Hello again GEN readers! It’s Jill a.k.a. The Nerdy Bird back with another installment of DoubleDCoverage.  DON’T FORGET new books are out Thursday this week because of the holiday! So let’s get you caught up…

November 19,  2008:

AMBUSH BUG: YEAR NONE #4 (OF 6)

This is my latest guilty pleasure. It’s completely absurd but immensely entertaining. Here DC proves it can and does laugh at itself. The first page makes the best out of a printing error from last issue by presenting us with thought-bubble cutouts to put in it’s place. Then Dan Didio, Keith Giffen and Robert Flemming all get turned into comic characters and Jann Jones gets an anime makeover. For those of you who would enjoy it, Didio bites the dust. It’s actually hard to recap what happens in an issue of Ambush Bug. It’s mainly parodies those aspects of the DCU that when looked at comically  are well, pretty damn comical. We visit Batman’s Secret Space Prison for Embarrassments From His Past, which include Robin, then we make a few stops along 52’s storyline and Renee Montoya uses Argh!yle as toilet paper. Wicker Sue Dibney and Batwoman show up for a short bit until Ambush Bug gets ambushed by the Ambush Bug Revenge Squad. They get distracted easily by their obsessive knowledge of comic trivia. Seriously, why aren’t you reading this?

BATGIRL #5 (OF 6)

Batgirl is racing to save Oracle from her father David Cain so she doesn’t have time for Nightwing’s questions at the start of this issue. She steals the Batwing and brushes him off as easily as a fly. She even out maneuvers and outsmarts Batman and Robin to continue her secret mission that also includes killing Cain. She infiltrates the Birds of Prey’s new headquarters in Platinum Flats to figure out the most likely place Cain will take his shot. Her newly discovered sister Marque is also in the area to murder Cain herself. A fight ensues leaving Marque a sliced achilles tendon (ouch! that always gets me!) and Cassandra with a newly sworn enemy. She makes it just in time to stand in front of her father aiming the killing shot but you know it doesn’t end there. This mini will finish up next month.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #13

Fans of Dr. Kirk Langstrom (Man-Bat) should be very happy, he has a spotlight in this issue. For those of you who’ve had enough of the R.I.P. tie-ins that don’t actually tie-in well, prepared to be disappointed once again.  We’re shown Gotham running amok without Batman around, especially at the Iceberg Lounge. There’s still lots of people hanging around town trying to help in their own way. Man-Bat attacks the patrons as a message to Johnny Stitches hoping it will run Intergang out of town and Batgirl shows up to take Man-Bat up on his previous offer to help. In a very Millar-Wanted-like panel Vigilante blows the brains out of an Intergang bouncer at Stitches hangout and heads in to kill some more. Spoiler is there doing her own spying but stops Vigilante from killing which he’s not too happy about. Batgirl has to get between them in order to give them an offer. See, the whole issue leads up to Cassandra back at the less than tidy Batcave where she’s putting together a group of separate costumes to replace Batman since no one person could possibly ever do the job. One person who isn’t even on her short-list? Dick Grayson. (You hear that DC?)

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #19

A new arc begins with the Phantom Stranger and Hal Jordan investigating corruption at a hospital called Arcadia. A very nervous Dr. Bernard Treves leads them on a tour of the facility explaining human trials for a fertility drug went ahead even though initial tests showed the drug passing from the mother to the fetus. The eight children that survived suffered severe deformities and can’t communication emotions. Phantom Stranger explains it wasn’t the cover-up that brought him, it was a type of magic he’d never seen before. The most severely damaged child, Cora, began writing four months ago in bizarre languages and hasn’t stopped since. The most significant item? She’s written the Green Lantern Oath on the wall. Her notes describe disasters around the universe and Hal recognizes one of the languages as being from the planet Kahlo, a distant Oan territory. The Guardians send Hal to the GL of that sector, Orlan, who’s busy dealing with the destruction of their pleasure city Kymera. A plant native to that world, the Belamort, is addictive and in high demand. It feeds off its host in a type of symbiosis and in return sends a chemical into the pleasure center of the  brain. Orlan explains he has not touched the plant since he became a GL and believes rival smuggling syndicates are responsible for Kymera’s attack. For a brief moment Hal’s ring seems to malfunction and Orlan must save his life. Back on Earth Cora has a seizure and while in her hospital bed her heart monitor relays the message “If I die, everyone dies.” Looks like this is gonna be a good one, pick it up.

THE FLASH #246

Wally brings the kids to the Hall of Justice where Linda is being cared for by Doctor Mid-Nite (he’s been showing up a lot lately) after the bee attack by Zazzala.  At her bedside Wally remembers his time courting Linda, how difficult it was and how many times she’s been in danger because of him. He also remembers a time he asked the Spectre to make everyone forget that he was the Flash and it backfired. Batman thinks there’s more behind the attack and sends Wally to find out more about what Amanda Waller is up to.  He finds a video file of her speaking to the President about a transmitter that taps into interdimensional energies they’ve rewired with Kryptonian metal. She says the device can slow time but Wally realizes it could be a door to the Speed Force. He rushes back to be with Linda whose condition has worsened significantly, so much so that he resorts to calling the Spectre for help once again. Unfortunately he already had his answer ready and it doesn’t look good for Linda, not to mention Iris and Jai who’ve just been abducted by Queen Bee. Only one issue left for this run of the Flash series.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA KINGDOM COME SPECIAL: MAGOG 

Lance Corporal David Reid hasn’t had much of a part to play in the JSA up until now. Sure he’s the great-grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt who put together the team in the first place but we don’t know all that much about what kind of man he is. We find out in this special one-shot. We already know David was raised from the dead by Gog who replaced his damaged arm and eye and now calls him Magog. The part of the JSA that’s still following Gog through Africa come across a river poisoning countless villages. Gog karate chops the river to divert it and they all continue to the source. The team goes to work beating up the bad guys but Magog seems on the verge of a harsher brand of justice before Gog steps in and turns those responsible into water which in turn purifies the poisoned river. Magog hears a transmission from his old military  unit Task Force Epsilon and takes off to help them. He quickly turns to that harsher brand of justice after remembering the long line of heroes before him and discovering members of his old team tortured and on the verge of death. He then finds the rebel leader responsible and lasers the guys arm right down to the bone and takes out the knee caps of everyone else. He later shoots the leader point blank and leaves the others in a ditch. We also get a Starman secret origin back-up in this issue. Thom explains to a doctor in the Sunshine Sanitarium in Opal that he was born in deep space and his mental problems have been a long-term problem. We get to see three Legion Brainiacs fitting him with his map of the Multiverse uniform, mention of Barry Allen and the Tornado Twins and the beginnings of the Lightning Saga. He ends by telling the doctor he needs a letter of recommendation for a job and a shovel. I miss crazy Thom.

RANN/THANAGAR: HOLY WAR #7 (OF 8 )

Adam Strange shares a secret plan with Sardath to get help from the outside while the space heroes are trapped inside a force field on Rann. Starfire and the Weird contact Lady Styx for help as a last resort and only because Synnar the Demiurge is their common enemy.  Lady Styx decides she’d rather bring them into the fold instead but the Weird uses his powers and grabs her heart to force her to cooperate with them or die. Comet and Adam search for Synnar’s power source and find a Borg Cube. Ok, it’s not a Borg Cube it’s a satellite. The power is coming from trillions of people set up like living batteries inside these satellites. If they’re disconnected, they die. Deacon Dark questions Synnar momentarily and is shocked to discover all of this was only the first step in his grand plan. Finally Hawkman and Adam make the connection that they’ve both met Synnar before and realize they may have a chance at saving Rann. The Weird volunteers for what appears to be a suicide mission to make that happen and the group begins their strike against Synnar. One more issue remains for this mini.

ROBIN #180 

Robin mentioned Batman being missing and this issue isn’t labeled an R.I.P. tie-in. I’m amazed and thankful. Most of the Gotham P.D. is still on strike following the arrest of two crooked detectives and the street gangs are going wild. Robin finally finds some familiarity in the guy dressed up as Red Robin while he’s kicking the crap out of him but before we find out who that is he’s got to get an injured Spoiler to safety. While in the Batcave he tries to determine who could be behind Scarab and Jaeger’s recent attacks. At first it appears to be Red Robin but Tim hears him speaking to someone else. Red Robin is revealed to be the General (Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong) and it’s not until it’s too late (explosives are like that) he realizes Anarky (Lonnie Machin) is behind everything. Though he still doesn’t know how deep Spoiler’s involvement goes.

SUPERGIRL #35 

Number “5” in the interconnecting New Krypton story focuses on Kara and her parents. She’s barely begun her new secret identity as “Linda Lang” and her mother tells her it’s over. Her father steps in to calm things down and Kara let’s them know there’s a lot about her old life with them she doesn’t remember. He makes some very good guesses about her arrival on Earth which explain away some of the more bizarre storylines Supergirl has had the last few years. Does her blood crystallize in the oxygen? Oh, that’s just kryptonite poisoning. It’s probably not the greatest explanation but it’s decent. They put her in a regeneration cabinet to purge the radiation. While inside she has flashbacks of her father trying to talk sense into the Council about their community’s imminent demise. They do not approve building space ships while their force field’s source is still working. The source? A Brainiac robot skull. She was placed in a rocket to escape but Brainiac tried to hitch a ride and her takeoff was a little rough resulting in a nice blanket of Kryptonite to take her all the way to Earth for 30 years. Kara now remembers it all and is seemingly healed although she still has to make some choices as to which world she wants to belong to. In this issue we also see Reactron (Major Benjamin Krull) in an isolation chamber built by the military who offer him some upgrades plus a new Super woman is revealed to possibly stand in for Kara. Unfortunately while this was a great issue for Supergirl it didn’t do a lot to progress the New Krypton storyline itself. That being said, these things needed to be addressed before the story moved on anyway so I’m giving it a pass.

SUPERMAN/SUPERGIRL: MAELSTROM #2 (OF 5)

Superman takes Supergirl on a camping/training trip to a planet where their powers are useless. They fight a few animals but apparently the plant life on this planet is also dangerous. Kara sounds like a normal teenager bickering with her brother instead of her Uncle Kal, she still doesn’t see the point of the exercise. She gets frustrated and goes off into the dark by herself getting surrounded by more creatures. Maelstrom stands before Darkseid on Apokolips and kills four of his Gladiortrons, one of which has the awesome power to shoot flaming skulls out of his hands. She fails to impress Darkseid and he orders her to the slave pits where she mocks a Ralph Wiggum impersonator and tries to start a revolt and fails again.

TANGENT: SUPERMAN’S REIGN #9 (OF 12)

Led by Batman, the JLA  stuck on Tangent Earth storm Harvey Dent’s (Tangent Superman) computer system looking for information. Turns out he found the location of Lola Dent who was thought long dead. Back on New Earth, all the nations capitols have been attacked and their leaders kidnapped by Tangent Superman. He proceeds to let them know he’ll be taking over the world but none of them take it sitting down. Most of them don’t even believe it’s possible with Earth’s protectors around. Superman hears that an aircraft carrier has gone quiet and sends Vixen out to investigate seeing as how this is the most likely location of the missing leaders. Superman, Power Girl and Guy Gardner arrive only to be shot at by planes under the control of Tangent Superman, the last of which carries a nuke that detonates on top of them. The back-up History Lesson continues with Tangent Guy Gardner explaining Tangent Manhunter’s origins. She was a survivor of a war where she was orphaned and badly hurt and now hunts down those who deserve to be punished, mostly war criminals. There seems to be more to Tangent Guy as it’s pointed out he’s got a lot of muscle for a “geek.”

TERRA #2 (OF 4)

Terra wakes up and freaks out about Doctor Mid-Nite performing tests on her. So freaked out in fact that she runs around naked for a while yelling about it.  Again, I’ll say this feels like a warm-up for Palmiotti and Connor’s Power Girl series. You can bet it’ll be just like this times ten. In this midst of the visual distraction Terra says she remembers the second Terra and that human physiology cannot sustain transplanted Terran DNA. Also, she has an aversion to people touching her. A subway collapse draws the girls attention to Silver Banshee trying to take possession of a stone artifact. The young man who has it now runs only to trip and fall on the third rail electrocuting himself. As a result an ancient Sumerian god named Gorsedd, Hate Caster the Furious, is released from the stone. Terra tricks Banshee into working with them to destroy the god seeing as they now know his name. Speaking of names Terra finally reveals hers to PG, it’s Atlee. The bad guy from last issue Richard Faulkner is getting used to his newfound abilities and taking with girlfriend Veronica about what to do with them. Oddly enough, even after ruthlessly murdering a group of men he’s considering being a good guy. Veronica’s got her own agenda, she wants him to take her to the glowing lake that gave him his powers. In Markovia we get a quick glimpse of Geo-Force fighting Deadcoil and his Coffin Spawn until Terra shows up to help.

TRINITY #25 

Justice Society International break into the League’s headquarters for a chat and are of course met with resistance. The League includes Green Arrow, Fire, Lex Luthor, Orchid, Ranger and Vibe. Not only that, they’ve been hiding Barry Allen who was long thought dead (ahem). He used to be part of the JSI but started to doubt their methods and after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Faust he lost the ability to run. He stayed hidden and created the League. Meanwhile Morgaine comes to her senses and realizes it benefits her to continue working with Enigma to complete the spell. Upon arrival in Opal City Tarot experiences rapid reality changes and is picked up by Charity who was expecting her from a card reading of her own. The second half of the issue gives us Alfred trying to rally  those closest to the Trinity to make them aware of the change in reality and fight to bring them back.  Thomas Tresser (Nemesis), Richie Grayson, Lois Lane and Kara Zor-El (Interceptor) join and head off to find one more addition to their quest. Donna Troy.

November 26, 2008:

BATMAN #681 

So, did the Bat actually bite the dust? I don’t know and neither does anyone else. Unfortunately the ending to this widely anticipated arc was not what anyone expected in that it didn’t exactly have an ending. It seemed like R.I.P. was meant to be an all-encompassing and life-altering series but instead it was a really strange and confusing Batman arc. The issue opens with Batman buried alive, which actually made me think I missed an issue. He flashes back to a time after Nanda Parbat where he discusses his experience with a monk who confesses to poisoning his tea with “his Dark Master’s compliments.” In a shot straight out of the Princess Bride, Bruce admits to switching their cups while the monk blinked. Classic Batman, prepared for any eventuality, that is the mantra of this issue. The Joker kills one of the members of the Black Glove in order to become it’s newest finger then shows them all they’ve been had. Bruce used an old radio from that shopping cart a few issues back to rig a signal from his Penthouse cave to lock down Arkham and proceeds to dig himself out of his grave. Jezebel tells Bruce the Black Glove are basically a bunch of rich people with too much time on their hands. Bruce internally admits he did fall for her but a second later knew she was part of a trap. The Joker, driving an ambulance to get away, is knocked off a bridge by Damien driving one of Bruce’s cars with Alfred in the passenger seat. Here’s where it gets confusing. While chasing after Hurt, he tells Batman he’s his father Thomas Wayne and that Bruce was supposed to die in the alley that night with his mother but Chill lost his nerve. Batman denies this and accuses Hurt of being Mangrove Pierce, star of “The Black Glove.” Hurt denies THAT saying he skinned Pierce and wore him to John Mayhew’s party. Hurt instead says he’ll slander the Waynes and Alfred unless Batman agrees to serve the Black Glove, which he still talks about like there’s someone above him we still don’t know. Of course Batman says no and attaches himself to the helicopter (piloted by a man in a cape and cowl) Hurt is using to get away. Batman punches through the glass and the next thing we see is the helicopter exploding over a body of water. Internally, in his Black Casebook, Bruce wonders if he’s opened himself up to a pure source of evil suggesting he might have found the Devil waiting at the edges of his reason. Robin tries to act like Batman might not have just died in front of Commissioner Gordon, Talia takes revenge on Jezebel with some Man-Bats and Nightwing is left holding a cape and cowl. Six months later we see Le Bossu torturing a cop and are told no body was ever recovered. The Bat signal flashes through the window at them. In the epilogue we learn Zur En Arrh came from the day Bruce’s parents were shot. Thomas Wayne says, “The sad thing they’d probably throw Zorro in Arkham.” 

For more on Batman R.I.P. check out “Batastrophe” here on GEN and my blog TheNerdyBird.com.

BIRDS OF PREY #124

Calculator informs the Silicon Syndicate of him and the Birds whereabouts leaving them open to attack. Kilg%re is the first to arrive via the internet. He can reshape machines like clay and turns the Aerie One into his personal Transformer. When more villains show up, so do the Calvary. Green Arrow, Speedy, Black Canary and Manhunter. Quickly the Syndicate realizes they aren’t going to win and retreat but not before Gizmo fries Calculator. The Joker finds his way back to Oracle and finds her determined and ready for a fight. He loses his knife to her escrima and starts shooting his “Lass Laff” gun until she busts that too. She gets him close enough and lands the blow of the century on his mouth. Oracle has hurt him in one of the only ways he can probably be hurt. She’s taken his smile. When he realizes what she’s done he goes absolutely bizerk beating her and throws her down the stairs. Misfit teleports in and stands her ground with the Joker until he runs off after learning the others are on their way. The Silicon Syndicate is annoyed their plans didn’t work but apparently Gizmo’s gun can rebuild what it takes apart and he decides to rebuild Calculator. They offer him the Joker’s vacant seat. Back at the Birds headquarters Oracle is already on the mend, too bad the Joker is too. A dental surgeon and his assistants were found dead. Although he has his smile back she takes pleasure in the knowledge that it will never be his again. She’s definitely darker for this experience. It seems they’re gearing up for the cancellation though, Oracle announces they’re leaving Platinum Flats after they end the Syndicate.

BLUE BEETLE #33

The illegal immigration issue has reached a fever pitch. “A Day Without Immigrants” rally is held to raise awareness but not everyone is happy about it. Death threats have caused Jaime to call in the Teen Titans for help. Paco and Brenda are still being held by Mari and Paco starts confessing to the bad things his did to Brenda when they’re younger because he thinks they might not make it out. They get lucky when the guy Mari thought was coming to pick her up was actually coming to put her down. Now she’s the hostage. An attack at the border by the magnetic gang and Robin and Peacemaker have a really great rapport working together there. Paco and Brenda find Jaime and let Mari fill him in on the fact that Doctor Polaris is her father. She also says he created multiple diversions to keep them off his back. Blue Beetle finds him at a testing facility in New Mexico and the Scarab senses high intensity monopole emissions. Don’t worry, Jaime didn’t know what they were either. Doctor Polaris says they’re magnets with a single pole and he not only created them but he injected himself with them. In addition to his powers they create an invulnerable skin around him and lots of other bad stuff for BB. He blasts at BB and the Scarab says he’s deceased. Uh oh. 

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA KINGDOM COME SPECIAL: THE KINGDOM 

So far these JSA KC specials have been outstanding. This one is no different. We open with Gog telling everyone the sixth day is a day of rest. He said they could stay and fast with him or go out into the world and spread his word. Gog’s “gifts” really start to show their true nature now. Not having night terrors anymore, Sand has lost the ability to save those in terrible danger and now he feels there’s something wrong with the Earth. Damage has turned into a narcissistic ass (“This is what a God looks like.”) who can’t stop talking about himself or looking in a mirror. While listening to his press conference Stargirl decides enough is enough and goes for help. At his clinic, Doctor Mid-Nite suffers not being able to diagnose and save lives like he did when he was blind. Citizen Steel, not one of the “gifted,” is wishing he was while visiting his nieces and nephews because he can’t feel anything. Continuing his storyline from the backup of the last JSA special, Starman is at an employment office. He confided in Mr. Terrific that he has a mission in this era but he doesn’t want the rest of the JSA to get their hands dirty. He’ll be working the night shift at a Metropolis graveyard. Stargirl drags Damage to the only person she thinks will get through to him. Atom Smasher. He takes Damage back to his father’s house (Al Pratt). He thinks it will do him good but nothing gets through to him and he loses his temper and destroys his fathers house. Before Atom Smasher has a chance to step on him some other JSA members show up and so does Magog who takes Damage back to the border of Kandaq. Northwind and the Feitherians come to greet Gog where he proceeds to tell them all to get on their knees and worship him. Sand shows up at headquarters to tell Mr. Terrific there won’t be an Earth after Gog’s seven days are up. 

REIGN IN HELL #5

Black Alice seems to be the only one having any fun in Hell. Everyone else is terribly worried but not really doing all that much while all Hell is literally breaking loose. Lobo is busy pulling the tongues out of demons who won’t talk. Blue Devil and Etrigan make it out of the explosion although Etrigan is a little worse for the wear. He explains  the Lobo that’s been in the mortal world is a doppleganger construct created by Neron and it was the real Lobo’s torment which powered Labyrinth and also kept him imprisoned. Etrigan rips Blue Devils humanity from him to make him a full-blood demon and tells him he must serve him in order to get it back. Ragman has a terrible surge of power in his suit from the evil souls in Hell but Nightshade saves him for the time being. On his way to kill Neron, Lobo runs into Zatanna and her father. Zatarra tries to stop him but Lobo rips his head off before he has a chance. His blood tells Zatanna to consign his soul to the abyss which she does obliterating his very essence. In the backup story Doctor Occult finally finds Rose but she’s much changed. She was in Purgatory but tried to leave to fight with Satanus. Instead she was remanded to Labyrinth but set loose when this all started.  And, she doesn’t want to leave. 

SUPERMAN #682 

Number 6 in the “New Krypton” story  brings us back to the reality of Clark’s loss.  While visiting his father’s grave he finds Bizarro also mourning the loss. Agent Liberty requests a leave of absence from the President to investigate Doomsday’s sudden appearance. Supergirl joins her parents and many other Kandorians on some sort of mission. The Guardian tries to get a job with the Science Police and is initially turned down but asked to come back after word of sudden Kryptonian attacks. It’s bad. While trying to take possession of Parasite at DuBarry , a group of Kryptonians led by Gor kill all the officers escorting him simply because they fought. Next, Supergirl helps collect Silver Banshee, Toyman is taken from Arkham leaving a beaten Nightwing and Robin behind and Prankster is taken easily from Black Lightning. We catch a glimpse of Atlas hearing all of this on the news and he seems worried he might be next but it’s Bizarro who’s the next target. Superman takes off in a rage and demands and explanation from the Kandorians. Apparently Supergirl and her father weren’t aware of the killings but her mother Alura was. The plan was to collect Superman’s foes so they’d all be safer but she called the cops “collateral damage.” She tells him not to worry, the villains are alive. They’re in the Phantom Zone. Unfortunately poor Mon-El had no idea he was having visitors. 

SUPERMAN AND BATMAN VS. VAMPIRES AND WEREWOLVES #4 (OF 6)

I can’t tell you how much I’m beginning to despise this book. Sadly I’m one of those people who must finish what she starts. In a hospital Superman finds Chadd, the young boy he failed to save. He’s in the process of stealing blood and Superman thinks he might be able to save him because he hasn’t fed yet. Green Arrow and Jason Blood show up just as some more werewolves attack. They try to kill Chadd but Superman prevents them. Batman says all his research has shown the condition is irreversible. He whispers Langstrom as Superman flies him away to safety. Green Arrow explains Dr. Combs once tracked him down while looking for people who had died and come back. Dimeter shows up with a werewolf named Janko. He says they were the first of Combs’ experiments and they believe it can be reversed. Another gang of vampires and werewolves shows up and Blood must call on Etrigan for help. Combs shows up and is caught but Etrigan says him, Dimeter and Janko are not what they seem.

TEEN TITANS #65 

Cassie’s evil nephew Lycus is still beating her up while the rest of the time finally arrives only they have a giant hell hound to deal with. They’re hitting hit with everything they have and are just making him angrier. Finally Red Devil works together with Bombshell to open a portal inside the hound and blow him up. Gross, but effective. Cassie’s lariat stops working at a very inopportune moment in her fight allowing Lycus to strangle her with it. She literally sees stars for a moment and after a small explosion she turns up in a new outfit completely unscathed. Cassie’s powers have always been borrowed and she finally realized what Zeus’ hint about beating Lycus with her own power meant. Killing the hell hound made Lycus stronger but it still wasn’t enough for this new and improved Wonder Girl. She makes him disappear by wrapping her new lasso around his neck and telling him to, “Go the hell away.” Cassie meets her mom on a train home and has a heart to heart about her new attitude on life while Zeus looks on without them knowing. Sadly the issue ends not so good for Bombshell. It’s revealed her own mother is the one behind the attempts on her life and she’s not stopping anytime soon. 

TRINITY #26 

Realities are bleeding together all over the world causing more than a little confusion. Tarot asks Charity to be her anchor while she goes on a slayer-esque journey of past Seers. Tarot’s been seeing lights for months, she only ever had a name, Wordsoul or the living spirit of the Earth. After their journey they are both able to see the actual beings of the Tarot and they are the symbols for the Wordsoul. Tarot thinks if the Wordsoul isn’t fixed, she’ll die. The second half of the issue shows Morgaine and Enigma looking for their third. Turns out, it’s that kooky alien Konvikt from the beginning of the series who bugged the crap out of me. Oh well. Konvikt and his little companion Graak are looking to repay a blood debt he owes to the family of the man he killed, Anthony Vittaglia. They find Anthony very much alive, as a result of the reality shift, which hurts Konvikt’s brain.  He thinks his honor is at stake and flashes back to his sentencing hearing where he remembers first losing it. It seems Graak was his speaker advocate, since they took his speech from him in captivity, and they must remain within a certain space with each other at all times or they will die. Morgaine shows up to offer him a way to repair his honor.  She and Enigma are also able to see the beings of the Tarot.

WONDER WOMAN #26 

Diana’s got her own event going on that starts here. Rise of the Olympian. The Gods have returned from space to find the word changed. They see evidence of Darkseid’s destruction and Athena cries for their home and wonders where her champions were. Diana is on the job at the Department of Metahuman Affairs and takes a team out on a call to a metahuman disturbance at a shopping mall. Director Steel takes Agent Tresser out of the lineup for a chat. He’s got pictures of him holding hands with Wonder Woman who he was supposed to be spying on but he’s able to fight his way out before they throw him in the brig. At Society Headquarters Dr. Morrow is arguing with Dr. Minerva (Cheetah) about something they’ve created. He seems genuinely shaken by it and wants to call it back but she insists it goes ahead. When Diana and her team arrive at the mall she realizes the situation is much more serious than she’d imagined and almost immediately gets into costume. We see the terrible fury of this new villain. Blood and body parts are all over the place and she shows no mercy whatsoever. Wonder Woman engages in combat only to realize not only is this creature a teleporter, she’s a God. WW feels the need to start getting very violent only to be dociled quickly when the creature holds a hostage. Horribly she kills the hostage with her bare hand right in front of a kneeling WW. Appropriately, this new villains name is Genocide. She steals WW’s lasso after beating her like few others could. Athena, sensing her defeat, gives back her immortality and starts to fade. I’m very excited to see where this goes.

So, what did YOU think? What are you excited about and what could you live without?

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