By: Jeff Lemire (story), Mikel Janín (art), Ulises Arreola (colors)

The Story: Once again, we learn that only horrible things happen in the jungle.

The Review: Considering the excitement I had when this series first launched, it felt almost painful when I ultimately decided to drop it.  Not to rehash old grievances, but the series at the time lacked focus, plain and simple.  Most of the cast had little to nothing to do, and the plot often wandered erratically.  Peter Milligan seemed so focused on fulfilling some abstract conception of “darkness” that he neglected character work and story development entirely.

While Lemire has been slightly overshadowed by his brother-in-arms at DC, Scott Snyder, no one can deny he is just as responsible for the new creative life coursing through the publisher’s veins at the moment.  From both Animal Man and Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., we know he never lets tone or theme dictate the substance of his stories.  He builds his characters and plot first, and eventually, overarching motifs reveal themselves, giving the series unity.

His first issue on this series follows this trend, emphasizing the “Justice League” part of the title rather than “Dark.”  Lemire gathers an interesting set of heroes together—or rather, a “band,” seeing that’s how Constantine views the team—and almost immediately lets them wail loose on a big mission which only grows bigger as the story goes on.  We get no morose monologues or angst-ridden lines; instead, we get clear, distinct personalities which spark against each other.

Lemire simply gets these people in a way Milligan never did.  Not only do they work with formidable competence (which was terribly lacking when Milligan wrote the series), you can actually recognize them as the characters you know and love.  John’s self-description as band manager goes very true to his traditional portrayal; he’d much rather get others to do his dirty work than go spell-crazy himself.  Zee comes across strong, sensible, and loyal, her heart on her sleeve even as she scolds John for his misdeeds.  Boston’s irreverent humor (to John: “Stuff it, Cigarette Lad.”) returns in this issue, putting aside all the acidic sarcasm he had before.

In some cases, Lemire has to do quite a bit of back-tracking to return characters to their original, appealing selves, particularly with Madame Xanadu.  In the first five issues, she was fractured and disturbed to the point of hysteria, hardly the cool fortune teller we expect.  Here, Xan has gotten her quiet arrogance back, dismissing John’s request for aid, though not without a certain amount of hypocrisy, given her past manipulations of the team: “It’s always the same old story with you…everyone who gets close to you pays a price.  Well, I’m done with your games.”

We also get a pretty juicy quest for the team to tackle, not only rescuing a fellow mystic and A.R.G.U.S. operative (thus cleverly bringing the JLD closer to the JL proper), but also seeking out the very sources of magic itself.  The only question you have to ask is: if Faust had the “eight-dimensional map” in his possession and was siphoning power from it, why didn’t he use it to find his way to the “Books of Magic!” himself?

Janin does fine work, but it all looks quite a bit stiffer and posed than I’d like.  His photorealistic style comes at the price of lost detail, with many panels offering no more than a couple figures and a colored background.  At times, he doesn’t have the firmest grasp on context.  In one panel, he draws Zee looking shocked when the team discovers Faust’s secret weapon, indicating she recognizes it, yet two panels later, she asks John what the object is.

Conclusion: It seems fitting that I repeat a statement I made on another Justice League title and say that this is what the series should’ve been from the very start.  Let’s hope it doesn’t come too late.

Grade: B

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: - Raise your hand if you desperately wish Ryan Sook could go beyond his stunning covers and do some interiors for this series.  Sook is one of DC’s top-tier artists, but sadly, his top-tier work requires far more time and effort than an ongoing schedule allows.

- Maybe it’s my having recently seen The Avengers, but come on—a glowing cube which is synonymous with a “tesseract”?

- In response to the team name of Justice League Dark, John scoffs, “That is the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”  A thousand points for John—and for Lemire, for calling it like it is.

By: Dan Slott (writer), Stefano Caselli (art), Frank Martin, Jr. (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

The Story: The plot twists always hit in the penultimate act.

Review (with SPOILERS): Pretty hot issue guys!  Honestly, I thought the first couple of issues of this Spidey-event were a little tepid.  Things seemed a little contrived, but the middle two issues righted the ship and now it looks like Dan Slott is ready to bring it home in a big way.

Let’s start with a couple of the plot twists…  Seeing Mysterio tricking Spidey into doing things never gets old, because we always have that moment when Spidey says, “Wait a minute….this makes no sense.”  I like that Slott treats these guys as if they’ve been fighting each other for 50 years and are almost like old frenemies.  Slott doesn’t insult our intelligence by acting like Mysterio and Chameleon might actually kill Spidey and Black Widow.  We just know that won’t happen because we’ve seen these guys fight a bajillion times before.  Mysterio and Chameleon simply don’t have the goods to take out Spidey, so it’s nice  that Slott doesn’t approach the story as if these baddies have suddenly gotten new powers OR that they’re more motivated.  We readers wouldn’t buy that story, but we can totally accept that Mysterio and Chameleon are capable of slowing Spider-Man down and thereby allowing Doc Ock to execute his plan.

Speaking of Ock, he’s the one villain in this whole bunch who feels like a real threat to Spider-Man.  Even though we’ve seen Ock and Spidey battle a ton of times too (with Spidey always winning), the evolution of Ock’s character over the last ~90 issues makes us believe that he might actually be threatening to Spidey.  Look, the dude is desperate.  He’s dying.  And he’d like nothing better than to kill his arch-enemy before he dies.  I can accept that and I’m looking forward to seeing an Ock that isn’t concerned with escaping to fight another day and is hence committed to killing Spidey.  I swear, I’m going to be so disappointed when Ock transplants his mind into a new, cloned body and all this history is rubbed out.

The other cool twist is how Spidey’s involvement with Horizon Labs has gone all Iron Man on us.  On the final page, it looks like all the good goodies that Peter Parker has been making at Horizon have been getting bastardized on the secondary market by Ock.  This is a neat play on the story.  I mean….we’ve all enjoyed seeing Peter be a super-scientist and his time at Horizon has certainly addressed all those comments about how much money Peter would have if he’d just “patented his web formula”.  Well, now he’s got the Dr. Oppenheimer problem that his miraculous scientific invention is being used for evil.  I dunno what to tell him.  That shit will happen.  But, if he doesn’t invent it, some evil scientist will invent it instead and that way you don’t get the peaceful uses.  My only quibble with this plot line is that I don’t think Ock would need to steal Spidey’s inventions unless he just wanted the irony of killing Spidey with his own stuff.

The only part of the story that isn’t syncing is the MJ plot line.  Is that the bar owned by Vulture?  Why is she buying it?  The problem with the MJ story AND Peter’s sudden reattachment to MJ is that is doesn’t feel very organic.  It feels more like “they” want to do a Peter/MJ story for issue #700 and need to hurry up to develop the MJ plot.  So, this story feels more like “hurry up and cook dinner because the company will be here at 7:00!”

I really enjoyed Stefano Caselli’s art in this issue.  He also did the first two issues of Ends of the Earth and that wasn’t his best work, but he’s back on point here.  I’d still rather have Humberto Ramos every time, but I’m not sure Ramos can even do a monthly book at the quality-level we’re used to seeing from him.  And ASM is at least double-shipping every month.

Conclusion: Very good.  Excited to see how this story ends after the plot twists herein.

Grade: A-

-Dean Stell

Follow Dean on Twitter.

Follow WCBR on Twitter and Facebook.

by Ed Brubaker (writer), Patrick Zircher (art), Paul Mounts (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: The identity of Scourge, and the man pulling his strings, are revealed.

The Review:  With this second issue, this arc is really starting to seem a like a “righting of the ship” of Captain America since the relaunch.  Really, it feels like Brubaker going back to doing what he does best with Cap and much of what’s made his run such a wild success.  What with HYDRA looming in the background, undercover villains, and secrets aplenty, this is a return by Brubaker to that cloak-and-dagger, espionage style that has served him so well in past Cap runs.  The old school, more bombastic, though perhaps generic, superheroics of the last couple of arcs has been abandoned for a more grounded, shadowy, winding comic that is much more in line with the best loved Brubaker Cap comics.  It’s a story of a serial killer and government secrets, not a time-travel hullabaloo and, as such, it’s much more in Brubaker’s wheelhouse and this comic is slowly but surely feeling revitalized as a result.

Patrick Zircher’s art also recalls the prime of Brubaker’s run, as his idea of a Captain America comic clearly falls in line with the aesthetic Steve Epting established for Captain America.  Zircher’s work is also shadowy with a constant sense of tension and mystery and thus, it falls perfectly in line with Brubaker’s script.

My main criticism of the previous issue was that the plot was overly basic.  This is somewhat addressed this issue, as Brubaker does complicate things a bit.  Rather than have it simply be a case of HYDRA manipulating and pulling the new Scourge’s strings, Brubaker instead inserts a “middle man” between the two, a character with significant name value but who certainly isn’t someone you’d expect to see in a  Captain America comic, which piques interest significantly, particularly given that his being a pawn of HYDRA seems not to be his choice.  Overall, Brubaker does a good job this issue in giving us clear answers that only lead to more questions.

If there’s one main problem with this issue, it’s that the reveal of Scourge’s identity is pretty anticlimactic.  In fact, the reaction of most readers is probably just going to be “who?”  It’s a pretty obscure/unfamiliar character.  That said, Brubaker’s done well in the past in resurrecting and refreshing characters, so while the reveal is underwhelming, I don’t think it’s something that will damn  future issues.

Conclusion:  Slowly but surely, Captain America is returning to what we expect from the book, which is a very, very good thing.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Ron Garney (art), Jason Keith (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: The Fantastic Four go on a mission in a strange environment to save the life of an old friend.

The Review:  I think Hickman came into this with a good idea, but due to comics being just as much of a visual medium as a literary one, if not moreso, that idea just cannot be executed.

The problem is that so much of the issue hinges on the big twist at the end.  Hickman does his level bet to keep it mysterious as to where exactly the Fantastic Four actually are and what their mission is.  The whole issues is meant to tease you and keep you guessing as to their mission and location, only to shock you with its genius at issue’s end.  The problem, however, is due to the fact that we can actually SEE their surroundings means that we already know what the twist is just few pages into the comic.  So we’re left with Hickman playing coy with us for an entire issue, acting like he’s one step ahead of us when, actually, we’ve figured out the ruse long ago.

All of this teasing and coyness that’s so focused on keeping things a secret (when we’ve already figured it out), also leads to some really lifeless dialogue.  In fact, I’d say it’s the most lifeless, drab dialogue of Hickman’s entire run, who usually is able to communicate so much heart and significance in very few words.  Here, it’s just a bevy of science-talk at best.  None of the dialogue really carries any emotion or character and it feels like the characters are just going through the motions.

I’ll admit that when the ending comes, it also leads to some problematic questions.  It seems uncomfortable that an old man has his life saved by the Fantastic Four simply because he happens to be their mailman, while so many others in the world are dying of the same cause.  We’re supposed to find this moment touching, but instead, I was just struck with the unfairness of it.  Of course, that’s life, but that’s also the sort of harsh reality you don’t really expect the Fantastic Four to be hammering home.

If there’s one plus here, however, it’s that Ron Garney is continuing to surprise me on the Fantastic Four.  I really thought that his style would be too grounded and gritty for a comic like this one, but he continues to defy my expectations.  Again here, while there is certainly a slight edge to the work that you might not expect in an FF comic, he nonetheless manages to put in the appropriate amount of scale, wonder, and creativity.

Conclusion:  Proof that you really can’t win them all and what seems like a good idea may not quite pan out upon execution.

Grade: C

-Alex Evans

by Matt Fraction (writer), Pepe Larraz (art), Frank D’Armata (colors), and Joe Sabino (letters)

The Story:  Thor finds himself trapped in his own nightmare, while Enchantress takes more pounds of flesh from Donald Blake than he expected.

The Review:  It’s always an annoying situation when you get issues like this that are divided into two separate plots, with one of the plots being much more interesting than the other.

Don’t get me wrong, the other plot (Thor stuck in a “collective dream”) isn’t at all bad.  However, it’s not especially remarkable either.  The idea of Thor ordering no one to think of anything was humorous and, certainly, the setting has loads of potential, where things are constantly changing and unpredictable and determined by no one’s person psyche.  We’ve seen plenty of stories with characters lost in their dreams, but the idea of a “collective dream,” an amalgamation of the psychology of several dreamers’ dreams, all of whom are lost in the same location, is fresh and promising.  It also leads to a great moment; the dwarfs worst nightmare, as pre-eminent builders, was a great touch by Fraction.  That said, the Mares still don’t quite make sense to me.  So…they kill you just to send you to a their dreamworld, which is of your making?  Or do you just get sent to dreamworld if they render you unconscious?  And what’s the purpose of this, given that it seems like an awfully roundabout way of dealing with your enemies?  Some of the details are a bit befuddling if you spend to much time thinking about them, which has been something that has plagued Fraction’s run on Thor.

The problem is, however, that the other story involving Blake and Amora is much better.  It feels smarter, more brooding and psychological.  Fraction’s Enchantress oozes malevolence and is great to read while Blake seems just a little unhinged, just enough that it’s compelling, without ever going over the top.  Admittedly, there are similarities to Jason Aaron’s recent arc on Incredible Hulk, but this is a much more ominous, tighter narrative, without Aaron’s excesses.  Blake and Amora have a strong dynamic, with Enchantress being a great black hat, and Blake being nutty enough to be ominous while still being sympathetic.

Of course, one can only wonder how strong this comic would’ve been had it spent the entirety on this latter plot.  The Thor/Mares plot is just okay, and I was left really wishing that we could’ve gotten more time with the Enchantress and Blake, developing their relationship, exploring Blake’s new-found bitterness and desperation and feelings of impotency.  I realize that the Thor plot is there to give us more action and impressive visuals, but it’s always been character-work that makes an issue for me and this seemed like a wasted opportunity.

As far as the art goes, Pepe Larraz continues to be an incredible Pasqual Ferry impersonator.  His art is bold and characterful and his characters’ facial expressions are bang-on.  I do wish he had a different colorist, however.  Frank D’Armata brings the same glossy look he brings to all the comics he works on, which can distract from Larraz’s work at times.

But hey, on the plus side, both plots end on really great cliffhangers.  The Thor plot ends off in a great cliffhanger that you can see coming, but the Blake/Enchantress cliffhanger is wonderfully bizarre.

Conclusion:  While one plot is stronger than the other, this is a good issue that follows up on the promise of the last issue.  Let’s hope that Fraction and Larraz keep up the momentum.

Grade: B-

-Alex Evans

by Rick Remender (writer), Renato Guedes (art), Bettie Breitweiser & Matthew Wilson (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Mar-Vell, Noh-Varr, and Ms. Marvel deliver a beatdown on a Hala gone mad.

The Review: This is an issue where in many respects, the script plays second-fiddle to the art.  Much as was the case last month, Renato Guedes is cranking out some of the best work of his career here.  Seriously, this is miles above the work he put out on Wolverine not too long ago.  It’s clear that Guedes excels at drawing outlandish, alien, science fiction environments and narratives.  His work is incredibly detailed, almost uncomfortably so.  His work on Secret Avengers has felt almost as much a comic as some kind of European sci-fi artbook.  Bettie Breitweiser and Matthew Wilson really do a lot to enhance this feel, with a very unique palette that furthers the European aesthetic.  This is particularly impressive in the case of Breitweiser, who has clearly completely changed up her game for this series.

Unfortunately, unlike last month, this issue feels somewhat forgettable insofar as the plot.  I love the fact that Remender is telling a cosmic story, but I’m sort of non-plussed that we’re ultimately just getting yet another “mind control” story in a comic.  It always feels like an “out” when writers do this, a way to cheat by having heroes double-cross each other or do bad things, without having to deal with the consequences or ramifications, without Marvel actually having to commit to the swerve.  It leads to stories and characterization that doesn’t really have he significance that it would otherwise have.

As a result, when you see Ms. Marvel and Mar-Vell romancing and rekindling a flame and taking their relationship to a new level, should we really care?  What could be a significant moment for the two characters is undercut by the fact that it’s probably not for real and could very well just be part of their being mind controlled.

On the plus side, Remender keeps just enough of his cards close to keep you at least a little intrigued in the story.  We don’t know the who and why of the mass mind control, for instance, though, of course, it likely involves Supremor.

Also, I do really love Remender’s use of the setting.  Hala, also thanks to Guedes’ work, truly feels otherworldly.  Furthermore, with the raving population, Remender does a great job of setting the story in a world that’s clearly gone nuts.  Nowhere is this clearer than in a scene involving a mass execution, unflinchingly portrayed in all of its brutality; it’s clear that we’re dealing here with the same guy who writes Uncanny X-Force.  In that one moment, the suddenly insane world of Hala seems absolutely nightmarish and monstrous.  While the plot may be forgettable, mind-control mediocrity, the setting is certainly an evocative one.

Conclusion: Wonderful art and a wonderful setting clash with a sadly forgettable story that is a substantial drop from the “last stand” awesomeness of last month’s narrative.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine Di Giandomenico (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: As they run wild, we learn that everything we thought we knew about the history of the Disir is wrong.

The Review:  While Journey into Mystery is one of favourite books, I’ll admit that I’ve not been too high on Exiled as of yet.  However, after the genius twist at the end of last week’s issue of New Mutants, things are definitely coming together with this issue.  As the Disir cause mayhem, it seems that the prior issues were only awkward because it was Gillen and DnA getting the pieces in place so that we could get to the story that is told this month.

This issue’s big reveal is, basically, that everything we thought we knew about the Disir is wrong.  Frankly, I love it when writers pull things like this, particularly given that Gillen created the Disir anyway.  The best part is that this sudden reveal about the Disir’s true history makes them far more sympathetic, which completes a slow-burn effort Gillen has been working towards throughout his run; since his run on Thor, the Disir have gradually become more sympathetic and this reveal is all of that reaching its fruition.  It’s a lot more tragic and it makes a lot more sense than a bunch of women randomly deciding to take up cannibalism in a cave.  It’s a great story by Gillen that serves to truly flesh out the Disir, putting the reader in the odd position of feeling a bit bad for the monsters as they rage around and tear the city up.

Quite honestly, that flashback tale/retelling carries the issue and it alone makes this by far the best issue of Exiled thus far.  There are other things to like, however.  Dani Moonstar really shines this month as the souped-up Valkyrie action hero, courtesy of Hela.  The last page is also a pretty bold move by Gillen and DnA, bringing back a very, very powerful character who is suddenly extremely relevant to this story.

The weak part of this issue is still the art.  Di Giandomenico’s work is still too quick and unpolished for my tastes.  His rendition of the Disir is also frustratingly inconsistent.  At times, they’re rendered as faceless monsters who are all teeth and shadows, all of them looking the same.  Then, in other panels, they look like the zombie girls we all know and love.  I also fear that I’ve given Andy Troy a hard time unnecessarily in previous reviews, blaming the ugly “blotchiness” in the art on him.  This month, we get a different colorist on the art, Chris Sotomayor (a guy whose work I generally enjoy), and it’s just as blotch as it was under Troy.  Thus, I can only think that this has to be a product of some strange shading technique that Di Giandomenico employs that continues to muddy the artwork.

Conclusion:  While the art still isn’t my favourite, Exiled is really coming together now with this issue featuring another clever game-changer.

Grade: B

-Alex Evans

By: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato (story and art)

The Story: For God’s sake, Barry, don’t do anything stupid like quote Planet of the Apes around here.

The Review: The Silver Age of comics might have superficially drawn upon an ever-growing understand of science to tell stories, but that did nothing to stem the tide of totally illogical and bizarre ideas and storylines upon which comics fed.  The Flash (Barry Allen flavor), perhaps as a resulting byproduct of that era, thus comes attached with some seriously wacky history, probably epitomized by his completely random relationship with gorillas.

It’s always been hard to take DC’s gorilla villains seriously—and yes, I use the plural because DC actually has at least two reputable villains of simian persuasion.  If you’ve watched Young Justice, you might know Monsieur Mallah, a hyper-intelligent gorilla who wears a beret, speaks French, and is a mutually reciprocated romance with an out-of-body brain.  Gorilla Grodd thus seems plausible by comparison, a hyper-intelligent, telepathic ape who feeds on brains to increase his mental power, but he’s still just too goofy to be considered a legitimate threat.

Manapul-Buccellato don’t seem all that concerned Grodd’s silliness, as they make little effort to give the villain much in the way of outstanding motivation or personality.  After consuming his father’s brains as part of a kingship ritual, he growls primitively, “…it’s not enough.  I am now king and I hunger…for more.”  He may later rationalize his base desire for greater power, knowledge, and conquest to save his people, but we see no evidence of any compassionate or benevolent background.  In the end, he is what he is: a bloodthirsty ape.

The most value we get out of this sojourn to Gorilla City is the discovery that the Speed Force, for all of its physical nature, has a spiritual component as well.  The elder gorillas state that over time, the Force has “reached out and touched others in an effort to find the one being worthy of its power.”  To what end, no one knows, not even the current recipient of that power—guess who.  Though Manapul-Buccellato have stated they want to clarify what the Speed Force is, at the moment, we can’t tell if it’s meant to be a type of energy, a place, or a sentient entity.

More grounded and therefore easier to process are the secondary plotlines.  Lest you forget, Iris West is still trapped in a pretty discouraging situation, though she and her fellow lost passengers fortunately don’t have to fear death by starvation or thirst.  Dr. Elias has apparently foregone his good-natured geekiness in favor of a strident, rabble-rousing shrillness: “Nobody is above the law!  …So I say hello to hard work and accountability…and good riddance to the Flash!”.

Most interestingly, Singh and Hartley have major issues to work through in their relationship.  Over in Batwoman, the titular star and others treat her sexual orientation nonchalantly, almost as a matter of course.  It makes a lot of sense that when the same set of circumstances applies to guys, feelings get a little more anxious.  Singh’s association with Hartley may be a bit gimmicky, but it’s also humanized him, showing how his usual aggressiveness falls silent when he’s facing his own personal demons.  Hopefully, this storyline will pan out without too much melodrama.

Manapul’s art grows a bit stronger every issue, and “stronger” seems particularly apt an adjective here because Barry actually looks tougher and more solid.  Whereas he started out with rather slight of frame, he looks like he’s developed a bit more grit and backbone now, as if the difficult choices of past issues have built him up somewhat.  Manapul still lacks a wide range of emotional variation, however; his simple, sketchy lines can only manage a certain number of frowns, glares, and pensive glances.

Conclusion: Still chugging along fine, and definitely keeping you interested with a nice handful of storylines running at the same time.

Grade: B-

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: - Easily my least favorite part of the issue is Barry’s awkward, out-of-context musings on fear (to Grodd: “The only way to conquer fear is to look it in the eye and face it.”), which made me flash back to the worst moments of the Green Lantern movie.

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: All those years of PTSD therapy, undone by one super-villain attack.

The Review: As I read through this issue, it struck me that I haven’t been giving Johns enough credit for what he’s been doing on the title.  In many ways, Johns has had to reintroduce Aquaman like a brand-new hero, giving him a fresh mythos for a new generation of readers.  At the same time, Johns has not only been preserving the essentials of Aquaman’s lore, he’s been portraying Aquaman as a hero who comes with a rich history already attached.

The Others represent this strange mixture of new and old in Aquaman’s current continuity.  Though I still think it an unusual choice for Johns to spend so much time establishing a whole other set of characters when his star still has a long way to go in the development department, he’s been doing a remarkably good job at it.  The opening with Prisoner-Of-War shows Johns’ writing at its best: largely stripped at dialogue, yet incredibly informative and emotionally stirring.  I will happily accept any number of Others if Johns can write them all like this.

He’s also done a surprisingly strong job of writing the group’s (out of respect to Aquaman, we won’t call them a team) chemistry, especially considering the complete lack of it over in Justice League.  As it stands, Aquaman has a much deeper bond with this band of outcasts than he does with his current gang of icons, a bond which runs on implicit understanding.  Though separated for who knows how long, they still hold influence over each other and they come to each other’s aid without question.

Obviously, the influence between Ya’wara and Arthur likely goes even deeper than that, as he admitted (to Mera’s chagrin) last issue that they share a “telepathic” connection.  Here, as they romp through the Amazon, clearing it of Manta’s henchmen, you can deduce the specifics of that connection.  Ya’wara has the rainforest’s creatures—or, at least, its large felines—at her mental beck and call as Aquaman has all the ocean’s; it’s not hard to see why they might have been kindred spirits once upon a time, and how their mental powers might have once interacted.

If the Others come to each other’s aid without question in this case, it might have more to do with Black Manta’s involvement than anything else.  Lord knows how the rest of the Others came to hate him as much as Aquaman does, but we soon learn the enmity between Manta and Arthur is a lot more complicated than previously imagined.  It’s not just that Manta is a ruthless treasure-hunter who sought Arthur’s flesh once upon a time; Manta has a legitimate personal vendetta against Arthur as well, one which actually puts our hero on the morally shaky ground.

At the center of all this is Dr. Shin, yet even his role comes across more layered than you might expect.  Self-serving and arrogant he might be, but he did devote himself diligently to the Curry family for a long time, and was scientifically and intellectually frustrated in the process.  In the end, he’s less sympathetic than otherwise, but he’s clearly not a villain.  At the very least, he serves an important task in this arc; Mera said from the start she wanted to know more about her husband’s past life on land, yet only Shin has given her the stuff she needs to know.

Every issue of this series only further confirms my theory that Reis stands in the top tier of DC’s mainstream artists.  This time around, pay attention to his dramatic ability.  The sheer variety and subtlety of expression on Shin’s face is so rich that you can only call it good “acting,” and it is largely thanks to this that you connect to the character as you do.  And of course, Reis’ storytelling in the opening with Prisoner is crucial to making that scene one of the better things Johns has written thus far in the new 52.

Conclusion: For those of you who remember Johns’ superb early work on Teen Titans and the rebirthed Green Lantern, he’s bringing some of that same magic here.

Grade: B+

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: - I’m no hawk, but I do appreciate our nation’s military, and it is only right that Prisoner-Of-War stands fearlessly against Manta.

By: Grant Morrison (story), Chris Burnham (art), Nathan Fairbairn (colors)

The Story: Bat-Cow, greatest hero since Spider-Pig.

The Review: This title has had a troubled publishing history, hasn’t it?  It had the unfortunate circumstance of getting put on hiatus when it was still enormously popular and when its storyline was only beginning to take epic shape.  Then you had Leviathan Strikes, a commendable attempt to wrap up its first arc and put to rest its continuity from the former DCU.  And here it returns to a brave new world, where detail it uses may be setting precedent for future storytellers.

This series has the distinction of being one of the few titles allowed to pick up where it left off in the previous universe, meaning we can assume that nearly every character or plot point it’s established up to this point still applies.  For example, even though characters like Stephanie Brown, Wally West, and the whole of the Justice Society are nowhere to be seen—at least, on this Earth—it seems the Outsiders are alive and well, despite getting caught in an explosion in space last time we saw them.  Even Freight Train is seen eating some deviled eggs in Batcave West.  So this means the Outsiders not only exist, they remain a part of the Batman mythos.

I’m not sure any of this will tend to matter, though, as the events of Batman Inc. always seemed safely cordoned off from the rest of the DCU’s going-ons.  How else can you explain Batwing claiming he “perished in the skies over Mtamba battling killer Man-Bats” yet blatantly showing his face to the public (on an global level, no less) in his ongoing series and with Justice League International?  How else can we have a Batman and Robin what with the rather stunning conclusion of this issue?

That cliffhanger will show you how serious Leviathan is about this whole conquering-the-world thing, if you don’t get that sense from their attempts to mind-control the population through contaminated beef.  Its plans go further than bad meat: “Leviathan feeds on cities like Gotham.  We enter their foundations, infest their alleyways and schoolyards, and command their skies.”  Its reach is what proves so dangerous, taxing even Batman’s resources.

This issue illustrates that very well.  You have Batman and Robin, more than matches for any one foe, being forced to confront multiple enemies all around them.  Yet because this is the Dynamic Duo we’re talking about, they consider this a good thing: “…it means [every assassin in the world are] all in Gotham.  Right where we want them.”  The emphasis on “Gotham” hints their confidence comes from their sense of ownership over the city, but they fail to realize others have as much intimacy with the city as they do, maybe even more so.  It’s a theme that’s popped up before in this series: Batman, who always thinks he’s one step ahead of his opponent, realizing his opponent has gotten the run around on him.

Burnham’s art has the fleshy, organic quality of Frank Quitely’s aesthetic, which somehow goes with Morrison’s writing like no other.  Yet Burnham’s work is even splashier and bolder, easier to look at, with just the right amount of comic overtone to bring out the Silver Age zaniness inherent in all of Morrison’s superhero work.  Burnham also impresses with his storytelling choices, like depicting Batman and Robin’s swinging through Gotham on the sides of buildings

Conclusion: It’s very hard to pin down the appeal of this series, but I’d wager it has much to do with the anything-can-happen energy you get from the script and art.  Morrison hasn’t lost a beat in the long hiatus; Batman Inc. is quite as entertaining as it was before.

Grade: B+

- Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: - “Gotham means ‘Home of Goats’”?  For realsies?

- Morrison’s randomness can be annoying at times, but they can also just be ridiculously winning.  Robin: “As of now I’m a vegetarian.  And this is Bat-Cow.”