Thor: God of Thunder #13: Just in time for the upcoming Thor: The Dark World, Malekith the Accursed returns after years in a spider infested prison and starts a bloody slaughter against his fellow dark elves, who have since allied themselves with Asgard. Thor and the Warriors Three spring into action but are unable to catch Malekith before he and his followers disappear.
Savage Wolverine #8: The second Savage Wolverine story comes to an end as the mysterious “arbiters” of the Hand Ninjas unleash Wolverine’s animal side but he’s able to control it and show mercy to the giant brute who knocked him out last issue. Meanwhile, the Kingpin fights the zombie of his late wife and his decision to kill her again makes him seemingly worthy to lead the Hand.
Thunderbolts #15: The forces of Thanos arrive while The Punisher is trying to lead the Thunderbolts against the mysterious Paguro mafia family but The Punisher convinces the team to stay on mission and extract info from various lowlifes, except Deadpool, who wanders off to ride the subway because Al Pacino said it was the fastest way to get around NYC in “The Devil’s Advocate” and ends up helping a helpless family getting attacked by aliens.
Arcane #1: Swamp Thing’s arch nemesis gets his origin, and the origin of Abigail Arcane told in this Villains Month issue. Anton has been around for centuries and first developed a taste for rotten meat and then was selected by the Parliament of the Rot to be their avatar and went on a murder spree in their name. He’s currently trapped in a beautiful pasture paradise that is his personal hell, as nothing Rots, but he may have found a way to come back after a visit from Abigail, who is the new avatar of the Rot.
Secret Avengers #9: After getting kicked out as the Director of SHIELD, Daisy Johnson consults with some old allies and then decides to pull a Tony Stark and create a backup of her brain using one of the sites he used when Norman Osbourne was after him back in the post Secret Invasion time frame. The process doesn’t go quite as planned as Maria Hill and her SHIELD psych agents interrupt before the process is finished but Daisy seeks out a new ally in Winter Soldier to help with whatever plan she currently has or can remember.
Penguin #1: With the absence of Batman, The Penguin wastes no time expanding his crime activity and killing or framing anyone who opposes him. When the governor of the state Gotham is in arrives, and is apparently an old friend of Oswald, and claims to want to take down crime, The Penguin doesn’t take him seriously at first but, when he sees that he’s serious, Penguin sets him to make it look like he slept with and then killed his assistant in a fit of Venom rage, solidifying the Iceberg Casino and Penguin’s position in Gotham.
Ra’s Al Ghul #1: One of Batman’s greatest villains is recruited by the Secret Society to join them but Ra’s considers them beneath him and outsmarts and kills their superpowered emissary. We also learn Ra’s background and how he became a legendary evil throughout history.
Scarecrow #1: Scarecrow has become sort of the official spokesperson of the Secret Society in Gotham and initially went around trying to recruit the various villains. In this issue, he visits Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, Killer Croc and Poison Ivy to inform and see where they stand on a potential war that is brewing between the Arkham inmates and Blackgate prisoners, who are seemingly being led by Bane. This issue seems to be picking up a little while longer after the Secret Society invasion than some of the other issues, as Penguin as taken over Gotham and divided it into sections for each of the villains to control.
Deathstroke #1: Mercenary Slade Wilson’s backstory is revealed this issue as he works his latest assassination. He used to work with son on jobs until a mission in North Korea went horribly wrong and his son was killed. He now works hard to keep his day job away from his young daughter, although his wife knows what he does.
Lex Luthor #1: After getting released from prison, Lex immediately puts dozens of plans and projects into motion, including sacrificing one of his own space shuttles crews to place blame on the absent, and possibly dead, Superman. He also ruins the life of one of his business rivals and sets his scientists on the task of improving his battle armor. According to Lex himself, it was a pretty productive day.
X-O Manowar #17: Aric of Dacia has carved out a portion of Romania for himself and his people and sets them on the task of preparing fields for harvest and other hard labor. Some of his new followers are not satisified, including their prior leader Volo, and he runs off to discover a seemingly endless supply of food at a local supermarket, which he brings back to the Visigoths. Meanwhile, Aric’s old friend Alexander Dorian, one of the alien Vine’s former spies, arrives to try and broker a deal for Aric and his people to bring their alien ship to America and take asylum there.
Ghostbusters Vol. 2 #7: With Egon and Winston unavailable, Peter recruits Ray and his protege Kylie to investigate a ghost ship that is apparently the fabled wreck, The John Milton, and things are a lot more dangeroud than they realized. Winston, meanwhile, heads with his fiance to Las Vegas, as a hotel there offered the Ghostbusters a free room if they helped deal with the ghost issue they’ve been having.
Clayface #1: Clayface was not one of the villains initially chosen to join the Secret Society so, believing he needs to impress, he sets out and destroys a potential resistance movement’s base that turns out to be Society run. Embarrassed and pissed, Clayface joins a crew looking to rob a cache of gold hidden nearby and seemingly has a new plan to put himself back in the upper echelons of villainy.
The Rogues #1: The Flash’s main adversaries, who include Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Trickster, Heatwave and Glider, are taking advantage of the absence of the Flash to full off heists but there’s dissension in the ranks as Captain Cold’s selfishness has caused his sister Glider to be trapped in an astral form and Mirror Master to be trapped in the mirror universe. Glider seemingly sacrifices her consciousness to free Mirror Master and the Rogues regroup and rescue Trickster from a nearby prison, only to return to find Central City in ruins. If Glider is dead, the Rogues may become some of the unlikely heroes fighting against the Secret Society.
