Comic Book Case

Wonder Woman #23 (I like it!)

Ares tells the story of how ended up under/inside the tree. How the gods made chains ages ago to keep him calm and sane, and how the Amazons protect the tree and him from either removing the chains or by killing him to take his position as god of war. With this in mind we find out that the Patrons took the knowledge of how to get home from her and made her think had been home to keep her from trying to get to Themyscira. The Ares we saw way back in the past when Diana first arrived was actually his Phobos and Deimos who wanted the information Diana SHOULD have had had the Patrons not taken it from her. Ares says that he and Diana had never met but he did give her a gift, the snakebite that she got years ago was to be able to guide her to Ares as opposed to Themyscira even though they are both in same spot, it's a fun trick; you can't break the rule but you bend it. As Phobos and Deimos approach, Diana is able to stop their attack by binding them with her lasso and her love because while the chains held Ares down, it was the love of Aphrodite that turned him sane and the same thing for them. As the doorway begins to open more between Earth and Themyscira, Ares reveals that Isadore cannot go back to the mortal world she will return as she was before so she joins the Amazons instead. Diana and her mother share a look before the gateway closes as Isadore walks with the Amazons.

This issue was rather awesome if for no other reason than it turned the Ares idea on it's head. The explanation we got honestly made a lot of sense, that Diana forgot the way home because the Patrons took it from her to protect Ares and by extension the world. At the same time I wonder what this does to Diana's relationship those same gods, not only for not telling her what they did but also the false memories they gave her. Ares himself totally took us by surprise as his story reveals someone who is a victim of what appears to be a necessary part of mans world and his own element. Diana using love to stop Phobos and Deimos is very Wonder Woman, despite her combat prowess, super strength, and weaponry, what is Diana's greatest enemy is her ability to love without question or hesitation. It's an element often dropped in books like Justice League and may be a bit perverted in Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Superman #24 (Much better than I thought)

We get a quick origin of Kobb and Kathy, that the two of them belong to a group of aliens that were almost destroyed by another alien race before Manchester Black saved them and now they are hiding in their own town on Earth. Superman goes back to the house to find Jon who has been let out by Manchester who during their short combat exchange, explains what he plans to do with Jon. He's going to turn Jon into what Superman can't be, the someone who kills his enemies so they won't come back to hurt anyone else. He says that something is coming and that someone like Superman won't be able to help them endure it and that he's been messing with Jon's powers and, shows his ultimate trump card, the ability to take over and control Jon's body which along with some other aliens, he uses to attack Superman and company.

I'd been hearing a lot in the previews about how Jon and Superman would come to blows over their ideals about killing and so far it seems that Jon has only got half an argument but also that he is largely unable to help or take action. We don't know exactly what Manchester Black is talking about with bigger threats, but I think we could infer that he is referring either Mr. Oz or Doctor Manhattan. This whole thing reminds me of Superman/Batman Apocalypse but this time instead of Kara it is Jon who is being turned into a soldier against his will.

Captain America #17 (Frost/Nixon or Springtime for Rogers)

So Marvel dug Sally Floyd out of cobwebs and had her interview Steve Rogers, the now head of HYDRA. Sally interviewed Steve during and after Civil War and in her words, humiliated him, saying he was out of touch with the world and didn't even know what Twitter was. Now, with a HYDRA controlled America, Sally get to interview him again with nothing off limits save for what happened in Las Vegas (HYDRA essentially blew it up in Secret Empire). The interview is pretty simple at first, talks of the status of the world, that HYDRA is only keeping people safe with America's elected officials in custody but then the Inhumans came up, who are being kept in camps as essentially prisoners which leads to a back and forth on them. Then the subject of whether or not the Mutants have their own land in California that HYDRA presumably gave them but Steve says that they didn't which we later find is technically true. Steve gave land to Magneto unofficially on the grounds that Magneto and the Mutants keep out of HYDRA's way and that Steve will keep HYDRA from attacking them for seven years.  Sally then argues whether or not the Great Illusion (the idea that the Allies won WW2 was a lie which Steve believes was a Cosmic Cube they used to change the tide of the war) is true. The conversation heats up on whether or not things are better or not under HYDRA and Sally loses it mentions Vega which causes to interview to be cancelled and Sally finds herself in prison.

This was a good issue if not a great one and I think it honestly says enough about what is going on and how this story works. Despite what people think reading and hearing about this, Nick Spencer isn't glorifying HYDRA as a great idea but he is showing what happens when Steve Rogers is on the other side. Sally and Steve have an interesting back and forth and it is interestingly politicized to reflect now with the Inhumans representing Muslims, the people supporting Steve in the face of what Steve says is corrupt media possibly reflecting Trump's victory and the arresting of journalists maybe reflecting the Obama administration. These are all great ideas but it also shows things about HYDRA that people wouldn't like but how showing you how people will believe and support anything if the person at the head of it is well liked. This is a really interesting idea. because ultimately Steve is the same person, just in HYDRA someone we trusted led us to a path and no one questioned if it was a good one. Steve does seem to honestly believe he's doing the right thing, he cites an improved economy, a strong army, people not being afraid in the streets and everyone united where Sally points out that people like the Inhumans and others don't feel that way. Steve almost feels like a different person from the Civil War 2 ending where Steve talks about how the superhero community essentially took it upon themselves to tell people how to live, that their fears were stupid. It's an interesting thing because you agree with this Steve until he's in charge or rather, you agree with what X is until you see how X plans to get to it.

Trinity Annual #1 (A bit a happy accident?)

Circe and Ra's are trying to come to an agreement on their alliance, especially with Lex leaving the group when Etrigan appears, having followed the trail of magic the Pandora pits give off. Ra's cuts Etrigan and some of his blood gets into the pits which frees Jason Blood from the curse but also frees Etrigan and allows him to do as he pleases. The Trinity then appears having just spent some time talking about how they feel the three of them are somehow connected to each other. Diana and Clark are only just able to hold Etrigan the Demon off as Bruce finds Jason who after some coaxing from Bruce agrees to take the Etrigan back inside him but it will cost the life force of our heroes to which they agree only to be saved from losing their lives by Circe. Circe and Ra's talk about what to do next when Circe reveals that there is another Trinity that can be used and we see Red Hood, Bizzarro, and Artemis.

This annual, a bit of a downer really that I think is ruined by how unremarkable it is. Lex already removes himself from the Trinity of Enemies forcing Ra's and Circe to do other things but even the Etrigan thing is a total accident. The issue of Lex I think is like Superman's romance with Wonder Woman, we don't know where it fits into the new timeline created by the two Supermen joining back together; is Lex still a good guy even here? This really should have taken note from the Wonder Woman annual which at least told a bunch of small stories where this one tries to tell a giant epic.

Wonder Woman Annual #1 (Nice)

This was another fun annual issue, this one focusing on Diana's first meeting with Superman and Batman with Wonder Woman ultimately establishing a bond of trust between the three of them by using the Golden Prefect to allow them to see into each others hearts. What's funny about this is of course that they are all compelled to reveal who they are truthfully and where Wonder Woman calls herself Diana, and Superman calls himself both Clark Kent and Kal-El, Batman just says he's Batman. We then have another story about her defending King Shark from a wrongful crime and then offering him justice at the hands of Aquaman, it wasn't that great a story but a good one that I think shows Diana's pursuit of truth which I think gets lost in the mix as to exactly what that means and I think that should be explored more directly. A personal favorite of mine is when Diana meets an old samurai who is succumbing to a curse he absorbed into his body and with great pain and resolve, Diana kills him to protect the village he protected from the curse. Finally we have Diana vs. a Kaiju that Diana befriends and helps get home by taking it to Dinosaur Island.

This annual did a great job of telling a lot of great, small stories about who Diana is as a person. She is trusting, open, dedicated to pursuing the truth and above all, loving. Her love for life keeps her from killing a Kaiju, keeps King Shark from being unjustly killed and ultimately it is her love of life that forces her to kill the old samurai, protecting his honor and his village.

Detective Comics #957 (Will she be stupid?)

Stephanie Brown is on a mission: a world without costumed heroes...... as she wears a costume. She starts with disabling the Bat-Signal every night, so people don't know Batman is out there in addition to Batman not getting a signal in case he doesn't know. Against the costumed villain Wrath, who has held a tv station hostage, she subdues the henchmen and Wrath as well and when faced with Harvey Bullock, she gets him to accept the credit for this on behalf of the GCPD. Things are looking good but then Anarky shows up and he's impressed and offers a team up.

This was an interesting idea........ if you aren't a Spoiler fan apparently. a lot of fans don't really seem to like the direction Spoiler is going in and I think a lot of people expected her to take up the mantle of Red Robin at this point. I could take it or leave it though I do miss the more unprofessional aspect of Stephanie Brown, it added a bit of life to a story. Her mission is pretty straight forward and interesting as she tries to cut down on casualties that are created between Batman and people like Wrath. Her entire operation is more about neutralizing her enemies and taking them down in the shadows but as good as this sounds, she isn't going to be able to keep it up for long. People like Wrath are more jokes than anything but Riddler, Penguin, Joker? You need Batman for those guys. I like the use of Anarky, the more you learn about him the more he comes off as sort of like an evil Tim Drake. I would say the biggest problem with this issue was a lack of Batman or anyone else helping out.

Green Lantersn #24 (I Heart Jessica Cruz)

Jessica and Simon do their best to complete their tests while Volthoom goes over the history of the first Green Lanterns, one of them being a White Martian. He finds out that what he needs to get his Lantern back and get back home he needs one of those rings, one belongs to Jessica Cruz. But to get it, he will need some other things from the Vault of Shadows. Meanwile, Jessica is starting her fight with Guy and as the fight goes on she starts to falter before remembering what Killowog told her, that her Willpower is within her and she overcomes Guy and passes. Simon also finishes his test with Kyle, being able to think outside of the box with his constructs and is able to trap and hit Kyle...... WITH A PIE! The two of them graduate but they don't get long to party as they have been tasked to escort "Rami" to the Vault of Shadows.

I kind of wish there was less "Rami" though I can't say I was against the idea of a White Martian as a Green Lantern. Jessica is such a real person that it really is hard for me to care about anyone other than her in this book. She showed us a side of Guy I think most people didn't know and that helps Jessica overcome her own limitations because her biggest enemy will always be herself. With Simon, I get the purpose of the lesson of learning how to get the most out of his ring but I kind of expected more. We've seen Simon do things that were thought to be impossible with his GL ring but we never saw more of that. Maybe the idea that he is focused more on using the ring like a machine and being so restrictive with it, this new mentality of being more free with is ring may make it easier for him to tap into those abilities he has displayed easier. Overall, great issue.

Batman #24 (That was everything with so little)

Batman and Claire talk about what she should do next because Claire doesn't know honestly. The conversation goes from rather simple to "Batman, why can't you fly?" to "I'm not Batman because I like being Batman, I'm Batman because I'm Batman". It poses a lot of questions about Batman's failing to his fears that he may be insane as well as why he fairs to which. Claire realizes she wants to be a superhero because she needs to be which motivates Batman further to seek out Catwoman. He talks about the diamond  she stole when they first met and how he bought it because he knew he would need it one day. He takes off his cowl and takes off her sand says he needs her and he gets down on one knee, pulls out a ring and proposes.

There isn't a lot happening in this issue in terms of something happening. Claire seems to be the therapist Bruce Wayne always needed as he helps him come to a conclusion about himself. Claire's desire for advice from Batman, leads her to giving him advice. The decision to marry Catwoman may feel a bit rushed but the time frame is ambiguous so we honestly don't know but we do know that the two of them do care for each other. The relationship between the two of them has been a hot one for DC, the HUSH story really put that forward and even in Earth 2 we know that those two actually are married and have a daughter. We still don't know if Selina will accept Bruce but apparently the War of Jokes and Riddles is the story that we hear before Selina gives an answer. I think it is clear that this is motivated in part by the events of the Button where Flashpoint Thomas Wayne tells him to stop being Batman and be happy. What will happen is a mystery and I love it for now.