#Amanda Waller is not going to be as persuasive as she thinks she's going to be when it comes to getting the JL onboard with her plans

[spacedace]

Had a dc x dp brain worm, feel free to use as a prompt <3

Sidenote, I decided to get fancy with the Ancients titles because of course I did lol

Shifting Where = Space (Danny)

Eternal When = Time (Clockwork)

Ever Onward = Speedforce (Ellie)

---

Bruce watched the footage again.

And again.

Again.

It didn’t make sense.

A week ago every television, radio, computer, phone - even the LED billboards - had been taken over to deliver a message. Across the United States. In every territory it held. Every military base. Down in the depths of the oceans where American submarines tried to creep past Atlantian patrols. In the endless cold white of Antarctica. Even far above in the International Space Station. Any place the United States Government had control over, any place one of its citizens found themselves. There was the message.

The face of an entity, human in shape but not in form. Hair as gleaming white as starlight, eyes bright as the twisting dance of the Aurora Borealis, skin as cold and blue as the tail of a comet. The entity wore armor as black as the depths of space with a crown to match, the later glinting and shifting with the twisting birth and death of galaxies. A cloak of nebulae danced down his shoulders, eclipsing the world beyond the entity entirely.

He named himself, jaw tight, expression serious.

High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms.

The Shifting Where. Son of the Eternal When. Father of the Ever Onward. His Epitaphs many and ever growing. The True Balance. The Bridge Between. The Devourer of Dark. The Last Child of Between. The Great One.

King of the Dead. King of the Infinite Worlds. King of so much more than Bruce had ever even known was possible.

King who had declared war. Who marshaled his endless armies. Who spoke of warnings, of efforts to reach a peace, of trying again and again and again to find a way to not plunge into violence and bloodshed. All things living come to call him King in time, he had no want or need to go out and hurry that along. But there were no options left to him now. He had tried for peace. He had been denied.

He would not see his people suffer any longer. Would not see those he’d sworn to lead and protect imprisoned by fools who had sworn themselves enemies to all the afterlives. Would no longer permit the vicious cruelty to continue.

The message was a final warning.

A final offer.

Three days, Phantom said. The United States government would have three days to release their prisoners, to begin the process of dismantling the laws that made death itself an illegal act.

If they refused, he would lead his endless armies personally in the war to come.

It had not been an idle threat.

Three days after the message, after Bruce and the rest of the Justice League scrambled to try and figure out just what it was it was all about, after Justice League Dark’s members shakily took turns explaining just how powerful the being that had gave that message was and how much danger the world was in should he and his armies march upon their world, war came.

Of all places, it began in a town in Illinois.

The sky shattered like broken glass above, Lazarus Green beyond, and the Dead poured out.

It started in Illinois.

It did not end there.

Bruce watched the footage of it all, eyes burning as he watched every second of CCTV footage, every shaky phone camera video, every news broadcast.

Most of them looked human enough. Changed in death, but recognizably human once. A pair of glowing teenagers on a motorcycle, a writhing shadow twisting about at their command sweeping chaos upon the battlefield. A young woman dressed to perform with hair a literal flame, burning bright blue and snapping furiously as she played devastation upon her enemies with her guitar. A child with corpse gray skin and luminescent green hair, flickering in and out of Bruce’s ability to see as if fighting against a law of existence to be visible, screaming orders to a skeleton crew from his place on deck of a 1700s ship that sailed through the sky, disappearing into clouds before raining down attacks from above.

There was more. Glowing skeletons dressed in the fashions of war spanning every culture going back millennia. Robots with weapons far beyond the technology they had even in the League. Creatures of myth and legend. Things of nightmares.

Leading them all, as he had promised, was Phantom.

He looked younger, smaller. Just a boy, really, a gangly teenager that hadn’t quite finished growing into himself. One holding power beyond anything Bruce could ever imagine, but still just a child as far as he could see, no older than Tim who’d just graduated high school. Frantic research found Phantom appearing as far back as human history, but those sightings had to have been after his death. Bruce can’t help but wonder how young the boy had been when he died, how much of that youth still clung to him through all these eons.

It wasn’t something he’d let him self consider normally, not with something like this.

A dangerous unknown appearing without warning and attacking with unimaginable power and seemingly endless forces. It was something that would normally eclipse everything else. Something that would make Bruce put aside the ache at seeing a face so young twisted in rage.

But.

He watched all the footage.

Civilians were put in the crossfire. Were shot at and endangered. Were left terrified and scrambling for safety in buildings that were rapidly being torn away by stray artillery.

But never by Phantom or his armies.

The dead, in fact, went very far out of their way to ensure civilians weren’t harmed. Sweeping people up out of the way of falling debris. Shielding them from attacks that would have most certainly killed a normal human. Some dead even helped evacuate, ushering a frightened and panicked populous to safety as gently as they were capable of. Some of the less human creatures - giant bear-like beings with horns and fangs and ice edging their burly frames - even rushed forward to offer medical aid.

When the sky shattered open and the armies of the dead swept in, they ignored the town below. They focused instead on what was discovered later to be the base of a secretive government agency. The dead’s fight focused on those individuals in sharp white suits, bearing weapons capable of actually injuring King Phantom’s people.

It was these agents that brought the fight to the streets to Amity Park. That fired recklessly and without thought or care to the casualties they could inflict. That didn’t seem to care if they killed a hundred civilians if it meant hurting just one of Phantom’s soldiers.

Bruce watched all the footage.

And again.

Again.

Phantom had declared war.

Phantom spoke in his message of being out of options, of attempting peace. Phantom gave three days time for the release of captives. Phantom lead armies who fought viciously but never once willingly harmed civilians.

Phantom declared war, but he didn’t want it.

“Amanda Waller has reached out.”

Bruce didn’t turn his attention from the screens before him, eyes burning as he followed Phantom as the King dove away from the middle of locked combat to shield a child from a pulse of green energy from something like a grenade another agent in white had carelessly thrown. The child was crying but unharmed. The left pauldron of Phantom’s armor cracked and shattered from a direct shot from the enemy he’d just been fighting that he’d turned his back on, a glowing green liquid uncomfortably like Lazarus Water dripped down from a smoldering wound.

Clark stepped up to stand beside him as he watched, face worn and tired. The League had missed the first battle, but they’d been quick to appear at the rest. Phantom and his army ignored them unless they put themselves purposefully in the way of the fight. They were, as Justice League Dark had warned, vastly out powered by the entities fighting. A hulking giant knight made of shadow riding a nightmarish steed had driven Clark six feet down into the dirt when he’d attempted to make his way to Phantom directly to try and talk to the king.

The depth Clark had ended up felt like a warning of what would happen if he tried to get close to the king again.

It probably was.

“She said they have intel for us.” A faint twitch of fingers, jaw clenching, voice flat in that way that told Bruce his old friend was fighting back anger with everything he had. “That she has options for how to deal with the insurgence.”

Bruce shut off the monitors.

He’d seen enough.

Now was time to get answers to just what, exactly, Amanda Waller and the US government had done to cause the Dead to rise and rage.

---

Part Two Part Three Part Four

[cruzrogue]

P.S. Hong Kong: Was it Real?!?

Chapter 4 is up on A03 also.

Summary:

Oliver still has no word if his bride is alive. His time locked away he thinks of his last night as a single man. 

He is actually surprised when he enters the interrogation room. Waller isn’t there to begin reprimanding him. He wonders if this time he is way over his head? That he is really going to perish and never see his family in Starling again.

He sits on the metal chair and just stares into his open palms. There is nothing he can say or do now just except the situation for what it is. He knows asking about Felicity will be one of the first things to come out of his mouth. He needs to know. Even if she is now dead he needs to know.  

He has been sitting here for more than an hour and he figures he is mostly being reviewed behind the glass wall. He isn’t going to show any emotion beside the moment he knows about her fate he’ll fail to keep his stoicism.

A solder comes in and places two glasses down then opening the water bottle and spilling it into the cups. Nothing is said as the man does his job then leaves. It’s quiet for another thirty minutes or so until he hears the tapping of high heels and he doesn’t bother straightening up as he is still looking at his open palms in a hutched over position.

The door opens and her footsteps clearly stop at the center of the room. A guard shuts the door and stands in the room by the now closed door. Oliver doesn’t even acknowledge them. The door opens again and he knows someone is in there with them.

“What are we going to do with you Mr. Queen?”

His only words before a needle is inserted into his neck is “Where is Felicity?” and before he is out cold he hears. “Her fate is no concern to you.”

He comes to in the back of a van and Maseo is towering over him. Holding out a bottle water for him to take. “You were out long enough to get you here.”

“Where is here?”

“A set location on one of the names you’ve retrieved.”

“Wait? What? Where is Felicity?” he takes a sip of water and then gets punched in the face.

“You may not care but you need to stop putting my own family in danger.”  

Oliver is cradling his face showing confusion. He is getting tired of being a ragdoll to these A.R.G.U.S. agents.

“We have an assignment failure is no option.”

“Fine. Just tell me what we need to do.”

After they drop some bodies and secure one of the names that he remembers that was flashing on Felicity’s screen he wonders what this individual did to warrant Amanda’s wraith.

After a long night he drags himself to the awaiting cot, being on Waller’s shit list he is lucky there is even a cot as he barely registers the cold damp floor as his body needs the rest. They secured two of the five people that he thought was erased when Felicity cleaned the hard drive. She must have spilled their names during or after some torture. He feels physical ill thinking that her last moments she was in pain. He lets the impeccable darkness take him into restless sleep but he will have to make due.

He tortures himself as he tries to think in detail what happened next after she gave him the drink. If he’s going to suffer in this hell hole at least he can do is reminisce on his last day, he was a single man. Even though he feels ghastly, thinking of her smile is soothing in a masochistic way. He closes his eyes at least and lets the memory take over.

She is smiling shyly at him as he takes the cup from her hands and places it on the available table. “Dance with me?”

She nods as he scoops her into his arms and they slow dance. He is supposed to be interrogating her on why she was here with Tommy. Why Tommy wasn’t out here with her? What was her relationship with Tommy and a few more questions that would eventually pop in his head? Instead he held her close as he would eventual twirl her around as other couples seem to be doing the same thing to this beat of the song currently playing.

She’s the one to break the spell first as she asks him, “Do you have amnesia? Did you forget your name? Did…”

Oliver stops dancing altogether as he speaks out, “What?”

“You’re… You’re Oliver Queen, I mean yes, your hair grew out but your Tommy Merlyn’s best friend.” She looks at his disgruntled face and backpedals. “Oh, my you don’t remember do you? You probably have some random name given to you at a hospital. I mean…”

“Or, I can be someone that just looks like this man you just mentioned.”

“Well that is possible. I never met Oliver Queen just seen so many photographs of him. He’s like a local Rockstar.”

“His loss I suppose.”

She laughs and then sobers up as he decides to continue dancing she just comfortably leans her head against his chest as she says, “I guess, but I doubt his world and mine would collide anyhow we’re two different peas on a pod.”

As the song ends he helps her to a chair and asks, “Do you know his best friend?”

“Tommy?”

He nods.

“He’s a sweet softy no matter what he tells others. We’ve been friends basically since I moved to Starling City. It’s a place in the United States.”

“I gather, So, how did you two meet?”

She flippantly says, “I burned him.”

“What?” the look on Oliver’s face says volumes.

“My latte spilled on him enough to give him a few blisters.”

“Oh!”

“The worst part is that I undressed him partially.” She covers her face because she can’t believe she is telling a complete stranger something she hates when Tommy tells the same exact story to mortify her.

“He seemly didn’t mind too much if you became friends.”

“I have no idea what possessed me to do that and blow on his skin.” Her mouth now agape she tries to remedy her words, “In a very platonic way. Tommy and I are not like that we are very platonic. Strictly platonic.”

Oliver looks at the blond and sways his head. “Okay I get the picture. Platonic it is, though I can’t see any man not make a move on you.” He’s trying to dig at her love life.

“No not Tommy or anyone else. I kind of keep to myself a lot, the thing with Tommy he has his heart set on someone and I’m basically his cheerleader. Do you live around here?”

“I’ll living with a…” He stresses the word “friend” and continues, “…and his family.”

“So, no attachments?”

“No. None. Why didn’t your friend come out here with you?” He gives her a dimple smile. “Your very platonic friend.”

“Yes, very. He didn’t even want to come out here and see this beautiful gathering of wedding ceremonies he said it was too much gagfest.”

“Thus, you traveled here together?” seeing her face contort he adds “Does that means you’re here for work. Not pleasure?”

“My friend needed me. He can be persuasive.” She takes another look studying the man before her. “We actually came here to find his best friend who went missing in the North China Sea.”

“That friend is a lucky man to have people travel all the way here when…”

They get disturbed as some older ladies are telling them to dance to participate in money dance. Felicity smiles as she gets up and Oliver reluctantly follows.

“I brought plenty of Hong Kong dollars bills so your covered.” She winks as she pushes him to his first bride.

“I really don’t think…”

“Hush, dance with the blushing bride. Actually brides.” She winks and then adds, “Let’s see who can get more dances… I better go some grooms are being overwhelmed.”

They do dance with as many couples possible and Oliver’s eyes steadily follows her as the new minted grooms would try to show restraint in holding some beautiful women in their arms he was just interested that the woman in the canary yellow sundress wasn’t being manhandled.

He could see that she has a sweetness that makes others smile and the few moments with her in conversation isn’t enough of a high he needs more and it was getting to the point of the night that if he doesn’t claim her for himself there would be another lucky guy taking her to his bed. He recognizes a woman that manages a shady room service and books one for tonight he hopes that he’s lucky enough to dance with her throughout the night.

He makes his way back to her and as she happily turns around back into his arms she surprises him, “I probably can’t tempt you to go back to where I’m staying. Especially with Tommy there to confirm who you really are.”

“You are still stuck on…”

She gives him a once over before rolling her eyes. “Please, you’re Oliver Queen. I may be blond but I’m also a genius.”

“Genius huh…”

She cuts him off with an exaggerated pop of the P in the word “Yep.” He’s about to tell her… and the memory starts to fade.

He’s awaken to the cell door being opened up and an unnamed agent coming to pick him up so he can finish his assignment before Waller has a few words with him. He is tired and cranky himself so listening to his experiences on the island between Slade and Shado that helps calm himself enough to be effective for the task at hand. He instead is led to the same interrogation room before he was knocked out. This time he doesn’t sit on the available chair as he makes sure to sit with his back to a door facing wall. He doesn’t need to get drugged he’ll go willing and tend to whatever problem Waller seems to need fixed.

This time he doesn’t have to wait long. Amanda Waller is in the room shortly since his arrival. She gives him a perplexed look as to why he is sitting on the dingy floor but says nothing. An awaiting agent pulls her chair out and she sits as she looks at an envelope before she tells him what she wants. “You’ll be heading back to the bungalow to retrieve the hard drive.”

“You need me to do this?” He rolls his eyes at the audacity that letting him go back at retrieve anything from that place will stir up memories. She just wants to remind him how easily it is to lose. He just sits and looks at the cracked ceiling trying to gain some semblance that he doesn’t get up and try to attack the woman who has done nothing but been a pain in his side.

“Are you sulking?” she has a solemn look but a corner of her lip shows she is amused.

“What happened to Felicity?”

“Mr. Queen, what is the point of your arrangement if you can’t even control your wife?”

“She can think for herself.”

“Hence why we are here.” She gets up and walks to the door looks at the operative and signifies not to open the door yet. “It was a simple task and then days of leisure. Her own defiance could rival yours.”

“She’s a good person.”

A wicked smile crosses her lips and Oliver would shiver if he wasn’t so pump on adrenaline, “Did she tell you about her part in a stunt against the Department of Education?”

“Just her part in creating a malicious code and blaming herself for the outcome.”

The door opens for Waller and before she goes, “She spoke highly of you too. A little to cheerily defiant for my taste.” And she leaves Oliver still not knowing what happened to Felicity.

He boards the chopper to go to the bungalow he wishes to never see again and retrieve a box to give the agents this whole move by Waller is to play with his head just so he can suffer some more.

As they move over the horizon he sees the place that now represents grief. It’s a lovely place really. The vibrant colors that made everything cheerful as it sits on a beautiful cove with white sand and the beautiful azure color that is so mesmerizing. Days with her would have been a dream. He shakes his head he has got to stop this madness. As they land he jumps out and heads to the wooden veranda and his heart stops as a figure runs out of the dim lit structure. His feet respond as he begins to sprint towards her and envelops her into his arms. He is glad his body takes over because at this moment he is sure he would have forgotten to breathe.

“Your alive.” He says in marvel as he feels trepidation leave his body. He must have been so wound up with thinking that she was gone that tears fall freely from his eyes. He barely registers the agent collecting the black box Felicity hands over as she turns and grabs his face and her thumbs lightly hold his jaw in place as she kisses his lips. They both cascade downwards onto their knees as their hold on each other just becomes overwhelming. If Amanda Waller knew the power these two lovers hold over each other she does now. Right now, nothing matters to him let the world burn as long as she is in his arms.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1149

Monday, January 30, 2017

 It's the Chinese Year of the Rooster folks and there's a cock in the White House. We are living in interesting times indeed. I am trying my best not to get riled up by the d-bag but it's difficult. The empathy I feel for others means I cannot ignore the affect the changes have on everybody. I just hope we all get through these difficult times relatively unscathed.

 I'm going to have a fun Sunday on February 5. I'll be at the Walkley Arena for the Capital Trade Show where my partner Chris and I will be flogging old comic books. Then it's Super Bowl 51 with two gun slinging quarterbacks. I am cheering for a high scoring affair.

 Civil War II: The Oath #1 - Nick Spencer (writer) Rod Reis, Raffaele Ienco, Szymon Kudranski & Dono Sanchez-Almara (art) VC's Chris Eliopoulos (letters). Didn't see that coming. While it makes sense to appoint Captain America as the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (again) the surprise is that I don't think it's Steve Rogers under the mask. I don't particularly like the new political landscape that the Marvel U is headed towards but it does make for some easy enemies for the good guys to fight with. Nick put in a lot of rah, rah patriotism in this book so it was a tough slog trying to get through it but the payoff at the end is worth it.

 Kamandi Challenge #1 - Part One: Dan Didio (writer) Keith Giffen (pencils) Scott Koblish (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Clem Robins (letters) Part Two: Dan Abnett (writer) Dale Eaglesham (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Clem Robins (letters). He's the last boy on Earth and he's going on a wild adventure to find his parents. One of Jack Kirby's creations is getting a round robin of comic book creators to excite fans like never before. Each part of the story will be done by a different team that will end with a cliffhanger that the next team must find a way to resolve. I have a nagging feeling that this stunt has been done before but I can't remember when so I'm going to tag along to see who does what. I'm not a fan of Kamandi but I want to see who all are going to be involved on the creative side.

 Loose Ends #1 - Jason Latour (writer) Chris Brunner (art) Rico Renzi (colours). The cover says that this 4-issue mini is a southern crime romance. They got that right. We're looking at a trailer dwelling war vet whose friend gets him mixed up in running drugs. You can expect that the vet and the friend get into a heap of trouble and they do. I like how Sonny and Rej each wind up where they do at the end of this first issue so you bet I'm going to keep reading. Not much romance so far but I'm sure Jason will get to that.

 Star Wars #27 - Jason Aaron (writer) Salvador Larroca (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Yay Yoda. Root for him I will.

 Batgirl #7 - Hope Larson (writer) Chris Wildgoose (art) Mat Lopes (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). Part 1 of "Son of Penguin" introduces Ethan Cobblepot and I don't care if there is no reference to him anywhere else in the DCU because he's going to be a great adversary for Barbara Gordon. I like how Chris draws her older than Rafael Albuquerque did. This is going to be fun.

 Briggs Land #6 - Brian Wood (writer) Mack Chater (art) Lee Loughridge & Jeremy Colwell (colours) Nate Piekos (letters). I really like Grace Briggs. The risks that she is taking will hopefully keep her people safe. Brian has crafted a story fit for cable TV.

 Totally Awesome Hulk #15 - Greg Pak (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Nolan Woodward (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Greg continues to feature heroes of the Asian persuasion in this story about Amadeus hanging out with Jake Oh, Kamala Khan, Cindy Moon, Shang-Chi, and Jimmy Woo. It does play on some stereotypes but I think it's okay because they're true for these guys.

 Odyssey of the Amazons #1 - Kevin Grevioux (writer) Ryan Benjamin (pencils) Richard Friend (inks) Tony Washington & Tony Avina (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). This 6-issue mini has a lot of women but not a wonder one in sight. Kevin features Diana's sister Amazons in a tale worthy of Homer. If you like classic sword and sorcery, you'll like this.

 Dead Inside #2 - John Arcudi (writer) Tony Fejzula (art) Andre May (colours) Joe Sabino (letters). The plot thickens like congealed blood and murder suspects start to emerge. Linda has plenty to deal with inside the prison but she's surprised when she gets home after work by a sight I did not expect to see. This mystery is crazy good.

 Inhumans vs. X-Men #3 - Charles Soule & Jeff Lemire (writer) Javier Garron (art) Andres Mossa & Jay David Ramos (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). There are three more issue to this mini but it seems to me that Charles and Jeff have already come up with a solution to the Terrigen cloud that would end the war. The mutant Forge has built a machine that can collect the Terrigen gas and compress it into a solid in this issue. Wouldn't that solve the problem of the gas killing the mutants? Works for me.

 Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #6 - Joshua Williamson (writer) Howard Porter (art) Alex Sinclair (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). All is well that ends well. Both teams join forces to defeat Eclipso and Max Lord is at the mercy of Amanda Waller. Batman sees the light and gathers another team together to fight evil forces. Get ready for a new Justice League of America #1 hitting the racks on February 22. DC is sure spreading Bats pretty thin these days.

 Skybourne #3 - Frank Cho (writer & artist) Marcio Menyz (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). The identity of the bad guy was a nice surprise. I like Frank's comic books because they're simple stories about good versus evil that are beautifully drawn.

 Hulk #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Nico Leon & Dalibor Talajic (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Waiting for Jennifer to Hulk out is one of the things I like about the new book. She has a lot more self control than I have. The scary thing about the eventuality of her losing control is that this new Hulk will be an uncontrollable creature of rage but we'll have to wait and see what happens. Until then I'm enjoying Jen's life so far.

 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #13 - Robert Venditti (writer) V Ken Marion (pencils) Paul Neary & Dexter Vines (inks) Alex Sollazzo (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Now that the planet Xudar has been saved, what now? It's time for a bedtime story that's what. This is a nice interlude issue before we launch into the next story. I've been enjoying this team book now that my loyalty to the Avengers has waned. We'll see if Robert can keep me hooked with his next adventure.

 Saga #42 - Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Fiona Staples (art) Fonografiks (letters). And fade to black. No, really. It's hiatus time again but this issue didn't leaving me screaming profanities about the long wait until the next issue hits the racks. There is a new character introduced who I will be very interested to find out more about.

 Doctor Strange #16 - Jason Aaron (writer) Chris Bachalo with Cory Smith (art) Al Vey, John Livesay, Victor Olazaba, &  Tim Townsend (inks) Antonio Fabela & Java Tartaglia with Chris Bachalo (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Dormammu is finally going to get his chance to kill Doctor Strange after he has been weakened by his fight with the Empirikul. Jason does find a neat way to save Stephen however. The next bit of nastiness involves someone close to the Doc. Oboy.

 Wonder Woman #15 - Greg Rucka (writer) Liam Sharp (art) Laura Martin (colours) Jodi Wynne (letters). Part 1 of "The Truth" finds Diana in a mental hospital. How she got there has yet to be explained but I'm sure I can handle it.

 Punisher #8 - Becky Cloonan (writer) Laura Braga with Iolanda Zanfardino (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). That little old lady toting the double barrelled shotgun from last issue is named Ethel. She looks scary but she's not what you think. The change in art took some getting used to but it isn't bad enough to make me bench this book. I do have a couple of complaints though. If you're going to call a motorcycle a Harley, don't show what looks like a BMW logo on the gas tank. Also, draw the bad guy from the chest up when Frank says that he opened up his guts, not a full body shot that clearly shows an abdomen without any wounds at all. I don't know if the art had to be rushed after Steve Dillon passed away unexpectedly but that's just shoddy editing.

 Action Comics #972 - Dan Jurgens (writer) Stephen Segovia (pencils) Art Thibert (inks) Ulises Arreola (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Trust Dan to come up with a non-violent way to stop Lex from being executed by the bad guys. It also served to show what possible futures are in store for this new Superman. DC has managed to revive my interest in this iconic character.

 Daredevil #16 - Charles Soule (writer) Goran Sudzuka (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). We find out why Daredevil put out a hit on himself to lure out Bullseye. There's some soul searching this issue which leads into the next storyline. I liked how Charles sets it up.

 Detective Comics #949 - James Tynion IV & Marguerite Bennett (writers) Ben Oliver & Szymon Kudranski (art) Ben Oliver, Gabe Eltaeb & Hi-Fi (colours) Marilyn Patrizio (letters). The finale of "Batwoman Begins" is a very good prelude to Batwoman's solo book which hits the racks on February 15. It looks like James and Marguerite are going to have a Raymond Reddington and Agent Keen thing going on between Kate and her dad. That's got me interested.

 Infamous Iron Man #4 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Brian must have a thing for mother and son stories. He did it in International Iron Man where he introduced Tony's biological mother. Now he's showing us Victor's mom. I really do believe that Doom has reformed and I hope he stays a good guy.

 Spider-Man/Deadpool: Monsters Unleashed - Joshua Corin (writer) Tigh Walker (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The boys save Toronto eh.

 Thanos #3 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Mike Deodato (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). It's the Imperial Guard of the Shi'ar versus Thanos. A perfect opportunity to give a history lesson on the life of the Mad Titan.

 Spider-Woman #15 - Dennis Hopeless (writer) Veronica Fish (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Jessica subdues the new Porcupine and finds out who put the hit out on her friend Roger. Now she's gunning for the Hobgoblin but he's protected by an army of super villains. I hope little Gerry doesn't become an orphan.