcone's place and kills more of his men and wounds Falcone, showing him the teeth of his mother that Joker took out before/after he killed her. The comic ends with us seeing images of Riddler and Joker with their respective teams with Riddler having people like Deathstroke, Clayface, Scarecrow, and Zsaz while Joker has people like Freeze, Deadshot, Mad Hatter, and Man Bat and with Bruce in his room with Selina Kyle telling her that despite what everyone calls him (Dark Knight, World's Greatest Detective) all he could do was find the names of the dead.

This story is promising to be interesting as it is essentially a huge gang war in Gotham. At the same time though it seems weird that we don't know exactly what Batman is doing here. We see that he is in the story as he is the one giving out the names of everyone that is killed and we do see him trying to save Falcone's men from Poison Ivy. It does feel like this is all before the Asylum is built/re-opened and that makes me wonder if this is what leads to that. Is the point of the Asylum just to keep all these criminals from being able to effectively work together like this again? 

Green Lanterns #26 (You were my brother Volthoom, I loved you!)

So there isn't much to this story that is actually worth going full in on a review for so we are just going to talk about what happened and what this issue is about. It is the story of Rami and Volthoom's friendship and how they ended up where they are and how it ties to the creation of the Green Lanterns. The whole time Volthoom was with the Guardians being studied, Rami was mostly in the background, being a bit of a rebel even then with the likes of Krona who had already left possibly. Volthoom and Rami sort of bond on and off between those experiments as the Guardians also being to shrink, the loss of their emotions seeming to have an affect on their bodies. Rami and Volthoom being their won experiments to not only get Volthoom home but to understand his ring and lantern. It was Rami's idea, though reluctant to fuse the lantern with Volthoom and it seemed to work or at least enable him to tap into the full emotional spectrum. The big reveal that ultimately destroys Volthoom is the affect this has on him and when Rami reveals that he had used the lantern to find Volthoom's home world to find that it was Volthoom who destroyed the planet, implying that in his attempt to go back and save his mother and planet, in his crazed state he will be the cause. This causes Volthoom to go mad with power and betrayal and it forces Rami to send the first Green Rings out to recruit the first Green Lanterns to stop him.

These are all good and fun ideas for this book. Rami and Volthoom sort of mirror Anakin and Obi-Wan in their relationship with Rami being the only person Volthoom feels he can trust. Volthoom has let the power of the Lantern mess with is head and corrupt him and all Rami can do is watch. It is also interesting to see what kind of impact that has had on Ganthet, while he isn't a big player in this it is clear that Ganthet has been affected by the events of Krona and Rami. Ganthet seems to be the least radical of them. This also makes Rami and Volthoom's current state interesting as Volthoom is using Rami like a tool to get what he wants the same way he feels Rami treated him.

Detective Comics #959 (Don't be Necromancy)

With a little help from Zatanna using her magic to put Bruce in his Batsuit, they engage Ascalon with the help of Batwoman, Batwing, Clayface, and Orphan but they are only able to buy time as the Ascelon's target is killed anyway. While they are recuperating at the Belfry, Luke and Kate head to Luke's lab so they can look at the schematics for Ascelon where they find out that the hardware in Ascelon that he was able to scan is super advanced self improving program. Where Azrael's relies on one person, Ascalon is like a whole city of people focused on one topic. Meanwhile Batman talks to Zatanna and he mentions something about finishing some of his magic training and says he needs a way to get answers to which Zatnna is shocked to find out he remembers. She says that she won't do it and that it was a mistake that they even talked about it back then to which Batman shows a hologram of Tim Drake and saying that he's already lost enough and that he won't let it happen again. The comic ends with Jean Paul meditating, the conflict with Ascalon still on his mind. As he focuses on not becoming Azrael, he sees Azrael in the top corner of the room.

I love a story that spreads it's groups up doing a lot of something. Clayface and Orphan are hanging out with Doctor October as she works on Nozom and Clayface asks if she can take a look at him. Luke and Kate have shown to be closer to friends as Kate takes an interest in what Luke does and it seems the Ascalon thing is helping the two of them bond. The real dynamic here is Batman and Zatanna; in DC, Zatanna and Bruce have always been a sort of "could have been" romantic story. Bare minimum they are good friends and this has something that even went back into the Justice League cartoon and even in the Batman Animated series and even the Justice League Dark movie. From the moment Rhas awoke Bruce's memory using Zatanna's magic we knew she would be showing up but exactly what happened was a mystery. Zatanna seems surprised that he does remember so the question is, what did they talk about? Zatanna says she shouldn't have told him it seems to be connected to Tim's death, could Bruce be trying to bring Tim back from the dead or is it something else? It is interesting that Bruce is contemplating necromancy as it was Tim who advised Bruce not to try that with Damian in Batman and Robin.

Superman #26 (Maybe we're both wrong)

Clark is having trouble getting Jon to listen when they are on the job, often not seeing the bigger picture. Remembering when his own father, Pa Kent taught him how to do things the "right" way and putting him in charge of the farm for the day, he lets Jon be Superman for the day and take point. Things get a bit hairy but with help from Clark the two defeat Dreadnaught and Psi-Phon. The two later have a talk about how they were both wrong. Jon was wrong for not listening to his dad and only doing what he wants and Clark was wrong for not accepting that Jon has his own way of doing things; the two of them walk into the sunset after a job well done.

This was a nice little fun issue with a lot of heart. The story of Clark and Jon with the memory of Clark and Johnathan Kent in the background show us how Clark really wants to approach fatherhood. Clark thought that doing things his way was the best route to go when it came to working on the farm and when he used his powers he destroyed a good amount of wheat. The idea that Clark and his own father didn't listen led to Clark feeling he had let his father down and Johnathan feeling he had only succeeded in hurting his son and his crop. The two learn to work with each other better and despite Clark knowing this he accidentally makes the same mistake his father did and fortunately with the same result.

Wonder Woman #25 (WOOOO!)

Things aren't doing so great for Diana, not only is she unable to return home but Barbara Ann is till Cheetah, Etta Candy isn't talking to her, and Diana does not have her lasso, her Golden Prefect. Noticing that not only is it missing but that Diana has been rather angry lately, Batman and Superman talk to her and she tells them the truth about it, that the lasso served it's purpose but also that her Patrons have made it so she cannot return home. They both suggest that she goes to talk to the Patrons to which she has been hesitant to do and she goes to find them. Diana tells them that she deserves answers for why she can never return home to which there is no response so much as she is taken to a small island where a blind woman talks to her. The woman says that she (Diana) got what she wanted, she got to travel the world, she has helped and inspired people and despite what the gods have taken from her, that truth will never be taken. Diana looks into the nearby lake and sees that the reflection of the old woman reveals Athena and that at her waist is her lasso. Diana then goes to see Steve, he and his friends have made a house for her and Steve prepared a rather romantic dinner though it goes unnoticed as Diana is more interested in the bedroom and takes Steve with her. The comic ends with what can only be a post coitus Steve and Diana.

This was a rather fun little post-post story with everything wrapped in a neat little bow. There is still much Diana has to uncover about herself (soon the mystery of her brother Jason), and the matter of Cheetah, Doctor Cale, and her friendship with Etta Candy. Despite all of that, things are looking relatively positive, not only did she still find out some things about her past, she helped Izzie, stopped Phobos and Deimos from releasing Ares, got her lasso back, and had some sweet loving time with Steve. Rucka has ended his run with enough solved to complete a story yet still left room for other writers to tinker around with.