Alan Scott: Green Lantern #3: This issue is somewhat hard to follow, since it's hard to tell which corpse is which corpse, given they're all in a similar state and Alan definitely has a type.
Alan arrives at a pier where gays cruise and tells Mikey, one of the regulars, that he's looking for someone. (I bet he is.) Mikey tells Alan that Tommy, another regular, drowned and others "ain't been around." Mikey notes that Tommy was wearing combats boots when he died, but, before Alan can learn more, the cops arrive, and Alan uses his powers to disappear.
(I'll say here that it's a confusing start to the issue, as it really isn't clear why Alan was initially at the pier. After reading this sequence a few times, I'm pretty sure Alan was going to have sex with Tommy, since he mentions that he and Tommy hooked up every once in a while. Initially, though, I thought he was just there looking for information about Robbie's death, but I don't think that's true.)
At any rate, Alan decides to find out more about Tommy's death. At the morgue, the Flash exposits that Tommy also has burns on his wrists and ankles, like Robbie did. The Flash alludes to the fact that the case is personal to Alan, and Alan looses his shit at the implication that he's gay. The Flash doesn't directly address Alan's sexuality but instead repeats something Alan previously said, that, "There is no society without justice...for all." He then informs Alan that the Justice Society of America (JSA) has already dispatched the Spectre to look into Tommy's case.
(Again, the revelation that the JSA is working on Tommy's case is weird, for a number of reasons. First, I assume the JSA learned about Tommy's death from Alan, so I don't get why they're keeping information form him, even if they're worried he's too emotionally connected to the case. Second, it doesn't seem like that much time passed between when Tommy died and Flash and Green Lantern are in the morgue. Can't they wait for the NYPD to investigate? Are they investigating every missing person case in New York?)
In an alley, Alan finds the Spectre, who digs his fingers into the head of a guy whose girlfriend is a file clerk in the precinct and tells him about all the cases that cross her desk. (It turns out he's dating her to pass on the information to his boss, Don Rocco Santucci.) Learning that Tommy's file is in the nearby precinct, Alan and the Spectre head to the file room there. They discover the file empty, and Alan notes it's in the wrong precinct, given where Tommy died.
(Again, I had some issues here. I get the Spectre is looking into Tommy's death, but why go to Santucci's guy instead of the file clerk herself? The Spectre comments that he'd been chasing boyfriends all day, so was he shaking down the boyfriends of every record clerk in every precinct in New York? Is every file clerk in New York dating a mob guy who the Spectre feels more comfortable shaking down than the clerks themselves?)
As a cop, the Spectre notes that the best way to bury a file is not to create one in the first place. He hypothesizes someone created the empty file to point the finger at Alan, since he can walk through walls and the file contained compromising material about him (i.e., a file existed but Alan expunged the information, and anyone who read the file would guess it was him). (This part also doesn't really make sense, since it isn't like people who knew Alan was gay knew the Green Lantern was Alan, except for J. Edgar.) Alan informs the Spectre that Robbie and Tommy displayed the same wounds as Johnny.
Alan feels the weight of all three deaths on his shoulders, and the Spectre delivers a speech about how God reserves his retribution for people who judge and hate people like Robbie and Tommy and Alan. A grieving Alan hugs the Spectre, who comforts him, telling him that he doesn't deserve divine punishment because he puts on the ring and cape and tries to do good. He then echoes something Johnny said in issue #1, that, "If God himself didn't want you to love - then how could you?" It's a little too speechy to be moving, I'll be honest.
At any rate, the Spectre says that they need to find the 42 men who served on Project Crimson, prompting Alan to remark, "Forty-one." Recalling that the "voice" said it brings death, life, and then power, Alan heads home. Before he arrives, we have an interlude where Doiby is listening to a broadcast discussing how a Soviet submarine went missing off Greenland's coast. Upon entering his study, Alan encounters the Red Lantern and calls him, "Johnny." Johnny punches him and then speaks to him in Russian, ending with, "My love."
Although an awkward issue, I'm hoping Sheridan just needed to cut some corners to move us to this next stage, one that seems to have a lot of potential. Are we going Winter Soldier here? Or was Johnny always a Soviet agent? Poor Alan.
Duke #1: Holy shit, this issue is great. I was excited about Skybound taking over these characters because I expected them to do a great job, but we're exceeding even my high expectations.
In my review of "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" #302, I noted that series has so far lagged behind "Transformers" and "Void Rivals" in terms of the larger "Energon Universe" story. That said, we hit the ground running on that larger story here, as Hawk tells a broken Duke to pull himself together. Instead of snapping to attention, Duke essentially tells Hawk to go fuck himself after Hawk refuses to acknowledge the military is lying to him about Starscream killing Frosting in "Transformers" #1. Speaking about Frosting's family (including his baby boy), Duke vows to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Six months later, a disheveled Duke arrives at a townhouse with a bunch of UFO enthusiasts. Their conversations disturb him, though some people are clearly speaking about seeing the Transformers (and others...not so much). Before Duke can leave, Dr. Adele Burkhart introduces herself. Telling Duke that it's easier to hide the truth among the ridiculous, she brings him to her office. She tells him that she invited him to the meeting because she used to work on a project to use the Big Bang's cosmic dust as a renewable energy source. At some point, though, she began to question the project's direction. The project was allegedly put on ice, but Burkhart is worried that someone is using her research to create the next doomsday weapon. She sends Duke to M.A.R.S. Industries, which I should've recognized earlier is Destro's company.
Duke manages to break into M.A.R.S. and sees an assembly line of robots. Duke clearly thinks these robots are the Transformers, but before he can gather more information a Colossus-looking dude named Mercer grabs him. Mercer wants to off him, but Destro orders him to release Duke. Destro is disturbed that Destro let him free and heads to Burkhart's, where he discovers someone has killed the enthusiasts and left Burkhart for dead. She hands Duke something before the police arrive on the scene, clearly sent by Destro so Duke would take the fall for the deaths.
Elsewhere, Hawk gets orders to bring in Duke, which Cover Girl tells him is going to be tough. He responds that he knows, which is why he's going to assign the job to Stalker and Rock 'n Roll.
Again, it's great stuff here. Given what we're seeing in "Transformers," it seems ridiculous the government would try to cover up the destruction the Decepticons have already wrought. But I love the idea of a rogue Duke, so I'm excited to see where we go.
Local Man #8: Jack uses his new powers of emotional perception, if you will, to convince Kopecki to run Inga's warehouse's property record. After Jack has sex with Inga outside the quarry (we learn they first met there when Jack was busting kids doing drugs), Kopecki calls him to say the LLC is anonymous but is registered to Brian and Inga's house. After encountering Seascape, Brian (for some reason) also heads to the quarry, and Jack accuses him of being the one storing 4th Gen. Seascape appears again before they can fight each other, and Jack realizes that it's Inga and not Brian behind the warehouse. Dun-dun-dun!
No/One #7: This issue moves more expeditiously than previous ones, as Higgins and Buccellato take this story to the next stage.
First things first, Ben meets with his friend, Sherm, who asks if he really has the guts to kill his son for the crimes Ben is convinced Aaron committed. Meanwhile, at Julia's apartment, Danielle knocks on her door and apologizes for the article she wrote about her mom. Julia isn't buying it, but Danielle continues, expressing outrage over what the Ledger assholes did to her. Julia opens her door to scream at Danielle, but she's surprised when Danielle hands over all the work the police have done on Copycat #3. (I'm not sure how Danielle got that, which I'm guessing is relevant. Is Danielle No/One?)
At Aaron's apartment, Ben arrives with a gun, and Aaron encourages him to kill him if it'll make him feel better. Ben tells Aaron not to put his (Aaron's) imminent death on him (Ben) and once again implies that his bad parenting is responsible. Aaron has to break it to him that his actions weren't about Ben. (Seriously, Ben, it's time for therapy.) Aaron doubts that Ben has the guts to pull the trigger, but the gun fires, either because Ben did pull the trigger or No/One startled him from behind. No/One tells Ben they need to take down Aaron the right way, and he and Ben leave.
That night, Julia arrives at Ben's house with the files. As they work, Noah Kemp is on Alana's show ranting about how someone needs to hold the podcast reporters accountable for getting his brother killed. Not unreasonably, Alana asks whether he's suggesting Donovan should've preemptively attacked the journalists in question, if his (Noah's) preemptive defense law had been in effect. Noah says that he's not suggesting that...but then rambles about how it's "unamerican" to put people in a position "with no options." (So what are the options, Noah? How do you engage in preemptive defense without killing someone?)
Suddenly, Julia has an inspiration that lead her and Ben to conclude that Copycat #3 is Harrison Gill. He was a "disgruntled employee of P3" whom the police interviewed after Tobias North's murder but didn't consider a suspect. But, in reviewing the Cade case, Julia realizes that Chuck spilled the beans about Cade to his bartender — Harrison Gill.
Ben arrives at the bar, and Gill greets him calling him "Ben" instead of "Jim." Gill notices Singh outside and Harper inside and tells Ben that he has to change the keg. Singh texts McGarrity, who's covering the back exit. McGarrity tries to stop him, but Gill stabs him. McGarrity surveys and tells the others, as they arrive on the scene, that Gill was heading to a car. Gill manages to escape, but Harper finds the Richard Roe mask and gun in Gill's glove compartment.
It seems pretty clear that Gill is Copycat #3, though I'm confused how Ben didn't make that connection earlier. It's nice to have one question answered here, though we still don't know if Gill was Richard Roe (as he claimed) and either as Copycat #3 or Roe he worked alone.
The podcast doesn't really expand on the story too much, particularly since it mostly just replays Noah's conversation with Alanna.
The most interesting revelations are conformation that Gill's gun is the same one used in the Copycat #3 murders and that Gill was friends with two of the employees who Tobias North threw under the bus and who both later committed suicide.
The podcast doesn't address No/One's identity, but Ben confirms that he still thinks Aaron is Richard Roe (and not Gill, as he claimed he was).
For the fact that we've gone this long without answers to basic questions, I'll say that I'm not as antsy as I usually am. Higgins and Buccellato are doing a fantastic job in terms of the pacing, making you really uncertain about facts that you think you know. It's really one of my must-reads right now.
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