Best of DC: Week of December 4th, 2019

Best of this Week: Justice League #37 – Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez and Tom Napolitano

I had a really difficult time between choosing this or Deathstroke #50, but ultimately, this was just far more epic.

The war for Justice and Doom has been building up and raging for months now and it’s been leading up to issues like this one and I am here for it. Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez must have been binging a bunch of shonen anime to prepare for this because this book was full of so many amazing moments of overcoming the odds, sacrifices and comebacks that would fit perfectly amongst the best Dragon Ball or Naruto storylines.

To start off, Lex asks if Batman and the rest of the heroes are smart enough to surrender to the impending Doom as he pilots the Hall of Doom, commanding his forces. Jarro, however, steals the show by saying that they’re nowhere near that smart and that they’re about to get real #$%^ stupid and Batman adorably agrees. I swear I love them. Even more so as Batman himself pilots the Hall of Justice like he’s Roger Smith from The Big O or Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

The double charge between the generic forces of the real Legions of Doom and the various heroes of Earth was ASTOUNDING to look at. With Damian Wayne leading the charge, the heroes scream with rage and Hope as they rush the battlefield. Almost everyone’s there: Jay Garrick, Superman Prime One Million, Vampire Wonder Woman, Kamandi, most of the Titans excluding Kyle Rayner, but even Guy Gardner is front and center, ready for battle!

Meanwhile, the rest of the League do their best to telepathically turn the Earth from Doom to Justice with the help of Miss Martian and the remaining Starmen. They get far enough that they start to blur the Symbol of Doom in the sky, but they lack the power to disrupt it altogether. The only two that could reasonably do it are Hawkgirl and her son Shayne, but they’re lost in space with John Stewart looking for them. Superman motivates them all to keep trying until help arrives.

As that’s all going on, Hawkgirl does her best to defend her son from The Ultra-Monitor, the fused body of the Monitor, World Forger and Anti-Monitor at the helm. Jorge Jimenez gives her defense so much weight as she holds back the worst of his blasts with her Wings. He facial expression sells her pain and the destruction the Ultra-Monitor causes is beautiful with debris flying around them. Alejandro Sanchez accentuates this by making all of the colors cosmically beautiful, bright and vibrant. Both the Ultra-Monitor’s beams and Hawkgirl’s wings are enough to overpower the darkness in space, but unfortunately, he proves stronger than her.

When things look to be their most dire, out of nowhere comes John Stewart in The Flash Mobile, plowing into the Ultra-Monitor with enough Speed Force to separate the brothers from each other. The impact and subsequent explosion are absolutely devastating and REALLY cool, it’s all made even better when John steps out from the wreckage and poses like the damn hero that he is. This entire run has been made of epic moments, mostly drawn by Jimenez and this one takes the cake, especially because John Stewart remains one of the most effortlessly cool heroes out there.

The Anti-Monitor, sensing his impending ass beating, cries out for his mother across the multiverse. We then cut to her in the middle of destroying Earth-44, a universe where the heroes of the Earth are all robots made by Dr. Will Tornado (a cool combination of Will Magnus and Red Tornado). Earth-44 chooses Justice over Doom and DocTornado tells her to go to Hell. Perpetua, hearing the cries of her son, chooses an even more dastardly fate for Earth-44 than just crushing it. She palms the planet and throws it like she was Nolan Ryan (I had to research a baseball reference for you guys, appreciate it) towards her sons. It is epic as hell to see, her hair whips with the force she throws it with, there’s a tear in space-time and DocTornado embraces his end like Bardock, basking in his virtue.

His is not the only sacrifice, however, as The World Forger makes a tough decision. Because of almost all of his energy being sapped from him the Anti-Monitor, he only has enough left for one short portal before the planet impacts all of them. It’s somber to see as The World Forger looks downward towards his hammer. He muses of the other times he’s been reformed, but knowing that Perpetua is in control of the Multiverse that may not happen again. He completes his full character arc, going from a villain that wanted to destroy the other universes for one Perfect one, to a hero willing to sacrifice himself for the good of all.

The World Forger picks up his hammer, flexes his muscles as he gets into his strongest hitting stance and prepares for the end. Sanchez does their best to sell just how hot the planet is coming in with the screen being coated in purple-ish, red hue with the next panel being mostly stark white with red streaks.

The fighting continues on Earth-Prime as everyone is in the thick of it. Batman and Luthor duel in the crimson skies, Wildcat and Kamandi watch each others backs and Lightning, Zatanna and JSA Doctor Fate hold their own, but are obviously getting winded. Luthor cracks the hull of the Hall of Justice as the rest of the League feel something coming for them, but Luthor brings the hammer down and causes the Hall to have a crash landing. Damian, Green Arrow and the other forces, presumably, begin to get overwhelmed and all hope starts to dissipate…

Until a beam of energy disrupts the Symbol of Doom entirely, causing Perpetua to pay attention and Luthor to see a supercharged Justice League ready to put down his movement.

Everything about this issue was amazing. Start to finish, the writing was stellar, the art and coloring was exceptional and the lettering was perfect and immaculate. I found myself getting pulled in to the Hawkgirl and World Forger stories and felt satisfied with their payoffs. I got hyped when the battle kicked off and the energy stayed on that level the entire time.

As much as Dark Nights Metal was a saga with twists and turns, this run of Justice League has far surpassed it in my opinion. Scott Snyder wrote this in such a way that it was easy to get invested in the stories of every member of the League, even managing to return Hawkgirl to a state of prominence since her entire New 52 absence and making her an amazingly compelling character. The same can be said for the new addition of the World Forger, the third brother of the Monitor and Anti-Monitor. His design and character arc was amazing despite my initial misgivings.

Jorge Jimenez and Alejandro Sanchez are an amazing team together. Jimenez has alway been amazing on all of the books that he’s been on, but almost every issue of Justice League that he’s done has been beyond amazing. Scenes are drawn with dynamic posing, epic scale and weight that makes you feel EVERYTHING that the characters are going through. Sanchez brings these amazing scenes to life with stylish and shiny looking colors that really pop on the page and draws yours eyes in. Amazingly, nothing is lost in color or details that either of these guys make and it makes the reading and viewing that much more fantastic.

Overall, this is one of those runs that comes along every once in a while and gives you things to remember. Given that this is the penultimate issue to the Justice/Doom War and it’s already given us so much, who knows how much more there is in store for us in the future? High Recommend!

Best of DC: Week of November 6th, 2019

Best of this Week: Legion of Doom #35 (Justice League #35) – Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Francis Manapul, HI-FI and Tom Napolitano

Doom is Here.

The Justice League is in shambles after the explosive events of the last issue which saw Starman’s death, The Anti-Monitor being coaxed back to his mother’s side and Hawgirl’s hubris leading to Perpetua regaining her lost power. Just when victory seemed at hand, it was ripped away in an instance and everything that Lex Luthor had planned and fought for was finally coming to fruition. We’ve all been wondering why the Symbol of Doom had been appearing above the skie of the DC Universe and now we know. Doom is winning.

This issue picks back up with the League still reeling from what just happened. Superman is defiant in the face of defeat, but the Starman of the Justice Society tells him that since the connection between him and the other Starmen is gone, then Will Payton the Starman of Earth-0, must have been killed in the battle. This leads Jarro to surmise that everything in Starman’s vision is coming true, that The Last Great Disaster was still coming. Kamandi sits in utter defeat, thinking of his world, the likely result of that disaster.

This is especially distressing for him because he had so much hope going into the time travel fight. He comes from such a horrible world where anthropomorphic animals are in a constant war with each other. He thought that everything was hopeless until Wonder Woman convinced him that e timeline was worth fighting for. It’s almost because of him that all of the other Leagues were brought together and given hope, so knowing that things didn’t go exactly according to plan is probably crushing him.

The Leagues that managed to get back to Earth-0 are unaware of what happened out in Space and don’t know that the Anti-Monitor took over the body that he had begun to share with his brothers, the Monitor and the World Forger. Superman thinks that they’ll still be able to get their help as they still have the pieces of The Totality (The macguffin that would have saved the universe), but Batman rationalizes that whatever happened out there must have been absolutely dire. As they go to check on Miss Martian and the other Titans, they find that she’s had a massive psychic wave wash over her because of the Symbol of Doom. Raven feels it too as all of the universes negative emotions are dragged to the surface and amplified. It’s not only this Earth and this universe that can see it.

It’s all of them.

Francis Manapul does an amazing job of capturing the scale and danger of Perpetua’s victory by stretching the Symbol of Doom across six vertical panels showing the other heroes of the world looking up at the sky. Batwoman in Gotham, Black Canary and Green Arrow in Seattle, The Marvels in Philadelphia, Swamp Thing and Detective Chimp in Louisiana, CATMAN IN TANZANIA and the Rocket Red Brigade in St. Petersburg all look toward the sky and see that Doom is coming for them all. Each of these panels are colored in Manapul’s almost airbrush-y style. They’re vibrant, but still give off that feeling of bad tidings.

All of this is absolutely terrifying because there are so many villains and criminals active in the DC Universe. We’ve been seeing the result of Lex’s different offerings over the course of the various stories and while some like Jason Todd’s supervillain team are innocuous, others like Mr. Freeze have been committing absolute terrors in Gotham. Doom is seeping its way into the hearts of the people and they absolutely love it. Heck, this book even starts with a guy holding a sign in front of the Hall of Justice saying “Luthor was Right.”

It doesn’t stop there as it can be seen from Darkseid’s Ghost Sector, Oa, Barbatos’ prison in the Dark Multiverse, the Crime Syndicate’s Earth-3 (even though all of them are supposed to be dead) and even the World Orrery in the center of the Multiverse. The power of Doom itself stretches far and wide and one world gets an unfortunate taste of it. We are then transported to Earth-19, the Gotham by Gaslight Universe, as Bruce Wayne and Inspector Gordon look up to the sky, seeing the Symbol of Doom and Perpetua herself.

The scene is painted in a beautiful purple hue and heavy inks. Everything feels utterly dark, not only because of the setting, but also because of the panic on the people’s faces. They scream that they’ve gone man, that the world is ending. Perpetua condemns the world for being so primitive because of the heavy fog of industry and their lean towards Justice. Batman himself tries to call for help, but the signal is blocked. Perpetua takes notice of him and chastises him for his choices, and uses her power to begin the destruction of the world. Batman realizes the end is near and reveals the knowledge of the Multiverse to Gordon, who responds by asking what the hell can they do against her and Batman replies they’ll do what they can, a hero to the end.

Perpetua crashes her staff into Earth-19, sending a shockwave through the planet that cracks it apart with fire and thunder. Starting out with one wide shot panel of Perpetua towering over the city and slowly pulling in to the terror of the citizens running away, we can feel the fear and terror on the people’s faces. Even as Batman tries to save a frantic child amidst the utter destruction, we know that there is truly nothing he can do as Perpetua announces that there are now only Fifty-One Earths. It’s heartbreaking as it all ends with a distorted, yellow panel of Perpetua’s evil eyes.

Meanwhile, Hawkgirl and Shayne (the child of Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter) drift in the emptiness of space. Hawkgirl’s still suffering from her injuries at the hands of Lex Luthor, a result of her thinking that she would be able to get revenge for the death of J’onn J’onzz, but unfortunately allowing him to get the drop on her, causing the entire plan to go awry. There’s still a small bit of hope as Hawkgirl and Shayne manage to reach Batman on the Javelin’s comms. Batman warns them that they need to escape as quickly as they can as they won’t stay hidden for long. The warning rings true as Perpetua allows Luthor to hit the Javelin, stranding them in space and finally giving Luthor the reigns to attack the League head on.

This issue was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. While I have criticized The Batman Who Laughs for being an OP character that always wins, that has always come with the caveat that he’s just another Batman and has plans on top of plans. Perpetua and Luthor are different because it is shown that there is a small chance that they can fail. The last issue planted that idea in our minds with Hawkgirl being the linchpin to their defeat, but her hubris allowed Doom to win. Perpetua took advantage and is now showing what happens to those that aren’t on her side.

I love tales on a cosmic scale and this book is building to bigger and better things, not only in one universe, but all of them. Perpetua is doing something similar to what Crisis on Infinite Earths did back in the 80s and is bringing together all of the different universes and systematically destroying them to make way for something better in her image. It’s not just the normal universes that are affected either, it’s the Dark Multiverse as well and if things are to be believed, the Tales from the Dark Multiverse books could be what makes Scott Snyder’s Justice League the center point for the next big Crisis.

Francis Manapul is pulling heavy duty with his work in this issue as everything looked amazing. The heroes looked like they were in utter defeat, designs were amazing as always and Perpetua looked absolutely threatening. She’s such an ethereal being with dark, dark shadows that have just a small splash of color in them. Her eyes are piercing and you can almost get the feeling that she can snap you out of existence at any moment. She’s a wonderful new addition to DCs cast of Cosmic characters and Manapul does an excellent job of portraying as a grand threat.

This run of Justice League and the stories that surround it, much like Dark Knights: Metal, are exactly what I’ve been looking for in comics. I love it when villains have their way and get their wins in. What makes this even better is that Perpetua and Apex Lex are absolutely compelling villains that make good, smart use of the situations that they find themselves in. Lex Luthor is finally achieving things that he tried back in the Villains United days, the Injustice Gang days and every other time he tried to achieve global domination, but failed. With the help of his new evil Cosmic mother, short of an evil alternate universe Batman, there is nothing that can stop them.

Doom is Here. Doom is Winning.

Best of DC: Week of October 30th, 2019

Best of this Week: Tales from the Dark Multiverse – The Death of Superman – Jeff Loveness, Brad Walker, Drew Hennessey, Norm Rapmund, John Kalisz and Clayton Cowles

We all know the story of the Death of Superman.

It was one of the few times that Superman fought a threat that pushed him to his limits, ultimately meeting his “end” before a triumphant return after he had been presumed dead. However, what would have happened had Superman not come back as soon as he did? What if someone wanted revenge for his death and saw his passing as a failure on the part of his friends and allies? What if that person were Lois Lane, fueled by the anger of losing her loving husband, enraged enough to become the change the world needed without its greatest hero?

The book begins with Tempus Fuginaut questioning why the darkness keeps returning, why it seems to keep attempting to poison the rest of the multiverse and he is at a loss. He breaks when he mentions worlds that are already dark because of tragedy and get darker still. We then cut to Superman’s battle with Doomsday and his eventual death right up to Lois cradling his body. Where the original story sees her crying and appreciating all that the rest of the heroes were doing while the fight was going on, this book sees her turn to them in fury. She asks why none of them were there for him, why none of them helped him fight.

Brad Walker does an excellent job of conveying Lois’ emotions. Here, she is shown to be far more angry, her eyes showing a pain that honestly, I don’t think we’ve ever seen from her character. Her tears are well detailed, dripping down her cheeks with maybe some bit of mascara mixed in for effect. Her brow furrows and she lashes out at Batman in particular once he tries to comfort her.

What’s most interesting about this take is the idea that those closest to Clark had been shunted to the side in favor of the League who Lois saw as attention seekers with no regard for his real family. In the original story, Lois and the Kents were in the forefront and were absolutely devastated at the funeral. In this story, Lois is barely able to see the proceedings as the crowd blocks her and some members of the League stop for photos (maybe, Hal Jordan stops and waves at someone). Lois is further disgusted as Lex Luthor (with luxurious long, red hair) unveils a golden statue of the Man of Steel and promises to “live up to the hope” of what Superman believed humanity was capable of. Lois feels that Clark would have found it all s disgusting.

Time goes by and the world turns back into the cesspool that it was before Superman even lit the sky up with hope. There are headlines that crime has skyrocketed and Lois can do nothing but look at it all with despair. Lois Lane had always been a giant beacon of hope, even before she met Clark, but something about his death and the way that world handled it just broke her. Her body language at her desk and later, Superman’s grave give off heavy feelings of sadness and depression. She can’t even have a good night’s rest without thinking about him and the shoddy state of the world after his passing. Superman gave so much to humanity and they’ve all just pissed it away from her point of view.

She visits Ma Kent and comforts her as the Kents couldn’t even go to their son’s funeral to say their goodbyes. As they embrace, Martha tells Lois that Jonathan fell into a coma after a heart attack and you can feel her brokenness as she laments that “her boys are gone.” It rips at the heart to see, a testament to Brad Walker’s emotional art and Loveness’ amazing script. She stays with Ma Kent for an unstated period of time before making her way to the Fortress of Solitude to deliver Superman’s cape back to his Kryptonian home.

She puts herself in a fetal position before the statues of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van and suddenly the form of Eradicator appears before her. John Kalisz is given a ton of space to shine as this is one of the most visually dynamic sequence of pages in the book. Eradicator shimmers with a bright and vibrant shade of red accentuated by a white form. Energy surges around him in the form of circular marks, like bubbles as one exhales while swimming underwater. Even without a mouth, his eyes emote for him. Showing his own anger and lament after failing to save Superman in time.

Lois, with tears in her eyes, offers her body as a vessel for his power as he cannot sustain it in his current form. He is reluctant at first, thinking that her body wouldn’t be able to take it, but upon seeing her resolve and want to finish Superman’s mission, he allows her to take his power. She is then showered in his energy in a bright blast as he dissipates into her. The Fortress of Solitude is destroyed with the red of the explosion contrasted by the blues and whites of the ice. Things simmer down for a moment before another single beam of light shoots out from the ice, revealing Lois in her Super-form.

Her costume is amazing. Mirroring the bloody logo that made the Death of Superman story feel so visceral, she already feels like a different “hero” altogether, choosing to forego bright colors in favor of a black bodysuit and Superman’s torn cape. She vows to make the world better, to make it a world that deserved Superman. The way that she goes about it very similar to Injustice Superman’s approach, but instead of raising an army, she is the army. She takes down predatory banks, ends wars, feeds the hungry, kills the corrupt and does so without a hint of remorse. She begins to wonder why Clark never used his power in that way. The questions swirl around her mind as she wonders if Clark was truly naive or if he was just afraid of truly Saving humanity for whatever reason.

Many have asked similar questions over the years with the only real answer being that Superman wants humanity to advance on their own with him being a guiding hand, but not a firm one. Lois, only fueled by revenge, doesn’t have the same restraint. Eventually she finds Lex Luthor, knowing that he’s been the cause of all of the world’s troubles since Superman’s death. He doesn’t bat an eye as he admits to his heinous crimes; funding wars and conflicts, struck down climate regulations, created child soldier and even murdering his secretary just because he could. He expects Lois to bring him to justice, claiming that he owns far more judges than she could stop.

In a terrifying moment, she bursts through the glass window separating them and grabs him by the throat. Luthor is unable to speak, unable to stop her at all and the motif of tears continues as she tells him that Superman was Clark Kent. Luthor’s face, abject terror mixed with the loss of breath is both horrifying to see and absolutely gratifying considering his actions. She flies him past Earth’s atmosphere as quickly as she can, burning him to ash and bone in her hands before continuing her mission.

These are my favorite pages in the book. Loveness wrote it in such a way that all of the emotion is able to be carried by with little dialogue and the few words that are spoken were powerful. Walker made sure to draw these pages with an amazing amount of depth to them. Lois’ boiling anger is painted on her face through her tears, her body language indicates that she feels her actions are righteous and the ease that she’s able to keep hold of Luthor as she destroys him shows a level of control over her new powers and it is amazing. Kalisz makes no bones about showing how Lois’ inner darkness has taken over, showing her shrouded in fire and feeling nothing about what she has done.

The training wheels are taken off by this point as Lois has seemingly gone on a tear through the rogues gallery of almost everyone; burning Intergang, Cadmus, Ra’s al Ghul, Ares, Black Adam, Deathstroke and finally the Joker which draws the ire of Batman. He confronts her about what she’s done, leading to them having a fight. Batman does his best, but she tells him how much Clark actually held back against him, even going so far as to say that Clark pitied him and wished that he would stop being Batman. Bruce looks at her with a seething rage, saying that “he doesn’t stop” to which Lois says that she knows. While we don’t see the aftermath of their conflict up close, we do see her heat vision make a hug blast before she flies away.

This stuck out to me because, unlike Injustice that went out of its way to show all of the brutality that Superman inflicted upon the heroes of the world, we can interpret similar actions from how she was able to easily kill Batman alone. We don’t need to see what happened to know that it was heinous and that she likely had cut a swath through the other “glory hounds” as well. As she looks out to the vast emptiness of space, she sees her own truth. Humanity can’t be saved because they don’t want to be. Batman was the pinnacle of that and now that he’s gone, she’s finally realized it. Batman was one of the greatest humans to exist, but he was too wrapped up in his own emotion and damn anyone that tried to stop him.

What would a Death of Superman retelling be without the “pretenders?” Granted, I think this bit of the story took some liberties, but it was still horrific to see. She goes after Cyborg Superman and immediately sees through his ruse. They have a tussle and as it appears that she’s about to lose, Steel and Superboy show up only to be crushed and heat visioned to death. I suppose Superboy’s clone DNA doesn’t make him as invincible as Superman, but I don’t think Cyborg Superman has the power to control metal at will to crush Steel either. Lois proceeds to fight Cyborg Superman for God knows how long, not caring about property damage or the amount of people killed.

She looks around, seeing all of the damage and suddenly, in a black suit, Clark returns. He apologizes for how long it took and sees that she’s been fighting Cyborg Superman, then he takes a look at the crowd of people and sees that they’re afraid of her and he questioned why. Unfortunately, this leaves him distracted enough for Cyborg Superman to blast the pair with a ray of Kryptonite Energy, killing him and leaving his face frozen with terror at Lois. She kills Cyborg Superman and cradles his body again, this time knowing that she’s the one that kills him.

I loved this book because it was absolutely masterful. Lois Lane is such a great character that rarely gets stories of her own these days, aside from her current ongoing series by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. She is always portrayed as a strong character and seeing her succumb to a weakness like rage is refreshing in a dark way. One criticism I could draw is that this story focused very little on her journalism, but in contrast, how often do we get a super powered Lois Lane?

Brad Walker, Drew Hennessey, Norm Rapmund and John Kalisz absolutely killed it in the art department. It was brutal without blood and the motif of tears and fire was a nice addition. Waller has such a distinctive and sharp style that is accentuated by Hennessey and Rapmund’s inks and elevated by Kalisz’ colors. This book was high quality and beautiful.

High recommend!

Best of DC: Week of October 2nd, 2019

Best of this Week: DCeased #5 – Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Stefano Gaudiano, Rain Beredo, Saida Temofonte

You can almost hear the sound of hope fading away.

After the explosion caused by Captain Atom decimates the cities of Baltimore, Washington and Metropolis, Superman and Wonder Woman are left in shock and horror. They stand in the ruins of Washington, gathering their thoughts on what they’ve just witnessed when they suddenly remember everyone in Metropolis. Clark rushes off to his city, expecting the worst possible outcome, only to find the top half of the Daily Planet safe: protected and saved by a distraught Lex Luthor.

Trevor Hairsine’s art paired with Rain Beredo’s colors create this brutal air of bleakness initially.. The initial few pages are drawn in wide shots, making Superman and Wonder Woman look small amidst the sheer destruction. The pages are colored in a cold grey with a gust of smoke wafting in the distance. The first color we see outside of their costumes is the green from Lex’s protective dome. Green sort of becomes a hopeful motif through the book as it’s presented a few times as the color of saviors.

In the darkest hour, even devils turn to the light.

All things seem amazingly hopeful from that point on. Superman finds his family safe and sound. Damian, Dinah and Ollie enlist the help of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in establishing a safe zone for other living people among the newly growing forests of Gotham. The Hall of Justice acts as a refuge for other heroes and regular citizens, they even start making plans for arks to escape the Earth. They destroy everything that’s able to mass broadcast and even make new land on Themyscira.

Throughout all of this, however, you still never get the feeling that everything is all right. While the League are doing harrowing feats to save the planet, backgrounds are still colored in a washed out manner while the colorful heroes are juxtaposed against them. Even the greener backgrounds in the Harley/Ivy scenes have this dark twinge to them despite the green of Ivy’s new forest refuge being so prominent. Beredo likely does this on purpose to slowly sew the idea that not even the goodness of green is guaranteed, this being backed up by an infected Killer Croc showing up during.

Things seem hopeful until they all hear a buzzing in their minds, distracting them just long enough for something invisible to cut Lex in half and scratch The Flash, Barry Allen. Martian Manhunter somehow managed to get infected at some point and through the combined efforts of the heroes, mostly Firestorm, he is killed, but not before Barry is infected and runs away. Superman stops Wallace West from going after him and chooses to stop Barry himself. He knows he’ll never be able to catch Barry, so after confirming with Cyborg that Barry’s dead, Superman runs into him head on, obliterating his body.

Martian Manhunter’s sudden appearance is the exact moment when the motif is betrayed. J’onn is one of the most powerful heroes in all of the DC Universe and he’s almost always seen as a figure of goodness and help. To see him as a monster and the brutal way in which he kills Lex is a shock. The only warning we get is everyone feeling the buzzing before Lex’s torso is removed from his legs. Hope is shattered in an instant.

Barry’s scream of agony, J’onn’s dead eyes of rage and the look of horror on Ollie’s face sells the sheer terror of all that’s happening. They allowed themselves to relax a little and it’s cost them everything.

*SUPER SPOILERIFICS AHEAD*

Unfortunately for Clark, he finds two of Barry’s infected fingers impaled into his abs.

It’s unexpected, distressing and unreasonably cruel as we watch Superman say his final goodbyes before the infection takes him too. He tries to fly away from Earth, but succumbs to the infection when he nears the moon.

*SPOILER SWIM IS OVER*

DCeased does everything that it can to build up the idea that maybe there’s a way out of this situation. The heroes do everything that they possibly can to ensure that the Anti-Life Virus doesn’t spread any further than it already has. It’s decimated the Earth through its initial spread, Captain Atom and there’s no telling how much damage the Flash was able to cause by himself. I had high hopes that maybe Superman, Wonder Woman and Mera could be a beacon of light in this time of utter darkness. Hell, even seeing Harley and Ivy do their part filled me with joy.

But I loved it even more when that sense of hope was ripped right away from us.

I hope there are even more stories like DCeased in the pipeline because even a few one-shots from the perspectives of outer space heroes like Adam Strange or the rest of the Green Lantern Corps at large would be amazing. I know I’ve trashed Marvel Zombies for doing much the same thing in the past, but It’s been a long time since then and we need new zombie media to sate our own rabid appetites.

Best of DC: Week of September 18th, 2019

Best of this Week: Year of the Villain: Lex Luthor #1 – Jason Latour, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, Tomeu Morey and Tom Napolitano

Doom is Here.

Lex Luthor has gone through an amazing transformation over the last few years. He was just a rich douchebag when the New 52 started and this eventually led to him becoming a hero in his own right, even taking up the mantle of Superman after Clark died during DCYou’s Superman: Truth arc. When the status quo needed resetting after the League destroys the Source Wall and Luthor was called to join a large group of heroes and villains to stop a new threat to the universe. He saw the error of his heroic ways and embraced Doom after seeing just how powerful entropy could be.

Everything he’s been planning has been leading up to Year of the Villain and things are in full swing with the bad guys finally having the edge, but there’s just something that Luthor can’t satisfy yet: His own urge to be the ONE Luthor. His ultimate belief that he himself is the pinnacle of the multiversal Luthors and this book sets out to prove him right in a variety of ways.

Starting out on Earth-38, a universe reminiscent of the 1960s Superboy comics, Lex recruits the aid of Alexander Luthor, a younger version of himself that still rocks the ginger bowl cut and genius of his future self. Lex likely sees the malleability of this Young Luthor and sees just how similar their upbringings were ad hopes that this child can see the pending darkness and failures that other Luthors have succumbed to. Lionel Luthor is drunk and hears it all, insisting that Lex take him instead, but the Apex Predator incinerates him as Alexander looks on with nonchalance.

Bryan Hitch might be in his finest form in years right now. Somehow, he manages to make a middle school science fair eerie and uncomfortable and make a bowl cut mildly threatening. Tomeu Morey’s coloring of these first pages paints a picture of the perfect suburban setting with darkness just sitting underneath and curiosity from the Young Luthor, the same glint in his eyes.

The next two Earths play in parallel to each other as opposite futures. Earth-45 is a desiccated world where brands brought the world to its knees along with a Doomsday Luthor that squandered the world and destroyed it. Earth-32 seems to be a world of peace where a Martian Kal-El and Lex Luthor coexist as best friends in the Superman and Batman roles.

Luthor has a special hate for this Lex as he’s chosen to live in the shadow of the alien and sicks the Doomthor on Kal-El, thinking that Bat Lex will abandon his fight with Apex Lex to save him, but a Luthor is still a Luthor and he calls Apex Lex’s bluff, but he’s seen all that he has to. He knows that Bat Lex is absolutely Doomed because of his heroic nature and chooses to let him suffer on an Earth that will absolutely be killed by Doomthor.

Luthors hate for both of these other versions is palpable though. Lex has made body modifications for power before, but never once has he allowed himself to become a mindless brute because of it. He doesn’t want to see society utterly destroyed like Earth-45 Luthor did. Even his transformation into the peak form of what a Human-Martian hybrid should be is more enlightening than dangerous.

He very likely also sees Earth-32 Luthor as one of the bigger multiversal insults. Lex Luthor stands in no one’s shadow and seeing him become a creature of the night, the Batman to a Martian Superman, is low. It also echoes back to the years when all he got was guff from the Superhero community and the American populace at large by portraying himself as a hero. It’s the opposite of his current goal of absolute Doom in that this peddling the false hope of Justice.

Doomthor is revealed in his full form during the Earth-32 scenes and he looks amazing. Bryan Hitch draws him like a bald Doomsday, but has the LexCorp logo adorning his chest. He’s an absolute unit of grey and white, muscles pulsating, arm cocked back ready to take Kal-El’s head off and face so full of rage. Of all of the alternate Doomsdays we’ve seen, I think this might be my favorite.

Lex travels to Earth-1 to a future that I certainly hope we see published one day because I absolutely love the Earth-1 stories. This segment begins with who I believe to be Perry White telling an unknown individual of the day when Lex absolutely broke the Superman of that world using the Black Mercy parasite. While the Lex of Earth-1 died after being caught in a fight between Superman and Zod, I suppose as with most other things, DC is choosing to retcon and ignore a past story in favor of this excellent story instead. Lex finds Earth-1 Lex in a hospital bed, likely in a coma and angril screams at him for being made so small, asking how his obsession with Superman is worthy of the name Luthor… but then Apex Lex takes a moment and thinks.

He sees the ultimate Doom that this will lead to. This world, without its great symbol of Hope and Justice, will crumble as it is already a darker reflection of the Prime universe. Bryan Hitch draws Apex Lex’s face with a heated rage contrasted by Morey’s use of muted colors in the room, the sterilized feeling of it all. He grasps the Comatose Lex’s head, preparing snap his neck, but then he relents with stunned silence. Hitch captures this moment with solemn beauty and revelation for what Lex will really have to do to achieve Doom. The Comatose Lex just lies there, smiling. He’s absolutely pleased with himself and finds himself living up to the Luthor name.

After Luthor travels to Earth-50 and likely kills the Luthor of that world, in front of a statue of him replacing the Lincoln Memorial, he has a conversation with Alexander. Alexander asks “why don’t we just kill all of the Luthors when they’re babies” to which Apex Lex answers, “There is no ‘we’ only Luthor.” To me this sounds like Lex could do exactly that, but at the same time, he has to teach Alexander how exactly to be Luthor by seeing all of the mistakes that others have made in the name. By showing him alternate realities, pasts and futures, Alexander can see every possible path there is for him to take and sidestep their particular hurdles to realize his destiny.

The two Luthors meet three more over the course of their adventures, one who became a cobbler and another from the age of Merlin who became a Wizard, two drastically different paths, but neither good enough of the name of Luthor. The final is the one that intrigues me the most, however.

The final Lex appears to be the absolute opposite to Apex Lex. The Luthor who gave up his ambition, his visions of grandeur and embraced the down to Earth nature of his humanity (and a good ginger beard). Through drinking tea mixed with pieces of the Blak Mercy himself, he has lived multiple lives and experienced multiple realities and has seen the many paths just as Apex Lex and Alexander are doing now. The difference is that Bearded Lex sees through Apex Lex, he knows that his hubris and need to be the one and only Lex Luthor is why he’s willing to give up his humanity despite knowing that he will never be. He is but one of many.

This is illustrated excellently through Hitch and Morey portraying Lex in many of the positions of other heroes like Shazam, The Flash, Orion and even as Brainiac himself among others. Morey makes these colors slightly more sepia toned to illustrate that they are potential pasts and futures to give a lived in feel. There’s also no way for Lex to ever be the one true Lex at all and every attempt is just another way to fool himself.

Hearing enough, Alexander killed Bearded Lex, gaining the respect of Apex Lex and finally becoming Luthor…only afterwards, it is revealed that at some point, Alexander was given the Black Mercy plant and acts as back up human DNA for Lex, likely for when his own status quo needs to be reset if his path towards Doom is also the wrong path. Despite the lessons that he was trying to teach, Lex still has an ace up his sleeve, he still has some of his humanity and he knows that no matter what happens, he will remain the one true Lex Luthor.

Of all of the Year of the Villain spotlights, this one is my absolute Favorite. It might just be things that put Luthor in the forefront in general, but there’s just something so great about his new form of evil. He wants to see the utter ruination of good and he’s actually making headway and earning from his past and future mistakes before he can even make these decisions. It peels back the layers of all the men that Lex Luthor could have been and shows us just why Apex Lex is the best version of all of them, because his plans have succeeded without him being subservient, comatose or a mindless beast.

Lex Luthor is here for Doom and I am on board for it.

Best of DC: Week of August 7th, 2019

Runner Up: Justice League #29 – Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Bruno Redondo, Hi-Fi and Tom Napolitano

Jarro is the best new member of the Justice League and I will not be persuaded of the otherwise.

Since the events of No Justice (2018), the Universe has been without Starro, the sentient and powerful telepathic starfish that served as the Justice League’s first ever villain. In an uncharacteristic act of heroism, the conqueror sacrificed his life in an effort to save the universe from being destroyed. All that was left a small part of him that was kept in a jar and maintained his sense of heroism, becoming Batman’s newest son, Jarro.

Jarro is the epitome of “doing his best” as this book involves him single handedly taking on the Legion of Doom.

Lurking in the shadows of the Hall of Doom, listening to their top secret plans, lies Jarro dressed as Robin! He waits for the perfect moment and strikes at Lex and the others! They’re all stunned that someone had the knowledge of their location and the gall to attack them. They all think that they can overpower him, but forget that Jarro still has all of the memories of his former self and creates an energy weapon that knocks them all back, including Sinestro and his constructs.

Though things take a turn, even after Jarro manages to take control of Brainiac for a moment, and Lex gains the upper hand, pinning Jarro to a wall. As he’s about to lay the final blow, the Justice League arrives to save their companion!

Throughout the book, however, there are numerous questionable things that makes it seem like it’s just too good to be true. Jarro is referred to as Batman’s favorite Robin by Sinestro. How did Jarro even find the Hall of Doom and how did the League track him? Hell, when Batman sees Jarro, he SMILES. That’s a huge red flag.

When Jarro begins to spawn more stars and takes over the minds of the Legion, Batman chides him for his actions and eventually realizes that he’s had a star on his face the whole time. Jarro had been showing the good guys a vision where the League wins after deciding that control is the only path to victory after the shared vision he had with Starman in the last issue.

It’s all very reminiscent of any time that the Black Mercy plant is used and while what Jarro did was horrible, Batman manages to convince him that everything will be okay. So he releases the hold on everyone, jumps on Batman’s shoulder and tells the others to prepare for war.

What this book does best is simply allude to the idea that not everything is as it seems. It has little hints planted with things that only a could would say about themselves or their parents thoughts. Told through Jarro’s perspective, it’s good to see that Batman has raised him to be a being of hope and a cute one at that. Even his little Robin costume made me absolutely giddy and excited for the little guy.

Once again, it’s Batman that has to save the day because he’s always the most sound of mind. Though what this story does is shine a light on just how powerful Jarro could be. He managed to take over the minds of the Justice League without anyone being the wiser and shows just what an asset he is. It’s even implied that he has a potential that even he can’t see yet and I’m excited for his future.

Best of DC: Week of July 31st, 2019

Best of this Week: Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2 – Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia and Tom Napolitano

The last case Batman will ever solve, might just be his most terrifying.

Beginning with Batman confronting an older Joe Chill in the past over the dead child in Crime Alley that looks eerily similar to Bruce. Our hero kind of surprises and disarms him by removing all of the weapons he’s hidden around his apartment. Chill seems to have been expecting him, preparing what he calls an “end of an era feast” for Bruce, implying he knows his identity. To make matters even more interesting, he insinuates that he didn’t even kill the Waynes for Marth pearls and makes it seem like there was an even larger plan afoot than anyone realized.

Cutting back to the Nightmare future, Batman and Joker’s Head are taken by surprise as a Speed Force Storm tears through the desert. Never let it be said that Greg Capullo hasn’t been improving his skills at body horror because the tornado is terrifying. Consisting of the constantly shifting, twisting and stretched bodies of Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Jay Garrick and possibly others, the faces scream and cry for Bruce to help them. It’s a shocking and unsettling sight as one can almost hear the deafening cries of atom splitting agony that they’re going through. The deep red of the storm doesn’t help as it just makes things FAR more threatening than they need to be. Bruce and Joker sit in a cave for safety while Bruce laments that there is absolutely nothing that he can do to save them.

The pair continue on, hang gliding through the air, crossing over a base named Fort Waller. Joker tells Batman that originally it was the last bastion of hope, where Mr. Terrific, Dr. Sivana, Ivo and others could combine their knowledge with the powers of the new avatars of the Green and Red to repel those incensed by Luthor. Batman asks him what happens and Joker’s narration ends as they watch the battle. Unknown Soldiers fighting abominations of the Red in a hellish battle of blood and fire until a Swamp Thing appears from the crimson dust of their fight, no longer appearing to have any faculties or emotion other than: KILL.

The tone shifts as they reach an area known as the Plains of Solitude, seeming a mass of crystalline structures similar to Superman’s secret base. The cool blues of this area offer something of a safety in a book that has otherwise been overbearingly tense since it began. It doesn’t help that Joker’s been doing variations of “can I be Robin, are we there yet, and knock knock jokes the entire time. Bruce snaps that he could never be Robin because Robin was a good guy and who in this world was still like that? Pods shaped like Superman’s baby rocket start landing close to Bruce and Joker before the pair are saved by… Superman?

Or so we think, this “very talkative” (end sarcasm) Superman leads the pair to a farmhouse in the middle of the plains where a surprisingly alive and potentially insane Lex Luthor greets them. Batman, furious at the state of this world demands to know what happened, what did Luthor do? Luthor answers that he had a debate with Superman. What makes this so interesting is that, Luthor says that he knows that he should have lost. The stakes were such that, the loser would be impaled by spike of Kryptonite and Luthor, having almost crapped himself a speech mostly using platitudes from others in his own words, didn’t hold a candle to Ka-El… but in the end, Superman ends up skewered and the world goes to hell with him.

It begs the question of, what happened? Did all of the people just side with Luthor on impulse? Did something happen to sway them or was someone else manipulating things? Everything is speculation. Things are cut short, however as Bane and Scarecrow show up to punish Luthor and bring Batman to their new God, Omega. Bane appears to be absolutely rotting with venom as his veins are green and his skin is pale. Scarecrow looks absolutely scraggly with long, gnarled fingers with syringes at the end of his fingers. Scarecrow has poisoned the Superman clone and forces him to try and break the Bat.

Suddenly, as Superman lifts Batman above his head, a sword pierces his chest as it’s revealed that Wonder Woman has returned to save the Caped Crusader. The two are told to run away by Luthor, to save the world as he opens a portal for them and is summarily torn apart by other infected Superman Clones.

We see the full extent of the utter destruction Luthor’s actions have caused as they land on the cloak of The Spectre. Wonder Woman tells Batman that the fighting eventually spilled over and destroyed both Heaven and Hell. It only makes sense, doesn’t it? The forces of magic are very powerful in the DC Universe. How much trouble would it take for a Mordru or Neron to tangle with Doctor Fate or Zatanna, culminating in the ruination of the afterlife, damning everyone to a non-existence at the end of everything?

They enter the cloak and take a ride down the River Styx. Diana tells Bruce that the voices of the dead will be calling out to him for sending them there. Capullo stuns with a double page spread of many of DCs biggest heroes, showing Batman the sheer weight of what his as-of-yet unknown role in Luthor’s scheme was. There are far too many to name, but I will say that I appreciate Capullo putting Kyle Rayner among those in the front. His deaths in many alt-stories will always irk me, but I do like seeing him recognized and put higher than Hal Jordan or even John Stewart.

Things take an even darker turn as Alfred shows up among the dead and Batman almost climbs out of the little boat, knowing that he just saw Alfred not too long ago and he and Wonder Woman make it to the real Gotham City with a cliffhanger and a surprising reveal at the end.

Last Knight on Earth pulls no punches when it comes to depicting a desolate world where Doom wins. I want to say that it’s almost dour to the point of being almost being hopeless and that’s exactly what I love. I adore how much is being packed into this story, how many references to the greater DC universe we’re getting. Capullo’s art is probably the best it has been in years and the quality of the writing is right on part with Dark Knights: Metal. It’s a righteous trip as Batman lugs the annoying head of the Joker around like a planet hopping adventure. It’s really fun and very dark.

Best of DC: Week of July 24th, 2019

Runner Up: The Flash #75 – Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi, Steve Wands, Scott Kolins, Luis Guerrero and Christian Duce

Flash has never been one to let anything slow him down, be it his job, relationship with Iris West or even speed sapping supervillains. He’s always moving forward and this anniversary issue cements that very idea as he recollects events from his past and figures out how to become a better hero, a better man through it. At the same time, one of his most deadly enemies moves forward towards Doom.

Beginning with the final minutes of his intense battle with two versions of The Turtle, one from the far future and one from the modern day, at least at the time. Sneaking through the structure that Future Turtle brought to the past to enslave the citizens of Central City, Iris West screams that The Fash isn’t the only one who can fight back and destroys the control panel, freeing them. Inspired by The Flash’s efforts while he fights the two Turtles, the citizens fight back against the villains forces. Flash begins to get overpowered by the combined might of the turtles, but he digs deep and pulls out his greatest weapon: Hope. He runs faster and harder, using his brain to push through and defeats Turtle.

It’s an inspiring moment made even better with Porter’s kinetic and amazingly stylized art work. Lines are jagged, but clean, Hi-Fi’s colors are bright and vibrant to give even more energy and brightness to each panel. I love how each spark of lightning glows on Flash’s costume to give this chapter the sense of speed befitting the hero. What makes the even better is the shift downward, back to Barry just being his normal self, helping the modern day Turtle instead of just sending him back to prison as Iris looks on in love. Time passes and on presumably one of the first of many Flash days, Iris brings her nephews Wally and Wallace to meet Barry before they join the parade and this chapter ends with Wally and Barry talking about the Flash before a two page spread of The Flash and various members of the Flash Family new and old, a sign of things to come maybe?

Coming back to the modern day, Barry meets the new Avatar of the Still Force who has chosen to show Barry this vision of a time that he’s forgotten to remind him of the hope that he had lost after the events of Heroes in Crisis. Ultimately, Barry decides that he has to prepare, find new allies, work with enemies, but the first step… rebuilding the destroyed Flash Museum. He puts everything back together by himself, the building, the exhibits and all of the statues of Wallace, Impulse, The Flash of China and both statues of Wally West, the one he truly let down. Barry looks towards the future with bright eyes and nothing but hope.

On the other side of the world however, Leonard Snart is going through the motions. After having been transferred to the Suicide Squad following the murder of another inmate of Iron Heights, Snart has grown wary of seeing the people he’s worked with die. He watches as some villain named Snakebite tries to make an ultimately fruitless escape and has his head exploded. Snart reminisces of the days when he had a reliable and smart crew of people that he could trust on his side. He misses The Rogues.

He sits in his cell and simply thinks that he’s “playing it safe” just like his awful father. When he was a Rogue he made his own rules, did things on his terms, but with the Suicide Squad, he’s on someone elses dime. He absolutely hates it and when he’s called in for another missions, not five minutes after his last, he just screams for Waller or the guard in front of him to kill him. Suddenly the guards head explodes and the wall to Snart’s cell is blown open and a drone comes through.

Lex Luthor has an Offer for Snart if he’s willing to take it. Snart doesn’t even question it and only asks that the other Rogues get the same deal, then they’ll go after the Flash. I almost lost my mind here, not only because Luthor referenced Snart acting as his bodyguard in the middle of the New 52, but also their time on the Justice League and how foolish they were. Doom is the only way forward for them and Snart has become a hard man. The Rogues have always been a particular brand of non-violent, but Snart is absolutely a killer now and who’s to say how time has changed the rest of the gang?

Doom Awaits.

Best of DC: Week of July 24th, 2019

Best of this Week: Wonder Woman #75 – G. Willow Wilson, Xermanico, Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes, Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Pat Brosseau

Ever since the beginning of DC Rebirth, Wonder Woman has been trying to get back home to Themyscira and on this amazing anniversary issue of her book, she’s finally home, but not in the way that she expected.

The book begins with Grail, the daughter of Darkseid, sitting on Hippolyta’s throne. She muses about how boring it was to listen to Ares stories as they were both trapped elsewhere and when he escaped and died, she was freed. The first thing she did? Take the God Killer Sword and take what she believed to be rightfully hers.

Grail has been a thorn in Wonder Woman’s side since her introduction during the Darkseid War (2017). She’s appeared regularly as an enemy of Wonder Woman with her schemes normally involving a way for her to take over Themyscira and it seems as though she’s finally gotten her with. Even more so that a few of the Amazons, including one of Wonder Woman’s most trusted friends, Nubia, is apparently among their ranks.

General Antiope and a few others welcome Wonder Woman back to a realm just outside of Themyscira known as Dimension Chi and they inform her of what has happened. Some Amazons decide to dance to welcome back their beloved princess, but Antiope does not as she worries that they aren’t yet prepared for battle, especially not Maggie, the woman who found Antiope’s sword in a lake. The two decide it’s best to train them all up before the fighting starts.

We get a wonderful training montage of Wonder Woman masterfully teaching her fellow Amazons and Maggie, but she and Antiope still worry that it all might not be enough. Wonder Woman thinks she has an ace up her sleeve as she has Atlantiades, a goddess of love and light that was previously trapped on Earth and who is also in love with Wonder Woman, fitted with armor for the battle.

Grail, having held Hippolyta prisoner, tells the queen to renounce her crown in front of her warriors, but Hippolyta is having none of that. She would rather be drowned in the sea than acquiesce to Grail’s cowardly demands and shames the Amazons that have joined her. Before she could push the Quen into the water, an arrow lands at Grails feet and Wonder Woman Amazons break through the barrier of Dimension Chi and attack Grail and her forces.

Wonder Woman grasps Grail right by the throat as her God Killer Sword suddenly goes missing, but decides to give Darkseid’s daughter a fighting chance. Jesus Merino takes over the art for these pages and the fight itself is pretty damn fantastic. Wonder Woman and Grail look like amazing pillars of strength and beauty surrounded by the clashing swords and spears of the other Amazon Warriors.

Merino has a knack for action scenes as his shots are absolute quality. Grail has absolute fury in her strikes with little to no finesse. Diana, of course is a very defensive and honorable fighter, a fault that Grail makes use of as she trips Diana to run away. On the other page, Antiope and Nubia engage each other in battle and their faces are drawn in warriors anger, Nubia telling Antiope that maybe not all is what it seems after Antiope chastises her for betrayal.

Maggie tries to make a break to the cave where Hippolyta has been moved to, but Grail takes a knife and makes a mad dash herself, knocking Maggie out of the fight before Wonder Woman follows suit after a distraction by the radiant Atlantiades. Wonder Woman corners Grail who reveals her best leverage – Isadore, the daughter of Wonder Woman’s arch enemy Veronica Cale who hasn’t been seen since the early days of this Wonder Woman run. Wonder Woman drops her weapons in order to see the girl unhurt, but, of course, Grail is a snake and attempts to slit her throat before an arrow catches in her hamstring. Nubia betrays Grail, saving Isadore and Hippolyta and ends this book with Grail back in chains and a hug between mother and daughter… until a new Offer is made involving the God Killer Sword and a certain feline villain.

G. Willow Wilson took the ball and ran with it when she took over Wonder Woman. Her run, so far, has been action packed, funny and heartwarming. It took her time to find footing, but this has been mostly great. I’m certain she’s going to continue, hopefully to issue #100 and I’m glad because she’s found an effective way to build upon Wonder Woman’s relationships and her mythology. Now that she’s back in Themyscira, for however long it lasts, I wonder what kind of stories Wilson will be able to tell, especially with Year of the Villain going on.

Best of DC: Week of July 17th, 2019

Best of this Week: Justice League #28 – James Tynion IV, Javier Fernandez, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Hi-Fi, Tom Napolitano

Doom is coming.

Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz, is hearing the whispers of the people. He hears them asking for Lex Luthor to grant their wishes, for power, money, confidence and J’onn is determined to stop him. With Hawkgirl, the two fly to the last place that J’onn traced Luthor’s presence. Luthor, however, was already in J’onn’s head and commands him to knock Hawkgirl unconscious so that they may talk.

Elsewhere on Qward, in the Antimatter Universe, the rest of the League stand on the lifeless world looking for The Anti-Monitor. Daniel Sampere has few pages in the book, but he makes the best of every one that he is given. The first splash page is absolutely beautiful as it establishes John Stewart as the head of this mission given his numerous battles with Sinestro and his Weaponeers. The rest of the League also look badass with Batman’s broody darkness flanked by Superman’s big blue hope. Even with the World Forger and the Monitor behind The Flash and Wonder Woman, they stand out as uber-imposing figures with the League.

They find that the planet is lifeless with a message left by the Anti-Monitor in the Weaponeers blood. He warns them not to follow and the team is left at a loss because the being could be literally anywhere in the multiverse. J’onn and Luthor walk around a secret lab/refuge that Luthor had been hidden for a very long time. Luthor explains that his Offers are going out to the worst of the worst and the Manhunter asks why Luthor is telling him all of this, the newly reborn villain replies with “Why not?” because he did broadcast it to the world before his “suicide.”

What makes this most interesting is the uneasiness at watching Lex Luthor, the man who held his sanity and guile above all things, slip into the realm of madness and resignation to his vow of Doom. He tries to convince J’onn that there’s no more need to fight for the greater good given how willing people were to embrace Doom. He says that J’onn’s own desire to save or rehabilitate Luthor is part of his own eventual downfall.

Luthor praises something higher than himself by waxing poetic about Perpetua’s vision of what man and Martian was supposed to be. He acknowledges his own jealousy of Superman after having a conversation with Perpetua at length. Apparently she tells him that humanity AND Martiankind would have been immortal, apex predators, conquerors of the multiverse. He Offers J’onn a choice; to join him or not.

J’onn calls him insane.

Luthor had hoped that things wouldn’t come to this but i left with no other choice than to activate tech that had been in J’onn’s mind since one of their earlier encounters. It slowly undoes the Martian’s cellular structure as Hawkgirl wakes up and attempt to save him. Fernandez has always been good with faces and the way that he conveys her terror at watching J’onn slowly come undone as Luthor grins evilly is masterful. Hawkgirl cries as Luthor absorbs J’onn’s body into himself, the rest of the Legion attack the League and Starman, Shayne and Jarro see the end of the world at the Legion of Doom’s hand.

This book was absolutely stellar. Ending the Apex Predator arc on a very low note was probably the best decision to showcase how much more powerful Luthor is in this form. He’s gone completely mad and yet lucid. He’s sure of his path and even the best that the Justice League has to offer isn’t enough to stop his plans from coming to fruition. With the Anti-Monitor keeping away from the League, one has to wonder what it is he’s afraid of or what he’s trying to avoid and what is the horrible end that Starman has seen?

The stakes are getting higher and higher as we continue to make our way to the culmination of everything as the Year of the Villain soldiers on.