Over-a-Year Old-Comics: The Top-Shelf February 12, 19, and 26 (2020) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars:  The Rise of Kylo Ren #3 (February 12):  Soule does a good job here once again showing how Ben isn't really committed to the Dark Side.  It's something we know due to the movies (particularly his internal conflict in "Star Wars:  The Force Awakens"), but it becomes a particular problem for him here.  

After Ben tracks down the Knights on Varnack, Ren tells him that a "good death" is the price of entry into the Knights.  Ben relays the story of how he killed Hennix during a fight with his former classmates.  

The trio found him on Elphrona, the planet where Ben first met Ren and where he went to try to find the Knight's trail.  A furious Voe attacked Ben, telling him that he was a murderer.  Furious that she didn't believe that Luke attacked him, Ben throws her off the cliff where they're fighting (of course) just as Hennix approaches them to try to stop the fighting.  Realizing that Voe will die from the fall, Ben uses the Force to stop her descent.  But Hennix throws his lightsaber at Ben, causing Ben instinctively to send it back at Hennix.  Ben immediately realizes that he can't stop the lightsaber from colliding with Hennix and save Voe.  He knows that Hennix will die, but he decides to save Voe.  

After Ben relays his story, Ren correctly points out Ben didn't really want to kill Hennix.  He agrees to let Ben travel with the Knights for a while because he's strong "in the shadow" but also makes it clear that Ben's going to have to cough up that good death at some point.

 I like Soule showing us how Ben's struggle with the Dark Side began, particularly as it forms the backbone of the third trilogy.  These sorts of movie tie-in mini-series usually aren't very good, but Soule's really holding up his end of the bargain here.

Dragon Age:  Blue Wraith #2 (February 19):  I re-read the first issue of this series in an attempt to follow the story better, but I realize that I would probably have to re-read "Magekiller," "Knight Errant," and "Deception" to fully grasp the series’ nuances.  Without that, it’s all just a jumble of plots and sub-plots, and it’s hard to tell why the characters make the decisions they do.

I still don’t understand why Vaea would leave Ser Aaron to help Tessa, as Tessa has done nothing to inspire such loyalty.  Tessa claims that it’s because she’s an orphan like Tessa is, but does Vaea just really drop everything to help every orphan she meets?   

Also, I’m not sure why Tessa really cares whether her father is indebted to her or not.  I assume that she’s advancing some larger plan, but, if not, why not enjoy no longer being under this thumb anymore?  Sure, I get her father was an asshole who crushed her spirit so she’s all calculating now.  But can’t she be calculating in a way that doesn’t put her life at risk trying to save him, particularly since I'm assuming that his reputation is going to take a hit after he lost his city and got himself kidnapped? 

Finally, I have no idea why Ser Aaron and company decided to follow the caravan.  I assume it's because they know it has the sarcophagus, which I also assume they learn at the end of “Deception.”  Even still, why do they care if someone uses it to make a powerful elf?  Like, I get Callie is just hanging with the people keeping him safe, but why do Ser Aaron and Marius care?  After all, Marius is a mage hunter not a powerful-elf hunter.

I'm really just here in case anything here gives us hints about the forthcoming game, because DeFilippis and Weir aren't doing anything to make me care about these characters per se.

Undiscovered Country #4 (February 19):  We learn a lot in this issue. 

First, Daniel has made a deal with the Destiny Man:  the Destiny Man will give him the Key and Daniel will lead Uncle Sam to the door to the next zone.  At that point, Daniel will provide the Destiny Man with the door’s location and, in exchange, the Destiny Man will grant Daniel free exit from the United States and “everything else [they] agreed.”  What constitutes “everything else” is inevitably going to answer the question whether Daniel is a hero or a villain.  Right now, he's really looking like the latter given that he's having this conversation with the Destiny Man in front of his chained companions. 

Second, the Destiny Man is trying to get back to Aurora, who expelled him (from wherever she is) to prove his governing idea of “live free or die.”  The Destiny Man stresses that people came out West to change, something Camuncoli underlines by emphasizing his crab and lizard hands.  To the Destiny Man, it you survive in his difficult land, you deserve it.  But he needs to “walk the Spiral” to prove that to Aurora. 

Third, Sandoval informs the team that she didn’t understand why they were chosen for the mission so she’s been researching it since Bukowksi approached her.  She then reviews why they're all such odd choices.  She reveals that Charlotte has Sky but she isn’t contagious only because she got an expensive vaccine.  That said, Sandoval says that she’ll start showing symptoms soon.  As we know, Daniel is a wanted man and Ace isn’t mentally stable.  Sandoval was fired for looking into the story that the Alliance really is poisoning the quarantine zones and implies that Janet and Chang are suspect.  

After finishing his talk with the Destiny Man, Daniel leaves, taking Charlotte with him.  Sandoval uses Buzz (her drone) to help the team escape.  She then informs them that Uncle Sam sent her a text message:  it shows a list with all their names on it, saying they were the ones to be sent to America.  Aurora signed it.  “Aurora” is not coincidentally the first word engraved on the Golden Spike (i.e., the Key).  It also seems pretty likely that Aurora is an AI.  

Valentina’s new mission is to track down Uncle Sam and get him to tell them what he knows.  Since Daniel and Lottie are also headed to rendezvous with him, it should be a helluva reunion. 

The Last God #5 (February 26):  Kennedy Johnson reveals most of the last mysteries not related to what happened on the Black Stair 30 years ago in this issue, setting the stage for a helluva run to issue #12.

In the past, the companions pass to the other side of the portal with Skol, entering a haunting realm.  On the winding floating staircase that serves as their path, they pass portals to other worlds.  The portals feel like Chekhov's gun to me:  Skol says that she doesn't have the power to open them while Cyanthe suggests they go through one, since nowhere could be as horrible as Cain Anuun.   Skol leads them to the Book of Ages, which is a platform where petitioners can ask questions.  She asks the Book about the Plague of Flowers, particularly how to kill it.

The Book informs us that the gods’ parent was Ang Luthia who manifested one day.  He created worlds to stave off the Void, which stared at him hungrily.  Then, after failed attempts to create other beings like him, he realized that he needed to infuse his own lifeforce into the entities.  He created:  Mol Anwe ("Firstborn" and "Of Light") from a star; Mol Uvanya ("Of Things That Grow") from the wind, rain, and soil; Mol Kalakto ("Of the Thing Made") from stone; Mol Rangma ("Of Flame") from fire; and Mol Choresh ("Of Knowledge" and "Of Riddles").

Prompted by a question from Mol Choresh, Ang Luthia tells his children never to mention or think about what lies beyond Cain Anuun.  But one day they find the Black Stair, which, unlike everything else in Cain Anuun, Ang Luthia didn’t make.  There, they encounter the Void for the first time.  They're frightened, but before they leave they hear the whimpers of a faceless, formless animal, neither alive nor dead.  (I imagined Voldemort in Charring Cross Station here.)  Feeling sorry for it, Mol Anwe gives it some of its essence, like Ang Luthia had, and creates Mol Uhltep, “Of the Void.”  

They return down the Black Stair, where Ang Luthia is waiting for them after realizing that they left Cain Anuun and stepped into the Void when he could no longer sense them, as if they had ceased to exist.  Ang Luthia realizes that the Void has found a way into Cain Anuun, and Mol Uhltep immediately strikes at him "with the pent-up rage and hunger of eons."  With his dying power, Ang Luthia renders Mol Uhltep into two and sends both pieces back into the Void.  The remaining gods build a pyre, sending Ang Luthia's burning body into the sky so that he may always watch over his work.  Mol Kalakto then bulids a second pyre atop the Black Stair -- the Fells Pyre -- to hold Ang Luthia's heart, which will burn forever and bar Mol Uhltep's return.  

The gods age.  Before she dies, Mol Anwe infuses her flesh and essence into one final song and creates the Fey, which means "Gift."  The other gods also create races upon their death, some unwillingly.  The Flowering Dead are somehow Mol Uhltep's children, "born of the broken, twisted corpses of his kin."

Enraged by what he saw, Tyr cries that Borl the Storm God created the world and that Freyth was his only son.  I'm guessing "Borl" is probably Mol Uvanya.  Veikko claims that the Spirit Mother created the world.  She's harder to guess, but I'm going to say either Mol Anwe or Mol Uvanya.  But, both acknowledge that their religions include stories of the Black Stair, with Tyr noting that Freyth used it to enter the Underworld to hunt Naga.

In the present, Cyanthe appeals to Skol to help them so that they can be rid of each other.  For her part, Skol sees victory over the Last God as wiping away their sins and finally deserving the songs that the peasants sing about them.  During their conversation, Skol hints at Hakkon and Grey’s fate, noting she had no items from Hakkon to put at her shrine to the heroes and also no quarrel with him. She mentions “poor old Grey” so clearly something not-great happened to him.

Meanwhile, Valko claims Skol made Shyf from her unspent years, though I have to wonder why Skol didn't just stop herself from aging.  Skol refers to Shyf as a weapon, so she must have some plan that she herself couldn't realize.  (Does she send Shyf into the Void at some point in the future fight?)  Evyindr tires of Valko's sniping and threatens him, leading to Shyf to stop them before they come to blows, noting that "it's not time for any of that."

Cyanthe wants to leave Eyvindr at the Pinnacle because he's "a risk," though Veikko pushes for Eyvindr to join them given the heroism that he showed last issue.  That said, she doesn't want Valko to join them because she doesn't want the quest to poison him the way it has them.  But Skol says Cyanthe can’t go because she senses the Void magic in her and knows that Mol Uhltep will use her against them at some point.  

Meanwhile, Shyf shows Valko and Eyvindr what Veikko already knows, that the essences of Aelvan lives fuel the Guild's power, including the Pinnacle’s Shield Wall, the only thing keeping back the Flowering Dead.  Valko is appalled that the Ferryman King would allow Skol to do so, and Eyvindr is mortified that he defended Shyf to Valko given she was part of such evil.  Realizing the danger, Skol teleports to the basement with Cyanthe and Veikko, and Valko pledges to destroy the tower collecting the Aelvan essences.  Veikko prevents Skol from killing Valko, but he hurls his sword to Eyvindr, who strikes down the tower.  The Flowering Dead then realize they can enter the Pinnacle. 

Honestly, at this point, I'm pretty much rooting for the Dead here, at least when it comes to destroying the Pinnacle.

Star Wars #3 (February 26):  So, we not only learn what Zahra's beef with Leia is in this issue but also that she be CRAY-ZY.  

When Vader gave her responsibility for hunting down the Rebellion, Zahra had the Fortitude, an Imperial Star Destroyer damaged in the Death Star explosion, resurrected as the Tarkin's Will.  She then staffed it exclusively with people who lost someone in the explosion, as she did.  She pledges to her second-in-command  here that one day she will whisper the name of the person she lost in Leia's ear as she cuts her throat.  (I'm going to say lesbian.  Zahra has some lesbian energy here.)

Zahra isn't the only one in this issue on a mission, though.  Lando, Leia, and Luke (I never realized just how many "L" names we have) arrive on Cloud City with their own agendas.  Lando is there to save Lobot (more "L" names!), which I was glad to see since I assumed his mission was there to sell out the Rebellion to Jabba (or, at least, was only there to sell out the Rebellion).  Luke is trying to find his lightsaber, and Leia is trying to figure out how to de-carbonite-ize Han.

Of course, it doesn't go according to plan.  Lando uses Lobot to stop Cloud City from properly venting the radioactive mining by-product, sending Stormtroopers his way.  (I'm not quite sure what his plan was, since you don't usually create a diversion that leads the people you're trying to divert right to you.)  He asks Luke for help, but Luke is confronted with mountains of mechanical junk in his search for his lightsaber.  (I'm also not sure what he was expecting.  Did he think it was just going to be sitting on top of a desk in the lost-and-found office?)  In the room where Han was frozen, Stormtroopers stun Leia as she's inspecting the equipment.

When told that the Stormtroopers have possibly captured a rebel, the station's commander, Captain Tranch, dismisses Leia's capture as "trivial" since he doesn't know who it is.  He orders his subordinate to follow orders and send the prisoner to the nearest Imperial Security Bureau office for interrogation.  We're then treated not only to some pretty hilarious Stormtrooper banter (reminiscent of Adam Pally and Jason Sudeikis' banter in "The Mandalorian") but also the sight of a carbonite-ized Leia!

All in all, it's a great issue.  Soule makes it clear that the trio is acting pretty recklessly here, overconfident in the ability to pull a fast one on the Empire.  In fact, I was glad to see both Lando and Leia in trouble given how they thought they could just waltz through Cloud City.  I guess sometime Stormtroopers do actually hit the target!

Also Read:  Dungeons & Dragons:  Infernal Tides #2

Over-a-Year Old-Comics: The Top-Shelf January 29 and February 5 (2020) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Conan The Barbarian #12 (January 29):  One of my problems with "King Thor" #4 was that Aaron had seemed to write himself into a corner.  If Gorr didn't destroy the Universe, then Thor would win, just like he always does.  This boringly obvious denouement was made all the worse by just the sheer melancholy of the story, as King Thor was no longer the happy warrior who we all know and love.  Burdened as he is by leadership, a hint of that happy warrior still remains of that Thor today.

The same dichotomy was true of this issue:  Conan would survive or die.  But, the equally obvious outcome -- of course he survives -- is by no means boring, as Conan still has that spark.  The best part of Conan's fight with the Crimson Witch's children is the sheer joy that Conan brings to the battle.  Having successfully stared down his own god, Conan exults as he gets to fight another god and, better yet, two godlings.  He's downright thrilled when they confirm that they're no longer children, unleashing him on them in a way that they didn't quite expect, though should've, given that it shows why their mother chose him in the first place.

I've decided to get off this train here, particularly as Aaron wraps up this arc so beautifully.  I was excited to be a part of a Conan story for the first time since a friend bought me the old black-and-white magazine when I was in the hospital in middle school.  This entire arc was great fun, and I hope this series stays that way for a long time.

The Last God #4 (January 29):  Curiouser and curiouser.

In the past, our trio is now a quartet as the ursulon from last issue - who Cyanthe calls "Grey" - has joined the group.  They arrive at the Pinnacle to find floating bodies, the remains of a magic battle according to Veikko.  They stumble upon a room with bodies in cages, and Tyr grabs a tembersteel axe from the body of one of the corpses floating in the purple energy in the middle of the room, awakening the corpses.  A skull and attached ribcage in one of the cages informs them that he's Becker, the Grandmaster of the Guild Eldritch and Master of the Pinnacle.  For his freedom, he offers to get the group a weapon to destroy the Flowering Dead.  The group agrees, and Tyr hilariously carries the head as they make their way through the Pinnacle.  They arrive at the Archives, which Becker says are shielded and shrouded, so the Dead can't find them.  They come to a door behind which Becker claims is the Spear of Freyth, which Freyth took with him into the Dark Beyond to slay Naga Fire-Daughter.  

When Becker informs them that they need a sacrifice of living Aelvan flesh, Veikko reveals that she knew all along that the "servant" is actually animating the skull.  Tyr destroys the bracelet she was using to do so, and the servant is furious, because the Plague had infected Becker before she used the bracelet to contain him.  The group then faces a Flowering Becker.  After they defeat him, the servant - Skol, natch - reveals that she used him as a deception because many people come seeking a "wise old man" and wouldn't believe a "little girl" when she said they needed blood.  She also admits that it isn't a spear behind the door but allegedly a book - possibly the first book - that tells the story of everything's creation, including the Flowering Dead's.

In the present, Veikko hurls a knife into Mol Uhltep's head and then dives off the bridge to save Eyvindr.  Mol Uhltep shrugs off the attack and tells Cyanthe that she and her companions are all under his control; he'll eventually have her kill Veikko and bring the rest to the Black Stair so he can return to Cain Anuun.  Veikko grabs Eyvindr's hand and stabs her knife through it.  In a moment of awesomeness I didn't catch at first, she then activates a teleportation (or "twinning") spell, switching places with Mol Uhltep's head.  The remaining Flowering Dead are dispersed when a legion of Knights Eldritch emerge from behind the Pinnacle's gates.  

As they walk through the Pinnacle, Veikko asks Eyvindr why he tried to save them even after they had betrayed his trust.  He refuses to answer and asks instead why she risked saving him.  She pulls back Eyvindr's hair, revealing that he's a half-elf who, like other mixed-race orphans, has cut off his Aelvan ears since Aelvan slaves fetch less of a price.  Eyvindr is embarrassed and Veikko explains her duty, as the Ferryman King, to save him.  Eyvindr changes the subject, and it gets interesting here.  Mol Uhltep had said that the fey and the Northman were gone, meaning that their hope was gone.  Eyvindr dismisses the fey as a fairy tale but notes that Haakon the Shamed, not Tyr, was the Northman.  Not surprisingly, Veikko refuses to talk about Haakon, since it's becoming clear that he was going to kill Mol Uhltep and the rest of them made a deal instead.

As the group makes its way through the Pinnacle, Federici does a great job of just making it so fucking dark and grim.  Even the tree in the middle is just bleak and grey.  (It helps that there are bodies hanging from it.)  When they arrive, they are surprised to find Valko, who rails again at his mother for leaving him behind in shame.  But, he failed to protect the Aelvan slaves he was supposed to escort to Tchakalta Tuo, telling his mother that the Flowering Dead were too fast.  Uh-huh.  Someone has a story.  Veikko smacks him, outraged he's bitching about shame.  Fair.  They're all then staring when Skol appears as a broken, haggered crone.  She tells Cyanthe she spent her youth on something worthwhile but plans to send a simulacrum of her younger self to help them take on Mol Uhltep at the Stair.

This story just keeps getting better and better.  Every time I'm convinced I know something -- like Eyvindr's heritage -- Kennedy Johnson keeps me guessing.  Moreover, the characters are starting to become more complete.  We see how gentle and naive Cyanthe was in the past, making her current incarnation all the more heartbreaking.  We also see how deep Veikko's commitment to the Aelves is, making her disappointing son all the more terrible.

Star Wars #2 (January 29):  Soule introduces three major developments that we now know happened after "Empire Strikes Back."  First, he shows us the beginning of the plan to save Han.  It begins inauspiciously, befitting this crowd.  After a series of events, Lando manages to sweet talk his way into an audience with Jabba to discover if he's been in contact with Boba Fett.  Unfortunately for Lando, Jabba calls his bluff, forcing him not only to promise Jabba to tell him who has Han (though it's unclear if he actually confirms it's Boba Fett) but also to feed him information about the Rebellion.  Oh, Lando.  Never change.  Second, Leia and Commander Grek brief the remaining members of the Fourth Division on their plan to use a High Republic era space station to send out messages to the scattered Rebel fleet, as it was created to do when the Outer Rim was less settled and communications were more difficult.  Finally, after Chewie turns down Lando's request to let him walk, Lando moves onto Luke, offering to help him find his hand and lightsaber if they can return to Bespin.  Luke then mysteriously has a vision of a robed figure, whose faces is hidden, holding his lightsaber and telling him to follow his destiny.  Dun-dun-DUN!  Meanwhile, Soule also reminds us everyone is rattled after the events of "Empire Strikes Back:"  Leia finds herself remembering Han famously responding "I know" to her profession of love, and Vader telling Luke that it's his destiny to join him haunts Luke.

The Weatherman, Vol. 2 #6 (January 29):  Wow.  Just wow.

To summarize, Nathan reveals that he did swipe Ian's memory drive, which he gives to Cross because, after some deliberation, he decides that he's willing to die doing the right thing.  In order to get an exception to Mars' zero-tolerance policy when it comes to the Earth quarantine, Cross negotiates with President Burga for her and her team to get "renly" scans, which can detect the virus at the atomic level and which are apparently classified, experimental, excruciating, and "astronomically expensive."  (The survivors will live on quarantine ships, which is a lot fucking better than Earth.)  

Eventually, after a final meal at Brutal Noodles, Dr. Argus begins the memory procedure on Nathan.  At the last minute, Cross tries to stop it before realizing she can't, but she needn't worry - a bullet is apparently lodged in the memory drive so it doesn't work.  President Burga's advisory, Zane, then convinces her to send Nathan to find Jenner, pledging that a "Clockwork Orange" sequence that they've developed can turn him into Ian again.  The situation becomes desperate when the Sword of God starts broadcasting a ten-day countdown, so Burga gives Zane seven days to turn Nathan into Ian.

As they prepare to start the process, Zane admits to Cross that the real challenge is when the Sword's psychic scans him (which we learned in issue #5 has doomed previous infiltration attempts) as it'll provoke a series of virtual memories that explains where he's been for seven years.  (They're using the Pearl's fantasy-murder tech for that.)  As President Burga, Cross, and Zane watch Ian approach Jenner's hideout on Venus, Argus plays back something he found on the memory drive:  Dr. Nyseth's video diary, in which she says that she failed to wipe Ian's mind.

It turns out issue #4 was the pivotal issue of this series so far for three reasons.  

First, we learn in this issue that Nathan returned to get his memory drive at Syngen Station in the Arctic after Kestrel's troops tried to find him.  I re-read that sequence, and it's clear that, while the soldiers are randomly pulling drives and stuffing them in bags, they don't pull Ian's drive.  You could say that's overly convenient, and it is.  But LeHeup could've just as easy had Nathan swipe the drive when he initially stumbled into the case, since it's also clear that he saw it then.  No harm, no foul, in my book.

Second, we see Ian's memory confront Nathan in issue #4, and Nathan is legitimately surprised to see him.  As such, when we learn at the end of this issue that Ian's mind was never fully wiped, it's clear that Ian somehow -- either intentionally or accidentally -- managed to hide behind Nathan's consciousness.  It's an open question whether Nyseth is somehow responsible for this subversion, since she only comments on her failure to wipe his mind here.

Third, the Sword of God recruits Gian, Kestrel's nephew, in issue #4 to blow up the transport, which he does in issue #5.  I'm not sure why exactly in retrospect.  It's supposed to advance the cause of ending the tyranny of human life, so I'm guessing the goal was to prevent the virus from getting fed, which I guess was successful in that its hunger -- and presumably Nathan's Voltron antics -- did set it on the rampage and that rampage made Kestrel's people abandon Skyborough.  I guess it worked to some extent, but I'm still not sure what the Sword of God's angle was here.

My biggest question concerns Cross telling President Burga that Nathan thinks that the Sword of God has "the other sample."  Burga tells Cross that she had the other sample destroyed when she took office.  I have two question here.  First, if Burga destroyed the "other" sample, who has the original sample?  Is that the sample Sword of God has?  Second, if the Sword of God doesn't have a sample, then why is everyone so afraid of the Sword of God?  I get that they're trying to destroy humanity, as we see in issue #4-#5 with Gian.  But, if they don't have a virus sample, what threat are they?  I guess that's what they want Ian to learn from Jenner?

The best part of this issue is Cross' conflicted feelings about Nathan.  LeHeup does a great job not making them romantic.  It's just that she now appreciates what Nathan is sacrificing, going as far as she's been willing to go for the truth.  Also, Penny finds Pickles so yay!

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #1 (February 5):  Damn, this series is going to be interesting.  Pak tells us the story of Vader's quest to hunt down and murder anyone responsible for hiding Luke from him and making him "weak."  He brings with him a forensics droid named Zed-Six-Seven, whom he programs to self-destruct if he reveals the nature of Vader's quest.  

The pair start at the beginning, traveling to Tatooine, where Vader is haunted by memories of his past (at least to the extent that he can be haunted).  Pak does everything he can to slow down the story, throwing in some smugglers hoping to shake down Vader after assuming an Imperial officer traveling on his own was going to bribe someone and therefore had a crates of untraceable credits hidden in his hold.  (As you can imagine, Vader eventually makes quick work of them.)  

But, Vader is even more of a bull in a china shop than usual, powering this story almost against Pak's wishes.  They travel to Coruscant not to pay the Emperor a visit but to explore Padmé's apartments, which we learn have been vacant since her death.  Zed-Six discovers that the security recordings for the period after her "reported" death are missing, which seems to confirm someone was trying to hide something.  Zed-Six discovers a trasmitter, which he and Vader trace to Vendaxa, where they come face-to-face with Jar-Jar and, seemingly, Padmé.  Whoa.

Batman: Three Jokers (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

To paraphrase Dickens, to enjoy this story, you have to accept that it's part of the discarded grand vision that Johns had for the DCU, the vision that DC abandoned before he had a chance to finish "Doomsday Clock."  Johns set this series in motion in "Justice League" #50, when Bruce reveals that the Mobius Chair told him that three Jokers exist.  This series now serves a a coda to Johns' vision.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward.  At some points, the original Joker created two other versions of himself, and the Batfamily has been facing the three of them over the last several years.  The Jokers have decided to create a new and improved Joker, and the Batfamily are brought on the case given the escalating body count.  (As we know, it isn't like everyone survives Jokerization.)  After Red Hood kills the Clown (the Joker responsible for killing him), Bruce, Barbara, and Jason face the remaining Jokers - the Comedian and the Criminal -- who's brought Joe Chill to Ace Chemicals for their own reasons.  The Comedian kills the Criminal before he can realize his (the Criminal's) plan, revealing that his (the Comedian's) goal was to heal Bruce's rift with Chill so he - the original Joker - can be Bruce's greatest enemy.

In the end, this series has less to do with the plot and more to do with Bruce's relationship with the Jokers on one hand and Batgirl and Red Hood on the other hand.  Johns handles the former much better than the latter, in my opinion.

The Jokers
Johns wisely dismisses some of the most ridiculous parts of Bruce and Joker's relationship as the series progresses.  For example, Johns makes it clear that Batman and Joker have always known each other’s identities but keep them secret for their own reasons.  Moreover, three Jokers certainly explains how Joker has managed to be so omnipresent over the last several years.

From the start, Johns comes down firmly on the side of the argument that holds that Joker has always known Bruce's identity but has no intention of revealing it since it would take away Batman.  In fact, both the Comedian and the Criminal involve Joe Chill in the series' denouement for the same reason:  for their relationship with Batman to have primacy.  The Criminal wants to turn Chill into the Joker who Matters, inserting himself into Bruce's origin story in the process.  (He comes to this conclusion after realizing that Jason is too unsophisticated and Barbara is too full of heart to qualify to be the next Joker.  Poor Jason.  Even Joker doesn't want him.)  For his part, the Comedian wants to heal Bruce's relationship with Joe Chill so he (Joker) can be Bruce's greatest villain.  The Comedian eventually kills the Criminal to keep him from killing Chill, winning their game.

But, Johns' most inspired take -- where this series does something no other author has done, at least in the same way -- is that Bruce has always known Joker’s identity:  he was the comedian who we saw in “Killing Joke.”  Bruce has never revealed it -- even to Alfred -- because the cops hid Joker's wife and son from him.  Johns tweaks the "Killing Joke" here, revealing that the Comedian was an abusive husband and the cops helped his wife's fake her death so she could relocate to Alaska with their unborn son.  Bruce is committed to protecting their anonymity since the press would be all over them if he revealed Joker's identity.  (More on this part in a minute).  In a way, Johns is asking us to make an easier leap than we've had to make in the past.  It’s easier to believe that the Comedian, in the days after he became Joker, didn’t see a reason to confirm his wife's death than it is to believe Batman never knew Joker's identity. 

All that said, Johns doesn't resolve all issues with Joker, leaving open future stories.  In issue #2, he raises the possibility that the Comedian may know his family is alive as he were see him play-acting a meal with them.  Moreover, the "JW" emblazoned on the Comedian's wife's luggage as she flees in issue #3 matches the focus on the letters "J" and "W" across several interstitial pages throughout the series.  In fact, the series opens with Bruce crashing the Batmobile into his parents' graves and the "W" in Wayne is prominently displayed.  Johns may be hinting that Joker's real identity might be a distant relative of Bruce's, which might explain Joker's obsession with him.  Johns also never tells us why the Comedian felt the need to create the Criminal and the Clown in the first place.

My only criticism of Johns' treatment of the Batman-Joker relationship is that he fails to address the core problem in every Batman-Joker story:  Bruce has ruined countless lives by letting Joker live.  This hypocrisy is on display when we see Bruce travel to Alaska to make sure Joker's family is OK but barely seem to notice the Batmobile mowing down the zombie Jokers who attack him and Barbara in issue #2.  The revelation that the Comedian was out there creating even more Jokers while Bruce did nothing to stop him makes it hard not to be Team Jason here.

Batgirl and Red Hood
Although I liked Johns' rumination on Bruce and Joker's relationship, Johns drops the ball when it comes to the other members of this square.

First, Johns strips Jason of some of the character development that we've seen since he returned.  For example, we get Jason pining for Barbara here in a sophomoric way, leaving a note confessing his love for her (and promising never to mention said note if she doesn't) taped to her door.  The note falls to the ground, and a janitor ominously employed by "Funtime Cleaners" sweeps it down the hall.  It felt like the ending to a "Saved by the Bell" episode.  I get that Jason struggles expressing his emotions, but could he not have put the note on a table?

Then, as I often find with DC, we endure the fact that this story is complicated by the multiple versions of these characters and their relationships that we've seen as a result just of the DCnU and Rebirth, let alone the various Crises.

For example, in issue #1, the Clown tells Jason that he left him alive to crawl from his shallow grave so that he could hurt him and, ipso facto, Batman more.  In issue #2, Bruce even refers to this shallow grave.  I'm not even sure which version of the DCU the Clown is referencing here, since it definitely doesn't fit the details of any of the various versions of Jason's return that I recall.  We're supposed to believe that Jason died and then just...un-died?

In issue #2, Barbara tells Jason that they all wish they had been there for him after he died (or, now, almost died?), like Barbara's dad and physical therapist were there for her.  After all, she's not wrong when she says that he was already the Red Hood, committed to a path of violence, by the time they realized that he was alive.  He says that no one’s ever told him that before, which is just flatly untrue.  Bruce has at least come close to that at some point, and Tim told Jason in "Red Hood and the Outlaws" #8 that he understood returning from the dead was a lot to "digest."

I liked Johns contrasting Barbara and Jason’s victimization at Joker’s hands but he leans too heavily into undoing the parts of Bruce and Jason’s characterizations and history that didn't fit with the story he wanted to tell.

For example, in issue #2, Johns posits that Bruce has never really spoken with Jason about how he "healed wrong" after he returned from the dead because he was hoping that he would be more like Barbara.  What?  He fucking died.  Bruce was just hoping for the best?  Moreover, this assertion ignores the moments where we have seen them bridge the divide between each other, like the heartfelt moment at the end of "Death of the Family" where they hold one another when Jason regains consciousness (cf. "Red Hood and the Outlaws" #18).  Did moments like this one just not happen now?

In fact, Johns makes it seem like Bruce hasn't so much as spoken to Jason since he returned from the dead.  Even if you concede that, did Bruce really think throwing Jason into a wall here was going to show how much he cared?  After all, his lament about wanting to put a bullet through Joker's head after what he did to Barbara and Jason (in that order) rings a little hollow, since Jason pretty quickly reminds him that -- once again -- he had to do the dirty work.

We have smaller inconsistencies, such as all of Bruce’s scars, which no longer should exist after the dionesium healed him in "Batman" #50.  Also, Chill's storyline has gone through so many versions it’s hard not just to shrug at whatever version we get here.

Conclusion

I would recommend this series to anyone interested in a more realistic take on the Batman-Joker relationship.  If you're a Jason fan like I am, it's going to drive you to distraction at times.  But, it presents a more realistic version of Joker than we've seen while still raising all sorts of questions about the decisions that Bruce has made along the way.  It's a shame that it now exists as essentially an "Elseworlds" story, but that's a lament for another time.

Over-a-Year-Old-Comics: The Top-Shelf January 1, 8, and 15 (2020) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars #1 (January 1):  Soule summons the same movie-esque experience that made the initial arc of the previous series so spellbinding.  

He begins right where "Empire Strikes Back" ended, with Lando (not completely unreasonably) arguing that they shouldn't rush after Han because they know where Boba Fett is taking him (Jabba's).  Chewie and Leia (also not completely unreasonably) argue that Lando doesn't get a vote in the matter since he's a traitor.  For his part, Threepio remains consistently and hilariously unhelpful, pitching for sympathy that he lost his arms and legs ("for a bit, anyway") and observing that Jabba is going to kill Han the first chance he gets.  In showing us this multifaceted argument, Soule passes the critical test for portraying these characters, namely the fact that I could hear the actors' voices in my head. 

The same is true with Leia's subsequent conversation with Luke, who's still reeling from his confrontation with Vader.  Saiz and Prianto do an excellent job here making Luke look as sickly and dazed as he does in the corresponding sequences in "Empire Strikes Back."  Soule has Leia and Luke update each other on the events that they didn't witness in Cloud City.  Leia explains that Vader froze Han in carbonite meant for Luke and Luke tells Leia that he now realizes that he passed right by Han when he arrived on Cloud City.  It's a great callback to the movie, as I can see this scene -- of Luke seeing Boba Fett from his hiding place in the corridor -- in my head.  Soule also reminds us that Luke hasn't yet told Leia about what Vader told him.

Leia tells Luke that, if they can't save Han, they can save everyone else, and Soule makes it clear that she's throwing herself into work to distract herself.  She tells Chewie to bring them to the rendezvous point with the Rebel Fleet.  Lando (again, not completely unreasonably) argues that they should lay low, noting -- in , another great callback (this time, to his own limited series) -- that he knows someone on Nar Shaddaa that owes him a favor.  ("I'm sure she does, Calrissian," is Leia's dry response.)  Leia again tells him that he's a traitor and doesn't get a vote and Lando reminds them that he did technically save them all.

As if this sequence isn't good enough, we're then treated to one of the best battle scenes I've seen in a comic.  At Mid-Rim Rendezvous Point Delta-Three, the Rebel Fleet (Fourth Division) is pinned between a star and four Star Destroyers.  The scene is so impressive because Saiz and Prianto flood the background with green laser fire, something they do throughout this sequence, showing the care that they're taking here.  The Star Destroyers take down one of the Rebels' Nebulon-B frigates, and Commander Zahra is pleased with this development aboard the Tarkin's Will.  In Zahra's conversation with her lieutenant, we learn the Empire has a group of Rebels locked down near Malastare.  Meanwhile, aboard the remaining Rebel frigate, Kes Dameron (Poe's father) is focused on the battle as his wife, Shara Bey (Poe's mother), is out there fighting.

(I recognized Kes and Shara only because they appeared briefly in "Star Wars:  Empire Ascendant" #1.  Otherwise, I had to go to Wookieepedia to learn I know them from "Shattered Empire."  Confusingly, I thought I was supposed to know Zahra (possibly as Kanchar's lieutenant from the later Shu-Torun arc), but it turns that she's a new character, despite Soule expositing that she has beef with Leia.  At this stage, one challenge of following as many Star Wars titles as I am is that it's getting harder and harder to keep the new, comic-only characters straight.)

As Kes and Shara seem to be on the verge of losing hope, the Millennium Falcon appears.  Leia touches base with the Fleet and someone informs her that they can't jump to lightspeed until someone breaks the blockade.  Of course, Leia orders Chewie to head to the Imperial cordon, and Zahra dispatches a squadron of TIE fighters after them, thrilled at the possibility of ending the Rebellion with Leia's death.  Lando convinces Chewie to let him fly, and Leia and Luke man the guns.  Lando continues to express disbelief with this crazy plan, though he's somewhat comforted when he learns from Chewie that he and Han installed two ST2 missile launchers on the Falcon.  I totally approve of this role for Lando, not yet believing in the incredible things that this team can do.  (I also want Lando to say "star destroyer" as many times as possible so I can hear it in Billy Dee Williams' voice from "Return of the Jedi.")  

Proving why Lando needs to believe, Luke struggles with using the gun with just one hand (and with his burgeoning fury over the fact that Ben clearly lied to him about his father) and surprises even himself when he uses the force to collide the TIE fighters into one another.  Lando than fires the missiles into the Imperial battery and 90 percent of the Fourth Division manages the jump to lightspeed.  Later, Zahra informs Vader, and he's obviously displeased.  But, he's most unhappy when he learns Zahra tried to destroy the Falcon.  It's here we learn of Zahra's "hatred" of Leia, but Vader makes it clear that the ship can't be destroyed due to Luke's presence on it.  

Meanwhile, at Backup Rendezvous Point Gamma-Nine, Leia and the other Rebel leaders realize that the Imperials have broken their codes, since the Fourth Division made contact with the Eighth Division near Malastare right before the Empire attacked.  (In her conversation with Vader, Zahra reveals to us that she designed the signal-analysis protocol that allowed the Empire to break the codes.)  Leia and the Rebel leaders are at a loss as they know they can't contact the other Rebels to switch codes since that'll reveal everyone's location.  Lando helpfully points out everyone else may already be dead.  (Way to win over the skeptical crowd, Lando.)  The issue ends with Luke questioning his future since he now believes that Ben and Yoda didn't want him to be a Jedi.

All in all, I have to say I'm pretty excited about this series.  It's honestly why I returned to comics after this long break, and I'm glad to see Soule capture some of the magic that we saw in Aaron's first arc of the previous series.  Although some of the magic is missing due to Han's absence, I'm not sure it's a bad thing in the long run as I think we're going to see Leia and Luke able to stretch their wings a bit.  At any rate, it's good to be back in the galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars:  The Rise of Kylo Ren #2 (January 8):  We learn a lot about the Knights of Ren here, though we still have some questions on the table.  First, we learn that Luke and Ben encountered the Knights when seeking out lost Jedi treasures on Elphrona.  Ben marvels as Luke quickly disarms the Knights.  Ren realizes that they're outmatched, but he notes that Ben has the same shadow in him that Luke earlier mentioned that he sensed in the Knights.  Here, we get confirmation that the Knights might be Force-sensitive on the Dark Side, but they're not Sith.  The confrontation ends with Ren throwing his helmet to Ben, saying that he should seek out the Knights if he wants to explore his "shadow" one day.  Ben does exactly that as this issue ends, but his "friends" from the Jedi Temple find him before he can leave to meet them.  It seems like we're going to learn that "Ren" is really the title of the Knights' leader, since I'm assuming the "Long ago" title that we saw last issue introduced a different set of Knights.  But, it's still unclear what their mission is, which I'm guessing we'll learn next issue.  After years of a question mark hanging over this group, it really is nice to start getting some answers here.

Dragon Age:  Blue Wraith #1 (January 15):  I really could use a "Previously in 'Dragon Age...'" introductory page here, because I only vaguely remember most of these characters and I really don't remember how they've come together as a group.  At this point, DeFilippis and Weir are pulling together characters from the previous three mini-series -- "Magekiller," "Knight Errant," and "Deception" -- which means we're going back four years.  I know that he's obviously writing for the trade at this point.  If you're reading the actual comics, though, you're missing a lot of the the nuances of the various relationships between the characters, on which the plot unfortunately turns. 

Undiscovered Country #3 (January 15):  This issue is more linear than the previous two issues, as we're witnessing two fairly straight-forward plots unfold.

Two weeks before the team entered America, Ace was in a van in the "neo-Canadian wilderness."  He's preparing to release a bird named Prince into the wild.  Prince has a harness in which Ace has inserted an Eisenhower dollar, which he informs us will reveal "the truth."  Before he can release Prince, someone named Warren and a team of shocktroops surround Ace's van and take him into custody.  Warren later interrogates a restrained Ace in a padded room, showing us that Ace may be a little crazier than we've so far seen him.  

We learn that Ace is in trouble because he swiped some moon rocks from a research facility outside Geneva and wired them to a helmet, which he says allows him to receive signals from America.  Before we think he's too crazy, though, Warren shows us the map that Ace developed, which fairly accurately depicts the Spiral.  Warren exposits that Ace's theory is that America became not only physically but chronologically separated from the rest of the world, something Ace calls a "time dilation" he inferred from the varying broadcast frequencies.  As such, Ace (as we now know, correctly) predicted that America has a "distinct biome with flora and fauna completely independent of eco-logic" as well as different creatures, social structures, and landmasses.  Ace has been forced to post these thoughts on the "gray wires" because he's been clearly shunned by academia (and fired from the institution that Warren runs.)

Warren dismisses Ace's helmet as a tin-foil hat, and Ace doesn't win any sanity points when he explains that tin-foil hats block transmissions.  Ace's plan was to send the bird -- an Arctic tern, which has excellent migratory impulses -- through the United States.  He'd retrieve the bird on the other side and measure the oxidation rate on the Eisenhower dollar's silver to check how much time passed.  As Ace begs to release his bird, Warren informs Ace that he wants him to go on the diplomatic mission to return to himself by seeing he's wrong.  Ace calls bullshit.  He knows Warren wants to go as much as he does, but he knows Ace's right and he's a coward.

In the present, the team is making its way through a market within the Destiny Man's moving city.  (Ace thinks it's a Wal-Mart converted to "Amazon Browse" after the "Great Absorption" in 2024.  Heh.)  Daniel is in communication with Dr. Elgin, who informs him that they have to get to the city's top floor, the Neon Throne Room, to steal the key.  Ace informs the team that Congress passed a law, called the Liberty Bill, that required companies over a certain size to install emergency exists, escape routes, and safe rooms.  (This part is a highlight, as Ace notes Congress passed the law because of mass shootings - or "unofficial private military actions" -- and it was a "complicated solution to a simple problem.")  Ace points out the ladder to the roof and notes that there should be an alarm system, which Daniel figures they can use to create a distraction.  As they make their way to the back, Valentina tells Ace that his work is brilliant and encourages him just to keep doing his thing, even though Chang is losing his shit and criticizing him.  When the team arrives at the ladder, they learn the alarm is busted, so they split the party.  Daniel takes Lottie with him to get the key and tells the rest of the group to stay off the radar.  Valentina again compliments Ace, which makes him suspicious and she admits that she has her reasons for being nice to him.  Ace goes to test his coin when he realizes that it's gone, causing him to panic.  

Meanwhile, Daniel and Lottie arrive on the second floor, the "parking lot," where the Destiny Man keeps the vessels that he uses to try to breach the borders that the key will allegedly open.  They climb into a ship and Lottie sees a photo of her and Daniel as kids and realizes that they're in Daniel's submarine.  They then get into an argument, as Daniel claims that Lottie wanted to pretend his parents never existed and became a saint as a doctor while dismissing him as a villain.  Daniel is searching for something and Lottie is appalled when he finds it:  the ship's detonator, which he originally planned to use if he were caught.  She thinks Daniel's going to use it to blow up the city, telling him that his plan confirms that he's a villain.  Daniel explains that he didn't try to break into America; he succeeded, because their father gave him instructions.  Lottie refuses to believe him, and Daniel again tells her something that he's apparently repeatedly told her, that their father sent him a message when he was 16 years old.  Lottie begins to argue, but Daniel cryptically tells her that her Sky Virus cure and their parents are at the center of "the whole thing."  Daniel apologizes, admitting he's been to the moving city before as the Destiny Man's goons arrive.

In the market, Daniel finds out one of the hawkers stole his coin and he trades his watch for it.  He applies the solution to the coin and tells Valentina that he should be able to use the result to calculate the rate of time in this zone so that he can find the right path for them to leave.  However, the Destiny Man's goons find them and take them into custody, forcing Daniel to drop the coin.  Daniel struggles long enough to see it turn red, realizing that they've been inside "so much longer" than 50 years.  He then tells Valentina that they can never leave.

At this stage, I think we've got the following main questions that need answering soon.  First, how did Ace know to build the helmet to listen for transmissions inside America?  Moreover, how did Daniel's father know where to find him and how to reach him?  Both instances -- if true -- prove that electromagnetic shield over America isn't as powerful as thought.  Next, how did Ace figure out time ran differently in America and all the information that he has about the Spiral?  Time seems to run different in each specific zone, exemplified by his discussion with Valentina.  My head hurts just thinking about it.