Captain America: Living Legend #1: While the main Cap storyline ventured off into some weird territory with the Zola dimension and Cap stranded for years and raising a son among aliens, this new mini-series is definitely way more of what I expect from Cap. Starting out in WWII, a Russian squad led by ambitious Captain Volkov is attacking a Nazi bunker and get assistance from Cap and his platoon. Volkov is wounded but survives and becomes the Soviet Union’s first astronaut bound for the moon. Cut to the present and a US space station conducts an experiment that gets out of control and crashes in the northern part of Russia, which may lead Cap into another race for tech against Volkov.
Swamp Thing #24: Alec finally comes face to face with the mysterious Seeder and finds it’s his acquaitance, James Woodrue. The Parliament of the Green gave Woodrue some powers because they see potential in him. After a battle where he almost takes down Swamp Thing, the Parliament decrees that each of them will be given adequate time to hone their powers, at which point they will battle to the death and the one who remains standing will be the true avatar of the Green.
Thunderbolts #16: With aliens invading, the Thunderbolts may have hit the jackpot on their mission for The Punisher, as all of NYC’s major criminals are holed up together in secure bunker. Punisher reveals he stole a fuel air bomb from Nick Fury but messes up the timer and Venom is forced to chuck it into an attacking alien ship, which crashes into the bunker door and allows Punisher, Elektra and Venom to sneak inside. Meanwhile, Red Hulk is fighting alien ships, Deadpool is trying to get some pizza and Red Leader is attacked by one of Thanos’ lackeys, but is saved by Mercy, who goes out into city looking for people on the edge of death to kill.
Iron Man #16: With some quick thinking and hot wiring, Tony Stark is able to escape from the dimensional portal opened by the defeated robot, 451, and the gigantic and powerful Godkiller armor is lost in another dimension and time. After another three months with the Guardians in space, Tony finally comes back to Earth and Pepper surprises him with a birthday party, which Tony leaves abruptly after making some sort of discovery about his parents.
Green Arrow #24: Fighting damage to his inner ear from his previous battle with Count Vertigo, Ollie Queen is trying to get his aim back but it’s a slow process. Vertigo arrives in Seattle and goes on a rampage, which Ollie’s new partner, Shado, tries to stop without Ollie but is taken out by a mysterious, dragon tattooed martial artist. Ollie, who was knocked out by Shado so he wouldn’t go to take on Vertigo, comes to and manages to take out Vertigo hand to hand.
Daredevil: Dark Nights #5: The second story in this Daredevil anthology wraps up as a man wrongfully accused of murder is killed by the mob and his cousin, who is a ten inch tall thief, straps a bomb to himself and heads out for revenge. As if this wasn’t bad enough, a giant monster is battling The Avengers while Daredevil gives chase. Matt has to make detours to help Spider-Man save a baby from a burning building and take down Shocker but he eventually catches up with the bomber, Buggit, and convinces him to turn himself in. Buggit and his cousin get some karmic justice however when the gangster who ordered the hit is killed when his car is crushed by the arm of the defeated giant monster.
Detective Comics #24: The final battle between Batman and his evil counterpart Wrath is waged this issue, first in the sky between the Batwing and Wrath’s heavily armed jet and then on the ground after Wrath is tricked into attacking an empty police station, where Batman is waiting in some bad ass armor and he and Jim Gordon take down Wrath and send him to Blackgate. Apparently, Wrath’s father, Mallory Caldwell, was a jewel thief killed by the GCPD during the highly corrupt years before Batman and Gordon arrived.
Savage Wolverine #9: In a new story for this anthology series, Jock (of The Losers fame), draws and writes a story of Wolverine on an alien planet. There’s almost no context for why Wolverine is there or what he is doing and a young boy is sent by a mysterious group of men to find Logan and claims to be like him. There’s some cool stuff in this book but hopefully things get a little clearer, plot wise, next issue.
Forever Evil #2: With Earth firmly in their grip, the Secret Society sets out to crush any remaining opposition, with Ultraman (evil Superman) getting a prioritized list of uprisings while the evil Flash and Atomica (kind of like an evil, female Ant-Man) take out the Teen Titans in horrific fashion. Lex Luthor, meanwhile, releases an experiment he’s been growing for years, Bizarro and gears up in his latest armor to take the fight to the Society while The Rogues in Central City may become unlikely rebels against the Society when they are ordered, and refuse, to level Central City.
Robocop: Last Stand #3: Murphy goes face to face with the OCP’s hired Japanese assassin, who attacks in a heavily armed attack helicopter and causes massive damage to the section of city Murphy is trying to defend. Murphy manages to rescue a little girl and the two escape in Murphy’s repaired and upgraded cop car.
Shadowman #11: Shadowman has to deal with a pair of obnoxious spirits who inhabit the bodies of a pair of drunken college bros, leading Shadowman on a chase across downtown New Orleans. With help from psychic Dr. Mirage, Shadowman is able to stop the spirits from causing too much damage.
The Star Wars #2: The alternate Death Star makes it’s appearance as it attacks the rebel planet of Aquilae and General Luke Skywalker leads the defenses, launching a squadron of fighters against the battle station. He dispatches his new padawan, Annakin Starkiller, to fetch Princess Leia from school but the relentless attack by the Death Star, commanded by General Darth Vader, forces the senate of Aquilae to surrender. Meanwhile, a pair of familiar droids, although one is way more talkative than we are used to, escape from the Death Star to avoid being caught in the damage caused by the attacking ships. Based on the look of things and names, the original draft of Star Wars, which this comic is based on, was much more in line with what we saw in the prequels.
