Let's dive in, kids.
We're looking at Oz Effect, A Lonely Place of Living, The Secret History of Task Force X, Bizarro Reborn, Manslaughter, and Metal this week.
Action Comics #989: The Oz Effect, Part 3
Continuing to portray Trumpkins as brainwashed sots, writer Dan Jurgens seems to have forgotten what escapism is all about. This story is bouncing the hell around, but maybe now we're starting to see where it's going: Oz is after Superman's son, Jon. The fact that it took three issues to get here is... not the best sign.
Detective Comics #966: A Lonely Place of Living, Part 2
Well, we've apparently exhausted the cribbing-panels-from-Dying gimmick that was Part 1. Basically Tim and Future!Tim run around Oz's lair until Future!Tim decides a) it's time to escape, b) the fact that he can give Tim a scar means he can change the past, and therefore c) it's time to kill Batwoman. Boy, this seems to have gone off the rails quickly. Also, I'd have to go back and reread Pax Batmana again, but I don't recall Jason having the injuries Future!Tim attributes to him in this issue. (Frankly, I want me more Airship Captain Jason Todd. Can I have more Airship Captain Jason Todd please?)
Suicide Squad #27: The Secret History of Task Force X, Part 1
Because Waller was brainwashed when she appointed Harley to lead the Squad (was she? I forget the order of events but I thought Harley's promotion pre-dated the raid on Karla's headquarters), she rescinds that appointment and appoints Katana instead. The Squad don space suits to go after "Argent," which Waller knows something about but isn't telling. Turns out Argent is run by Rick Flag's alarmingly youthful grandfather, Rick Flag. The art seems to have taken a step backwards, and Captain Boomerang is, well, grating. Everything else is on point.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #15: Bizarro Reborn, Part 2
Well, this title just got a lot more labyrinthine. If I'm reading this right, Bizarro intended to be captured by the Detective team so that they could... I'm not sure what his endgame is, exactly. Have Amanda Waller (how many books is she in this week anyway?) make his brain-fix permanent? Also something's going on with Jason's father, but I guess we'll have to wait to see what that's about. Not enough Jason quipping. The issue feels like a setup for something greater.
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #15: Manslaughter, Part 1
All the men in Gotham City are infected with a mysterious illness. The city is locked down by Amanda Waller (how many books is she in this week anyway?) and the Birds of Prey roster expands, dramatically. Poison Ivy and Catwoman have been teased for the last two months, but now they're joined by (deep breath) Batwoman, Spoiler, Orphan, Gotham Girl, and Wonder Woman (whose last-panel appearance is not remotely spoiled by her prominent place on the variant cover, no sir). I still think this book has the weakest artwork of anything I'm reading, but what the hell, it's not awful.
Dark Nights Metal #3
Deathstroke? Deathstroke! Yes, obviously I bought the variant with Slade on the cover. Stop asking stupid questions. (I keep toying with adding Deathstroke to my pull list, but this is getting to be an expensive hobby and I think a story as complex as that is better in TPB form.) Superman is pulled into a little pocket dimension (that happens to be a bar) with the Flash and a couple of other heroes by Doctor Fate, who explains that there's very little magic metal lying around for them to use against the Dark Knights. We also have this note: "For more on Jon Snow Nightwing, read Gotham Resistance. Winter came." So that happened. This pocket bar is, by the way, fantastically drawn. Superman ultimately falls into a trap, while the Dark Knights invade the pocket bar; the Batman Who Laughs waxes poetical about music while the Dawnbreaker puts what I can only assume is "Bat out of Hell" on the jukebox. Next time, they promise us, the story actually begins. Okay then. Starting to think the actual meat of the story is going to be in the upcoming Justice League/Flash/Green Lantern tie-in, because it sounds like Metal itself is going to be an excuse to set up something else...
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