Batman #42: I mentioned an issue or two ago I'd like to see King next turn to an old-fashioned story focused on Bruce as a detective after the last several issues focused on Bruce and Selina's relationship. I'm glad to say he does exactly that here. Janín does a great job establishing the mood on the first page, with an Ivy-controlled Superman hovering menacingly over Wayne Manor. (It reminds me of the awesome splash page from last week's "Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man" #300, as Peter is poised over the Tinkerer with the car.) Bruce and Selina decide to go for a drive to Batburger, where they each have burgers. (I'm not sure if they Jokerize their fries. Notably, Batman eats hamburgers with his hands, even if Bruce doesn't.) They then (seemingly randomly) stop by a suburban house to ask if a mysterious "he" is home. Ivy warns Bruce she told him to stay home, but we learn Bruce has a method to his madness (obviously). The trip to Batburger confirmed Ivy's controlling everyone through the food they eat after he noticed they were still serving lettuce, onions, and tomatoes on the burgers. (Leave it to Bruce -- and King -- to use Batburger to prove his theory.) It's doubly confirmed when he realizes Ivy has kidnapped a boy (the mysterious "he") the Wayne Foundation had been helping who couldn't eat vegetables (since she obviously couldn't control him). He taunts Ivy for killing him, and she has Superman kill him in a rage. Later, she confirms to Selina she had someone resurrect Bruce, and Selina observes she doesn't think Ivy is acting on her own. Ivy does seem almost stoned, acknowledging she killed people during the War of Jokes and Riddles but asserts she's acting on her own now. Meanwhile, Bruce awakens to Harley standing over him, and he confirms he wanted exactly that. After Ivy sent Superman after him when she needed power and Flash when she needed speed, he'd figure she'd send someone with four degrees in neurology to heal him. Why does he need Harley? I guess we'll see. After last issue's decidedly slow pace, this issue sings, unveiling some mysteries and adding new ones.
Batman: White Knight #6: The pivotal moment in this series comes, as Jack gets what he wants and then realizes maybe he didn't want it in the first place. With the destructive car chase from last issue fresh in his mind, Gordon wants Batman's identity so they can end his threat to the city once and for all. Babs and Dick balk at the demand, but Dick agrees to help them arrest Bruce so long as his identity remains a secret. (After all, it's Batman who committed the crimes.) Napier agrees to Dick's terms, but Babs is appalled Dick and the GTO refuse to give Batman a second chance when a supposedly reformed Joker is the one giving them orders. Dick and the GTO then successfully trap Bruce by using a brilliant light to blind him while driving the Batmobile, and it's Napier who puts down a still-dazed Batman. Napier ponders the moment, something he'd been waiting decades to happen. His hunch that it's too much is confirmed when Neo-Joker freezes Gotham with a weapon Mr. Freeze's father built under the German Embassy. (Unless Gotham is suddenly the capital of the United States, I'd just like to point out it would be a Consulate, not an Embassy.) Meanwhile, Babs gets the full story about the weapon from Fries: Thomas Wayne ran a program for the U.S. government that convinced Nazi scientists to share their inventions with the United States. Thomas only wanted to use Fries père's innovations for medical applications, but the military fired him, preferring for Fries to build devices for military purposes. Babs realizes Freeze knows Bruce's identity, and he said he'd keep it safe to honor Thomas' memory, as he was like a father to him. With Batman "safely" in Arkham, Napier is left to face Neo-Joker on his own. He's downing pill after pill to keep down the Joker as Harley begs him to ask Batman for help, telling him he's over his head. But, in the end, the Joker reemerges. In other words, it's going to be a hot time in Gotham next issue!
The Wild Storm #12: Halfway through this series, Ellis definitely moves to the next phase here. IO successfully hacks into the Skywatch systems to steal information, but is taken off guard when the Wild C.A.T.s take out its Hightower site at the same time. They're forced to accept the total loss of whatever it was the Hightower folks were doing (I'm not sure they know) since the only way to stop the attack is to shut down IO's systems and they can't do that while they're hacking into Skywatch. Meanwhile, Lucy's monitoring of Mitch's phone means she heard Jackie announce to Miles they were going to do something to Skywatch they weren't supposed to do, allowing Bendix to put two and two together and realize they're behind the "North Korean bots" attack. Miles orders Jackie to scour through the information they've downloaded as quickly as possible until they can find something he can use to fend off a revenge attack from Bendix, but Jackie warns him she thinks they're already at war. Indeed. Meanwhile, Lucy follows Bendix's orders and kills Mitch, something IO is unlikely not to notice. Also, someone who looks like Sam Elliot and who I'm assuming is Lynch given he has a wonky eye arrives to his snow-covered cabin in the woods with a dead wolf to receive a message saying "Index file received." Good times.
Also Read: Bloodshot Salvation #7; Nightwing #40
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