ND 05-2023

ACTION COMICS #4
PLOT by GUANLISHABI
WRITTEN by MATT FRACTION
ART by LEONARDO ROMERO
“Beauty and the Bizarro"
Lex Luthor has developed another test weapon to stop Superman, the Duplication Ray.
With the special effects of this ray, Lex is able to create copies with inanimate material.
This ray still doesn't work on organic material, so when it hit Superman, the results are rather bizarre.
From inanimate material emerges a copy of Superman, the Bizarro Superman!
Bizarro sets out to save people, however, due to Bizarro being different from Superman, most people fear Bizarro.
Superman tries to stop Bizarro from causing public panic, but he fails,
because Bizarro is just as strong and just as determined to save people.
After saving Lois from yet another assassination attempt, Bizarro takes Lois away.
Metallo tries to stop Bizarro, but due to Bizarro's immunity to Green-K, Metallo is unable to stop him.
However, much to Superman's surprise, Lois is actually able to communicate with the Bizarro creature and realize that he is just trying to help people.
The bizarre creature is not a monster, but a good man with a heart of gold.
But Lex is determined that this is not what he wanted, as he wanted a Superman he can control rather than a monster.
Therefore Lex supplied Blue-K, an isotope created with duplication ray, to the police.
And their orders are to shoot Bizarro on sight!
30 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
AQUAMAN #31
Plot by EXCITER
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by JIM LEE
“THE ICEMAN COMETH”
The polar ice caps are melting! Surely, unless you live under a rock, you must have heard this dire news which most scientists attribute to global warming. But how many of those whining scientists have a plan to actually do something about it? Dr. Victor Fries does… though you may know him better as Mr. Freeze!
With support from the United Nations in an effort to combat climate change, Dr. Fries has promised to re-freeze the ice caps and restore their glacial majesty using an enormous (tax-payer funded) freeze-cannon! His initial effort is projected to restore over 900 billion tons of ice to the North Pole - enough to offset years of melting - in just a few moments!
The only problem? Unbeknownst to his supporters (though known Mr. Freeze himself), his target for re-icing is directly above the sub-marine city of Hy-Basil! Once an Atlantean sub-state that separated during the great Age of Decline, Arthur Curry sent Mera and Crablad to petition the frigid Hy-Basil to reunite with a resurgent Atlantis. Will they all be flash-frozen before they get the chance?
Meanwhile, Aquaman’s campaign with his new friend Geo-Force was a success: Queen Bee was arrested and Bialya freed from the yoke of her oppression. It was such a success, in fact, that Geo-Force, who has the power to manipulate earth, extends to Aquaman a highly weighty and secret invitation: Arthur Curry is asked to claim the Seat of Water at the Table of Elements. But what does that even mean? Is this some kind of… elemental illuminati?
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
BAT-WING #46
Writer: Malcolm Jones
Artist: Dexter Soy
Plotter: Marvell2100
The investigation into the death of Chinese businessman Ken Yao has sent David, Dakota and Agent Khan travelling to Jarmun where crime lord Keely Kingo has accused the local police precinct of being involved in Yao's murder! They interview Chief Yuzo Bzanti who denies any involvement and questions why they would take the word of a criminal. Khan thanks the chief for his time as they leave but none of them trust anything that he's said. David tells Dakota to take Khan back to Tinisha. He plans to stick around and continue talking with a few locals.
On the Western border between The Congo and the country of Ahzhun, agents Kia Okura and Rick Flagg are investigating a human smuggling operation happening at the border. Dozens of children are being abducted from the area and shipped out of the country. And it isn't just happening here, it's going on in other countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and North and South America! There are rumors of a shake-up in The Guild of Assassins(see recent issues of The Deadly Hands of Connor Hawk - Marv!) and the new leadership is "recruiting" new members to fill their ranks! But the stakes are about to become personal for Kia as she learns that her young niece is one of the children missing!
Back in Jarmun, David calls Matu to check in on his brother Isaac, who is still recovering from the trauma they both suffered as child soldiers(as revealed in the classic, Bat-Wing: Those Who Hunt Heroes!). Matu tells him that there is no change in Isaac, he is still unresponsive. Later that David decides to clear his head and find some answers about Yaos' death. But he knows that he won't get those answers as Agent David Zavimbe. No, now it's time to play some hardball and the best way to do that is if Bat-Wing begins to start asking questions!
32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99
DEADLY HANDS OF CONNOR HAWKE #46
Plotter: MARVELL2100
Writer: JEFF LEMIRE
Artist: ANDREA SORRENTINO
QUEEN'S GAMBIT
Connor Hawk has decided to begin the most important journey of his life! For so long others have tried to dictate his destiny for him, told him what he should do, who he should become. But now, perhaps for the first time in his life he has a clear vision, a clear purpose. Billy Badass and Anita Ass-Kickers have wrested control of The Guild of Assassins away from Richard Dragon and while Hawk has opposed him before, Dragon was a man of honor. Billy and Anita are far worse and they will unleash a wave of death far worse than anything they've seen!
Along with Avila and Dragon, he will build his own team, a team dedicated to protecting the innocent. But he doesn't want his mother Tasha as Ghul or The Magus to be a part of his team. He knows that they have ulterior motives and they can't be trusted. There is too much at stake, too many lives depend on them. There are already rumors of The Guild abducting children from around the world to re-build their ranks. Children who were once like Connor, no future, no past, just kids that no one would miss. So Connor has a plan and now the next part, who will he have on his team?
32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99
DETECTIVE COMICS #33
Written by Kieron Gillen
Plot by H-E-D
Art by Dustin Weaver
“Whisper is a System”
Batman versus Basilisk!
[Note: this issue is set before Uncanny G-Men #16]
With the help of the telepathy developed by Penelope as part of her transformation into Pyra, Irish Autumns has begun to resurface buried memories from his childhood at Donovan’s Home for Foundlings.
Realizing the Dabney Donovan experimented on him, Basilisk sets out to find answers.
Meanwhile, Batman is on the trail of Fred Winchester, the abusive Headmaster of a boarding school he briefly attended during his childhood as Bruce Wayne.
What neither of them yet realize is that Dabney Donovan and Fred Winchester are the same man — Manfred Seltsam, aka MISTER WHISPER, the SWORD OF FEAR!
And Mister Whisper seems an opportunity for an interesting experiment.
He allows these two victims of his to find him. He taunts them… but secretly releases a psychotropic gas that triggers extreme aggression.
These two heroes turn on each other instantly. Can they come to their senses before Whisper escapes?
More importantly… can they control their aggression before they kill each other?
32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99
THE FLASH #46
Plot by EXCITER
Written by ROBERT KIRKMAN
Art by FRANK CHO
“WORLD WITHOUT A FLASH” prologue
It has been one month since the Black Racer possessed Barry Allen’s body as his new avatar. One month since the New God of Death left the world without the Flash…
In that time, many of Barry’s allies, shaken to their core, took the Black Racer’s warning seriously. Flash’s young speedster protégés Fast Foodie, Running Shoes, and Breakneck have given up using the Speed Force out of fear that, if they do, the Racer will come for them as he promised. Jack-Be-Quick only uses his speed for mundane purposes, delivering for Postmates or Grubhub, hoping to run under the radar. S’kidd-Flash stayed on his devastated home planet of Savoth, hoping against hope to find survivors of the Black Racer’s rampage. In the face of overwhelming odds, almost everyone on “Team Flash” has given up…
Almost everyone.
Iris West won’t ever quit on Barry. She falls back on family. But can she find her nephew? In her hour of need, can she call upon Wally West?
Henry Allen will also never quit on his son, because Barry never quit trying to get his wrongly-accused father out of jail. But now Henry thinks maybe his solution can be found in jail. After all, if you’re going to take on death itself… then you’re going to need a Suicide Squad.
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
GREEN LANTERN #46
Plot by EXCITER
Written by MARK MILLAR
Art by JOE MADUREIRA
“A GATHERING OF OPPOSITION”
The United Planets has accepted Earth as a member and adopted the Green Lantern Corps, under Hal Jordan, as an official law enforcement branch. But this hasn’t been without controversy. Vandal Savage’s “Humanity First” campaign badly damaged Earth’s reputation. Despite John Stewart’s efforts, some within the United Planets resent humans… as do many more outside of it.
Currently, the planet Cargg is hosting a conference. Gathered are representatives from powers traditionally seen as individual rivals or enemies to the U.P., including the Dominators, the Khunds, and the Kroloteans. All were personally invited by the conference’s host: Despero, ruler of Kalanor before he was deposed (see GREEN LANTERN #17-18), who disappeared after Hal Jordan reluctantly helped him escape prison (see GREEN LANTERN #31-33). If he can convince the assembled powers to sign his “Cargg Accords,” a mutual defense treaty proposed in response to Earth’s U.P. membership acceptance, then Despero will have shifted the hierarchy of power in the universe and will be a founding father to the U.P.’s greatest threat!
But one conference invitee stands out from the rest… the representative from Czarnia (the last Czarnian, in fact!). Despero has every reason to believe that Lobo hates Earthlings, seeing as they set him up him for murder charges and detained him in an alien prison until he escaped (see THE FLASH #29-30, AQUAMAN #22). But is the Main Man really ready to sign on with these fraggin’ bastiches?
And, oh yeah, Jessica Cruz is attending the conference undercover as the representative from Savoth (which, unknown to Despero, was decimated in last month’s THE FLASH). Hopefully nobody recognizes her!
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
HAWKGRRL, AGENT OF CHECKMATE# #9
Written by TOM KING
Art by TULA LOTAY
Plot by CAPTCLEGHORN
“THE SHADOW WAR HAP" Part 3
Rhonda and Thal’s Zeta Beam pickup goes poorly as Checkmate#’s information was faulty and the pick-up in the outback areas of Central Australia turned out to be a drop-off where a half dozen Karnans appear attacking our heroic pair. A Karnan is, basically, a super-strong and agile tigerlike humanoid. A fight amidst the Australian outback ensues and Atomica and Hawkgrrl manage to capture the Karmans. They also manage to catch a ride to Rann where they meet with Adam Strange and Captain Comet. Also present is Radea, an associate of Captain Comet. Radea represents the Guardians of the Clockwork Universe. Not the Guardians of the Universe from OA. The Clockwork Guardians seem to be scientific forces of order. Are they willing to go against CAW? Or will the two extraterrestrial groups bond together?
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
JLβ #4
Plot by NX01A
Written by RAM V
Art by JAMAL CAMPBELL
'CRUSADE'
•"Hamzas!"
•Perhaps not the word you'd expect to hear just before magic lightning transforms a young person into a demigod but still... The Canaanite gods Horon, Asherah, Mot, Zephon, Anat, and Sydyk transform LINDA LEE DANVERS into SUPERB!
•"Shazam!"
•That's more like it. BILLY BATSON channels the power of Shiva, Huitzilopochtli, Anansi, Zephyrus, Atabey, and Mamaragan to become CAPTAIN MARVELOUS! Mamaragan isn't sure about the name but there's little time to think of a better one as Superb bursts through eternal rock to begin cleansing Earth of all false gods! Can Captain Marvelous stand up to her and score a win for religious freedom?
•While STEEL consults his sentient lab run by The ÜBERADICATOR (See JLAlien #12) about the Still Force powering and rejuvenating WILL WALKER, creepy preteens begin gathering outside.
•JASON BLOOD is no stranger to transformations but the one EXTRAÑO consults him about may have demonic and angelic consequences.
JLβ Profile
SUPERB
Name: Linda Lee Danvers
Affiliation: YHWH
Powers: •Psychokinesis
•Divine Lightning
•Healing Touch
•Penance Stare
•Danger Sense
•Shapeshifting
Intelligence: ••
Strength: ••
Speed: •••[••••] *Teleportation
Durability: ••••
Energy Projection: ••••••
Fighting Skills: ••••
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
MAN OF BRONZE #20
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Philip Tan
Plotter: Marvell2100
HUSTLE AND FLO' Part 2!
In the search for his ex-wife Flo, Ben and David return to Uzikstan, the last place they expected to be! After all it was here where Ben killed former President Igor Khisnov! This was after he was set up by his ex-wife Flo to kill a group of freedom fighters. But this return is different, he has secretly been invited to meet with the new President, Illyana Khisnov, wife of the previous leader! Why would the wife of the former President meet with the man who killed her husband? Curiously, Ben agrees to meet with her. Besides if this is a trap Uzikstan, will just have to find another new President!
In the Presidents' private office, Ben and David meet with Khisnov and her Prime Minister Valeria Tarkov. Ben wants to know why she doesn't want him dead for Khisnov's murder! She tells him that there is no love lost for her late husband. He was as cruel and brutal to her as he was to his enemies. She was not his wife by choice! The President tells Ben that she is not like her predecessor and wants to bring democracy to her country. But there are forces still loyal to her dead husband, led by former PM Viktor Darque. The President makes Ben a simple offer: help her put down Darque and his loyalists and she will clear his name in the murder of the former President! Plus, she has information about his ex-wife!
32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99
THE QUESTION #46
Writer: MARK RUSSELL
Artist: BILL SIENKIEWICZ
Plotter: CaptCleghorn
“Did You Pick Up Your Toy?”
The Quiz and Agent ! have been identified as being part of a gang known as the Fellowship of Dada. The Quiz’s bizarre powers allow them to do nearly anything. Do they have a weakness and can Vic and his team find it? Agent ! is making his way wherever the H#!! he wants. Hub City is considering an unprecedented step and calling in superhero help.
Yet another Fellowship of Dada member makes her debut. The Toy is a young blonde woman who acts submissive and will obey you but somehow turns the tables and gains control over you. Mayor Desmond is her latest owner/prey.
The Blue Beetle and Pagan make a stand and get their heads handed to them.
Myra Fermin is dinner with Vic when Agent ! is seen at the table, smiling.
32 PGS./ Rated M for Mature Readers...$2.99
SENSATION COMICS #35 starring Wonder Woman ‘74
Written and Drawn by Amanda Conner
Assisted by CaptCleghorn
“Visitor from Outer Space, book 4: You and Me Against the World”
In your polyester suit,
With matching platform boots,
And the old Red, White, and Blue.
Até is the presence behind the Andros charade. Andros was not an alien being judging planet Earth. Her race was not assumed to be the actual Olympic gods who aided in the creation of City Nation of Themyscira on Paradise Island. She is Até, goddess of mischief and delusion. She is the personification of ruin. And she now rules Paradise Island with Diana exiled to Man’s World, helpless and alone. The powers of Man’s World are unable to reach or even find Themyscira. But is Diana truly alone?
Ahnjayla. Renegade amazon fixated on the riches and avarice of Man’s World. Diana has made overtures to her to bring her back to the Amazonian way. These have been unsuccessful. Imagine Diana’s surprise when Ahnjayla approaches her with a simple “perhaps I have a point”.
Yesterday, Diana was asked to remove herself from Paradise Island; that request came from her mother wife. Deep down, she suspected she was right, but she also knew that some day she would return to her. With nowhere else to go, she was approached by childhood friend, Ahnjayla. Several years earlier, she had fled Themyscira, stating that SHE would never return. Can two exiled amazons share a world saving mission without driving each other crazy?
Plus, on this month’s “Women of 1974” variant cover, the Kootenai tribe’s peaceful war against the United States bringing help to their beleaguered tribe.
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
SUPERMAN #4
PLOT by GUANLISHABI
WRITTEN by GENE LUEN YANG
ART by GURIHIRU
"Hostile Takeover of the Vegetable"
Superman returns to his Fortress in the Arctic to discover it covered by a dome of plants.
When Superman attempts to enter his own fortress, he was rejected by a huge green hand.
But before Superman uses his heat vision to burn away the green dome, a human sized thing emerges from the dome.
The Avatar of the Green, the Swamp Thing!
The Swamp Thing warns Superman that he should not break the green dome, for it is created by the Swamp Thing.
Over the years, Superman has rescued many animal and plants from other worlds.
And he kept them in the Alien Zoo in his fortress.
Now, an alien vegetable has awakened, and it actually contained the essence of the Green from another world.
As a result, the vegetable has grown into another Swamp Thing inside the Fortress.
In its agony of losing its homeworld, the Alien Swamp Thing is in a mindless rage,
trying to take control of all vegetation of Earth, sucking all nutrition from Earth to restore their homeworld.
Therefore, Swamp Thing has been sent to terminate the threat by the Parliament of Trees.
But will Superman allow Swamp Thing to simply destroy the last living survivor of another world?
Or is the powers of all trees on Earth enough to destroy the Last Son of Krypton?
30 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
UNCANNY G-MEN: THE PYRA SAGA #3
(LGY: UNCANNY G-MEN #19)
Written by Kieron Gillen
Plot by H-E-D
Art by PEPE LARRAZ
At the lab on Campbell Island, Professor G and Hyancith are met with a shocking reveal from Dr. Ivana Baiul, his old friend and former lover.
In her lab, locked away, is a Gen-Active codenamed X, who can rewrite reality on a whim.
Her name is Ace, and she’s Baiul’s daughter… and the Professor’s as well!
Baiul only reveals this long-kept secret because a freak earthquake opened her containment unit.
Can Hiram Gaunt leverage his psychic might keep his protean daughter from destroying them all?
Meanwhile, in Australia, PYRA has embarked on a whirlwind flirtation with the mysteriously resurrected Unity!
But while she’s with Unity… she’s plagued by strange hallucinations of another life. A past self… or a future one?
For while Unity distracts her, she’s subjected to mental manipulation of the SWORD OF FORTUNE, the telepathic Looker!
Because Unity is no longer the hero she knew… in truth, he is Ohmen, the SWORD OF JUSTICE!
They serve a mysterious master, DAMOCLES, and they want the all-mighty PYRA to join him as well!
Will they awaken her dark side?
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
UNCANNY G-MEN #20
Written by Kieron Gillen
Plot by H-E-D
Art by Valerio Schiti
Having escaped from the savage Dinosaur Island, defeating Doctor Dinosaur and Ashiya in the process, the G-Men find themselves unexpectedly in Argentina!
Unfortunately, they can’t get in contact with Professor G — little do they know, it’s because the communication equipment was destroyed by an Eret-ha demon!
So, while the resourceful PANTHA arranges for a trip home, the team takes a little vacation.
BASILISK finds himself drawn to the beautiful and dangerous daughter of a local professor. Is he already over Pyra’s apparent death?
WONDERLAD is excited to visit the sights he knows from Wong Kar-wai’s classic film “Happy Together”.
RAINMAKER and FULL COPPER MAN bond over their grief for Runaway — a daughter to one, a love to the latter!
Suddenly, their vacation is interrupted by the return of an old acolyte of Hans Leckter’s — Barry Metzner, now known as MR. MESMER!
Using his hypnotic powers, he holds Buenos Aires hostage. Can the G-Men save the day?
32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99
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