Comic Book Case

Justice League #4 (When it rains it pours)

Jessica and Simon decide to split the work in space with Jessica dealing with the threats leaving the planet and Simon dealing with the ones sending them. Meanwhile Cyborg is trying to figure out what the bug surrounding him are doing as they attempt to rewrite his code and his DNA as he tires to change their coding himself. He finds out what the plan is It turns out that the devices underground are a fail safe in case the initial plan fails The Purging apparently plans to do something to the humans or at least humanoids, making them NOT-Human. Meanwhile the Kindred talk about how they may be able to finally sing their song because the "Powered" (Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, etc.) are holding off the purge. Superman meanwhile is trying to destroy the spheres before they destroy the planet nad ultimately has to push them into the Earth's inner core. Flash himself later gets sucked into the Kindred after he loses his speed again after passing them and ends up with Wonder Woman who has been trying to get information from them. Cyborg is able to hear Flash's cries faintly but before he can do anything he seizes up  and n space, we see that Simon  has found that the beings on the planet look like Cyborg.

This issue was a bit hard to grasp from a review standpoint as it has a lot happening but not a LOT happening as it's just the league trying to gain some ground. It's hard to tell if they do and I would argue they don't. Aquaman still has no idea where the sound he's hearing is coming from and they'e just lost Flash and Cyborg in addition to Wonder Woman while Superman is trying to deal with the spheres. This means that only Batman is on Earth to deal with the problem with Aquaman. The stakes here are real and I love it. We still don't know what the Kindred are but I wonder what Wonder Woman and Flash are going to do cause that looks too awesome to me.

Superman #6 (HE MADE IT!)

Superman, now charged with the power of Krypton's lost souls, brings the fight with the Eradicator to an end, even saving Krypto at the same time. The fight is once again more clashes of ideals as Superman resolves that to him, Krypton lives on not just in him, but in his family; namely Jon. At the end, Superman tells Jon that there is still much more they have to do in regards to helping him learn to use his powers and to make the "S" he wears something that his just his own. He later introduces him as Superboy to Batman and Wonder Woman.

I have to say I liked this issue and I enjoy it more reading it all the way through. It's a fun adventure that if you didn't read Superman: Lois and Clark, takes the time to really get you to like this new family and how they interact with each other. This story here, with the Eradicator and the mystery of Jon's powers has more to do with Superman and his life than it did in Lois and Clark. The Eradicator offers him the chance to have a perfect Kryptonian child but with no assurance that Jon will be the same or if it will even be safe, Clark refuses. Jon has been nothing short of great in this story as he goes from being excited about having powers, to being afraid of them, and now learning to not be afraid and fight.the Eradicator. Lois has been really great, not only providing emotional support but also even by fighting the Eradicator herself via the Hellbat Suit. This, as a first story, generally has me excited for not only more of this, but also the upcoming book Supersons.

Batman #6 (Gotham, City of Madness, Gimmicks, and Tears)

Gotham Girl has lost herself. She has shaved her hair off and talks to her dead brother Hank/Gotham who died last issue. She seems set on not saying or even acknowledging that he is dead and keeps talking to him about their life and other things as she goes around fighting crime against some of Gothams weirdest. Duke and Batman try to find a way to get through to her because she keeps pushing herself, increasing her powers in exchange for her life. Batman asks Alfred for help but when he sees that she keeps talking to Hank he unmasks himself as Bruce and talks about how when his parents were murdered he held his mother's hand and kept talking to her and he still does sometimes, and Clair finally breaks down in tears accepting her brother's death. Later Batman finds out from Amanda Waller that the Psycho Pirate was traded by Hugo Strange to Bane for Venom, meaning the Pirate is in Santa Prisca.

This issue was emotional and another humanizing moment for Batman as he talks about his mother. I once again, do love the cover of this issue. A giant Batman reaching for a scared and frightened Gotham Girl as the city of Gotham looms over them, it's someone who wants to save Gotham, running from someone who was created by Gotham, while Gotham watches. Like Superman and his own book, this shows us a lot of fun stuff and a good story but this story had one flaw and that was Duke Thomas. While I don't hate Duke or dislike him, I don't see the point of him on the team or how he separates himself from the Robin's other than him not calling himself Robin but that may change in later works but who knows. I still love this story as it feels similar yet different to Snyder's take on Gotham as a whole, an unforgiving and strange city that you can never beat and when you think you understand it is when it hurts you the most.

All-Star Batman #2 (The Madness Continues)

Batman and Two-Face continue on as Batman defeats and evades Killer Croc, King Shark, Amygdala, Cheshire, and Copperhead. Meanwhile Penguin, Great White, and Black Mask hire a man known as The Beast to stop Batman and presumably Two-Face. Throughout the book we get a look at two days from now where Gordon and Bullock along with the GCPD, heading for Wayne Manor, namely the grandfather clock. Gordon says that Two-Face has enough info on everyone int he GCPD to ruin them so he's presumably going to take him down.

This issue was more action than story but in a good way because there was still plenty of story. Last issue was heavy in exposition with action where this issue was the opposite. It's awesome to see Batman essentially soloing most of his rogue's gallery for the most part. I haven't seen King Shark or Great White since Beware the Batman  and the Arkham games as Easter Eggs. There is a fun and interesting scene with Duke and Alfred as Alfred explains exactly how the identity of Harvey and Two-Face work with Harvey possibly purposely forcing Two-Face to slip up in the past so he could be stopped. It's also interesting to see the crime families wanting to stop Batman but I was a bit let down by the design of the Penguin and it may be my only issue with Romita's art, it isn't bad but it didn't feel that special to me like the Penguin in Penguin: Pain and Prejudice.

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #0-2 (WOO!)

Someone has taken the name of Oracle and selling secrets to crime bosses and Barbara Gordon must find out who has taken and corrupted her name along with the help of Black Canary and the mysterious Huntress who seems to be out for the heads of the crime families herself. Can the three of them work together long enough to be something more or will they lose not only any chance of stopping Oracle but their own lives.

So I decided to give this book a standard three issue test run to see if I liked it and honestly I'm really happy. Like a lot of people I was expecting Gail Simone to be back on this title again but I kind of think that was for the best that she wasn't; not because she wouldn't do as good but I would honestly like to see her take on a bigger title than this like Supergirl or Earth 2. But this book really seemed to get me back into liking Batgirl again. Barbara does seem to sort of have not only this desire to get people to trust her as Batgirl like Gordon or Batman, but she also seems to want to get the team back together again, though this time it seems to just be Black Canary. If you recall, we never did finish Black Canary but here she seems to be much more willing to joke and be more open like she felt in Batgirl. Huntress (who is Helena Berteneli from Grayson) also adds a dynamic to the group that I hadn't really seen since Justice Leauge Unlimited, she really plays off well as the somewhat hard to control aspect of the team and her banter with Black Canary is great. I really am looking forward to reading and reviewing this as well.

Green Lanterns #6 (She Did It!)

Jessica, after going under some really hard mental pep talking is finally able to create a construct and is able to destroy the Hell Tower but not before Dex-Starr plants the seed unbeknownst to her and Simon. The two of them have a celebratory hurrah before heading to his house where they meet the Rogue Guardian Rami who tells them he needs them to protect him until Hal or one of the other Earth Lanterns arrive to receive the Phantom Ring, a ring anyone can use. Meanwhile Atrocitus interrogates Bleez for a bit who seems to no longer be as affected by the Red Ring as before. Atrocitus reveals that the Red Dawn will still happen as the Hell Tower was just used to drill under Earth and the seed is what's important as it will soon grow into a new Red Entity.

I know I said I wasn't going to review this one until the next two issues were out but this was just too good. Seeing Jessica motivate herself to fight and ultimately make her own construct under her own willpower. It's a really great scene as we see her pull herself up. Simon was just as good, though he really only held Atrocitus back by not dying. I don't get what the point of a Phantom Ring is, unless it's like the Indigo Tribe's ability to use other emotional spectrum energy. The idea of a ring that can be used by anyone is interesting as it's something new as Atrocitus himself is trying to create a new Red Entity. It in a lot of ways, shows us exactly what "Rebirth" should be: new characters, new ideas, and new players in the DCU. This is possibly my favorite issue so far.

Detective Comics #940 (Did Not See That Coming)

Tim Drake has redirected the drones to him in the tower. As Batman tries to reach him, Batwoman engages her father and tries to bring him in. Kane then tells Ulysses to activate the Black Flight Protocol, a teleportation to a shadowbase using alien tech, Batwoman is able to get him and her out of the base before they it disappears. Red Robin meanwhile has survived the first wave of drones but more are coming. He tells Bruce thanks for everything and tells Stephanie that the past six months have been the best of his life and that he loves her. As the last drones strike him down, everyone can only watch as the tower goes up, Batman finds Red Robin's staff, covered in blood. Batwoman tells him that she wants to hand Kane over to ARGUS but Batman tells her to put him in a cell in the Bellfrey. Batman later confronts Stephanie who hands him Tim's acceptance letter to university and the two hug. In an unknown location, Tim finds himself in a cell where he sees Oz, the man who confronted Superman in DC Rebrith. He says that Tim was reconnecting threads that shouldn't bee reconnected so he was taken out of the equation to stop him. Tim says that Batman and the others will rescue him as Oz walks away.

I honestly didn't know what to expect for the "death" of Tim Drake issue. I knew that as far as I could tell, he was the only Robin who hadn't been killed yet (Dick Grayson technically died in Forever Evil) so it did feel like a bit of a lass as Batman is now 4-4. The execution of this was I think perfect enough, Tim didn't oversell his final moments though I might have liked some internal dialogue from him but the scenes with Batman and Stephanie Brown, from Batman finding Tim's staff to the two of them holding each other was great. Looking back on it, maybe having Tim have an internal dialogue would have been bad considering he didn't actually die. Oz is proving to be interesting as he is mysterious. When he showed up in DC Rebirth he told Clark White that he and his family as well as the New 52 Superman, that they weren't what they thought they were and here he told Tim he was re-establishing connections, it sounds like Oz was talking about him restoring continuity. This kind of makes sense since Wally himself seemed to be a threat because he also re-established continuity when he came back. So what is going on here? Could Oz be someone who was behind the missing ten years that led to the New 52 or is he someone different? Could he be Ozymandius from Watchmen? Who knows.

Wonder Woman #6 (Nice and Standard)

Steve and Diana arrive in America and things get a bit rocky, and it isn't helped by the fact that the two of them can't understand one another. Steve calls for a military escort to the Coronado Naval Base where he gives his report and the navy itself tries to understand Diana. Trying to find a translator, they call Doctor Minerva to talk to try to translate while Steve informs Nick's wife of his death as Diana waits in her cell. It seems to be pretty bad for Diana as she feels not only alone but also that no one here wants help as she turns to see an owl, peacock, eagle, mouse and other animals appear. The next morning Doctor Minerva, Steve, and Etta go to see Diana and while no one believes her, they are surprised when Diana pulls the bars off her cell off. She says that she has been blessed by her Patrons, the gods that protect Themyscira.

This issue was pretty standard and easy to get into. It's the "Not in Kansas" anymore line in storytelling but more subtle as the book is more focused on the initial story of Diana and her friends over her understanding this new world. It honestly feels a bit like the series Gotham though not entirely. Like the mentioned series, this book is putting characters in place to shape the story as opposed to just showing us how Diana became Wonder Woman. It was also nice to see how Steve didn't forget about his friend Nick's family and seeing how he had such a close bond to even Nick's family. On another note, the Navy investigating Diana's equipment and Steve's physical show that the government will be more curious about the Amazons for reasons that may tie in to Steve's mission.

Earth 2 Society Annual and #16 (Remembering Why I Love This Book)

The annual itself starts with Dick talking to his son about why he shouldn't be Batman anymore. He feels that he isn't good enough to be Batman when he compares himself to Bruce who was the perfect package, Thomas, who had the drive, and Helena who is very much the real legacy of Batman. While this is going on, Helena (Huntress) is fighting a metahuman and ultimately wins. At the same time, a possessed Green Lantern heads on his way to the Pandora Casket and makes quick work of Val-Zod, Power girl, Flash, Red Tornado, and Fury, but is ultimately stopped by Red Arrow of all people, essentially using fear to weaken Humanite's grip on Alan. Humanite then strikes Red Arrow down as round two begins but  time it's Humanite vs. Huntress, Batman, and Hawkwoman. Before Humanite can get the win, Fury decides that the best way to stop him from using the Pandora Casket was to use it herself and she opens it and everything is engulfed in light.

This issue and the annual are possibly my favorite issue in a while and if I'm honest with myself, this whole arc with Fury and the other Amazons revealing themselves and the Pandora Casket. It's nice to just see our characters working together more as well as giving characters more spotlight. Huntress was built up, as was Red Arrow, Batman and Fury whereas last arc we just got a little Red Tornado and a lot of Green Lantern. There has been more story than character for the most part and for a while it did seem like we were going to deal with the issue of planet all over again when the matter of possibly turning Earth-2 to a version of the one they had with the people. This issue effectively took that idea off the table finally. I'm hoping we can get more character moments, hopefully from Val Zod and Huntress as well as Power girl.

Avatar the Last Airbender: The Promise (Why is this still better than Naruto?)

It has been a year since Aang defeated the Fire Lord and now it is time for the world to heal as Aang, Katara, and Sokka lead the Harmony Restoration Movement which will disband the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. Things start fine until Yu Dao, one of the oldest colonies demands the  to stay  and what follows is a clash of ideals as Aang and Zuko try to keep the promises made not only to each other, but to themselves.

This book has been out a good while but I never got a chance to actually sit down and read it all the way through. I didn't want to go too far into the book save for this summary to avoid giving away too much initially.What makes this book is how different and how the same it is from the series and how it plays a big role in Legend of Korra. The part we are going over now is just one of at least four stories. What makes it work is that it keeps the characters where they usually always were in the cartoon, Aang is trying to be a good Avatar, Katara is his emotional support and strong hand, Sokka is the idea man, Toph is Toph, and Zuko is trying his best to do the right thing. It is Zuko, Aang, and Katara that show three points of the story as a whole. Aang believes that the best way for harmony is to keep the Four Nations separate to promote peace while Zuko wants to do what's best for his people, and the people of Yu Dao live peacefully so in his mind they can stay. Katara meanwhile is willing to support Aang but at the same time sees that Yu Dao is and the people are in a lot of ways, her and Aang and it's her input that ultimately helps Aang make a choice. I once compared ATLA to Star Wars in that, it's about the Hero's Journey and creating a new world and now we see exactly what it means to create a new world, which is what the books after Return of the Jedi was.

It's interesting to see that Aang and Zuko are seeking answers from their predecessors and even more how different they are. Roku seems to be very set in his old ways mentality and may even be more set on correcting his own mistake. Aang really wants to make everyone happy and he does want harmony and he sees separating the four nations as the best way to prevent war. This idea of isolationism of furthered when he sees his fan club giving themselves Airbender tattoos, which to him is a sign of great disrespect. Zuko meanwhile is getting lessons from his father and they deal more with Zuko's indecisiveness as Fire Lord. Ozai tells him that as Fire Lord, whatever action he does is the right one because he chose it. Ozai is telling Zuko to make his own choices and stick by them essentially. Zuko is at first ready to support the Harmony Restoration Movement until he goes to Yu Dao and meets a happily married family of Firebenders and Earthbenders and sees how the two cultures have mixed. He decides to support Yu Dao and pull from the Harmony Movement and risks war and his friendship for his people's right to live where they want. It's essentially a battle of the old way vs. the new way and in a sense, it's the relationship between Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin all over again with Ozai wanting change and Roku opposing it. What's rather interesting is that Aang and Zuko seemed to be spiritually connected to each other, in that do share dreams at times, with both of them dreaming about Aang having to kill Zuko, a promise Zuko made Aang agree to do shortly after the last episode. The two even parallel each other with their choices, with Zuko wanting to make his alone and not talking to his girlfriend with Aang always having his girlfriend by his side. 

Speaking of girlfriend, I do love Katara here. While she isn't as big a character as she usually is, it's clear she's still a great character. She is back in her role as Aang's emotional support but she hasn't really changed. She's still fiery, a voice of reason, and a great foil to other characters. She is the first person Aang usually talks or looks to for perspective and she is quick to give it. She sees the families of Yu Dao as her future with Aang, a multicultural family building a life together, but she agrees to stand by whatever decision he makes regardless of what it means for them. Toph and Sokka have their own story with them trying to help Toph's new Metal Bending school but it doesn't play a huge role in this story but it does show how Metal Bending expanded. Other characters like Iroh, and the Kyoshi Warriors are shown but only Suki plays an actual role here as she and the other Kiyoshi Warrios become Zuko's bodyguard. Ultimately this series promises to be almost as good as the original.