Iron Man #19: Tony and his brother Arno set their plan to better the world into motion by first letting Pepper in on their secret and then setting out to regain control of the abandoned Mandarin City (where the Mandarin ruled before his death) that will be the site of Tony and Arno’s future city. After taking out the Triad, Tony breaks ground on the project but the press conference is interrupted by Mandarin 1 (one of seven people given the Mandarin’s rings of power), whose gigantic fist smashes it’s way out of the construction site.
Batman/Superman #6: With Batman seemingly killed by Mongul, Superman arrives and convinces Jimmy Olson and the other betatesters of Toymaker’s “game” that everything that is happening is real. Superman manages to punch Mongul out to sea and the gamers are able to resurrect Batman in a robotic form, who has enhanced powers and strength. Mongul and his assistant launch their master plan, which involves making Toymaker’s game available to everyone in the world and the combined influence overwhelms robo-Batman, who starts to battle Superman.
Guardians of the Galaxy #9: Star Lord and the Guardians are able to rescue SWORD boss Abigail Brand but at the cost of losing The Peak space station. Peter is able to lower the shield protecting the planet, allowing the Avengers to return to fight off the remaining invasion fleet and Thanos and the Guardians regroup and head down to Earth to help the Avengers.
Deadpool #20: Another of Deadpool’s fantastic “throwback” episodes, this time a lost classic from the 60’s that parodies all the ridiculous cosmic nonsense that was happening at the time, and kind of the perfect parody of the actual cosmic nonsense that is occurring in the Avengers book. Deadpool heads to Wakanda for a vacation but ends up on quest for mythical puzzle pieces that takes him to the Savage Land, the Negetive Zone and beyond.
TMNT Villains: Shredder: The Turtles ultimate foe gets highlighted in the last of the Villain stories as his time stuck in the afterlife is revealed. After “dying” in feudal Japan and before his resurrection in present day NYC, Shredder aka Oroku Saki, traveled the land of the dead and took it upon himself to conquer it. He gathered an army of fallen warriors and stormed the fortress of the king, only to discover the king was an older version of himself and that, no matter what he does, who he conquers, it will always end the same way. This information haunts Shredder but he convinces himself that it was only one possible outcome and that if he becomes stronger and more powerful, he can rule for eternity.
Indestructible Hulk Annual #1: Hulk and Iron Man head to a mysterious island that was home to a private lab of Dr. Zadian, a scientist who believed the only innovations come out of military and war research. SHIELD detects mysterious energy coming from the island and Bruce and Tony discover the entire island is one massive experiment, with Zadian fusing his consciousness into the heart of the island.
Secret Avengers #12: It seems like forever since the last issue of Secret Avengers, but when it left off, Mockingbird was left behind after a failed mission to kill the Scientist Supreme of AIM and stuck in the guise of a middle aged AIM scientist. Mockingbird tries to fake her way through a presentation to the AIM governing body but fails and is locked away for interrogation. Meanwhile, a splinter group of AIM scientists approaches SHIELD with a deal and offers the location of an underwater base as part of it. Hawkeye, Nick Fury and Black Widow are sent in but are ambushed and captured and MODOK himself arrives on the SHIELD helicarrier to discuss “business”.
Detective Comics #26: Batman finally deals with a threat that’s been lingering since issue #19, Kirk and Felicity Langstrom, both mutated into Man-Bats by Kirk’s serum. Felicity has gone insane and mutated a cave full of bats into deadly monsters but Kirk creates a counter serum and he and Batman enter the cave to stop Felicity. Batman manages to trick Kirk by injecting him with the counter serum and his bite as Man-Bat turns Felicity normal and Batman subdues Kirk, sending them both the Arkham for treatment.
Green Arrow #26: The Outsiders War begins as Shado and Oliver return to the “island” to locate the mysterious and powerful Totem Arrow, the symbol and source of strength for the Arrow clan, one of several weapon based clans in the world. The Outsiders, made up of the other clans, send the Shield clan to the island to intercept and kill Shado and Oliver.
Swamp Thing #26: The new Avatar of the Green, Seeder, decides to flex his muscle and impress the Parliament of the Green by attacking Buddy Baker, the Animal Man and former avatar of the Red. Buddy uses his greater experience to fight off Seeder and tells him to leave him alone. Seeder goes to plan B and heads to a logging operation in the Amazon and destroys all the equipment and kills everyone on site. Alec Holland can only look on as he is now just a presence in the Green and cannot physically take action.
Ash and the Army of Darkness #2: Ash is tortured by his former ally, the Wise Man, and his deadite troops while a mysterious soldier makes their way through the forest, kills a deadite patrol and is revealed to be Sheila, Ash’s love interest from Army of Darkness. Sheila recovers Ash’s mystical weapons, including his chainsaw, and leads an assault on the wise man’s fortress and frees Ash, who’ ready to rumble with his chainsaw back on his hand.
Shadowman #13: A new team launches a new chapter in Shadowman as Jack Boniface becomes the target of his former allies, the Abettors, who are concerned that his nature is too violent and he must be stopped before he becomes too powerful. Alyssa, Jack’s only ally, tells him he has to separate himself from the Loa that gives him his powers and he seeks out witch in the swamp, who is initially happy to help but turns violent when she realizes exactly what is attached to Jack. It seems that Jack and the Loa are no going to be battle for control and the Loa is not happy in the least about Jack trying to separate them.
Dinosaurs Attack! #5: The series comes to a close as Dr. Elias Thorne is able to reverse the polarity of his time ray and sends the dinosaurs violently back to the past, at the cost of sacrificing himself to the demonic dinosaur overlord. This series was pretty good but I would have preferred more consistent art, as it varies wildly between the classic trading card art and less interesting traditional comic art. I preferred what Mars Attacks! did with translating the comic art to it’s more modern style.
Star Trek: Khan #3: Khan describes the Eugenics War of 1992 this issue as the genetically engineered super soldiers, after conquering the planet, start warring among themselves. China, the only free country left, develops a biological weapon that attacks the genetics of the super soldiers and forces Khan and 85 others to flee into space on the Botany Bay.
Robocop: Last Stand #5: Things go bad for Murphy this issue as, after being repaired by his ally Marie and the residents of the neighborhood Murphy is fighting to protect, OCP launches an all out assault after a little girl Murphy rescues turns out to be a robot. Multiple robotic clones of ninja Ottomo attack and Marie is killed and Murphy has his heart ripped out of his chest. Murphy’s body and some discs Marie was holding are brough back to OCP labs for analysis.
Judge Dredd #14: Rogue Judge Tarjay, who Dredd failed to catch earlier in the series, is attacking judges, killing 9 while Dredd is recovering in a sleep tube after his adventure in the Cursed Earth. Judge Cal (who went insane and took over Mega City One in the classic run of Judge Dredd), tells Dredd not to interfere but after his new friend, Dann, is killed, Dredd and Anderson head out to stop Tarjay, who is using some sort of unknown ability or tech to disappear and reappear at will. For disobeying his orders, Dredd is arrested by Judge Cal.
