Not-Very-Deep Thoughts: The July 12 DC and Image Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Dark Days:  The Casting #1:  Despite the cute naming system, this issue is really "Dark Days" #2, a direct sequel to "Dark Days:  Metal."

Bruce makes his way to Hephaestus' forge in the hopes of asking him about the metal, and he meets Diana there.  (He presumably arrived here through the portal he used in "Dark Days:  The Forge.")  Diana explains Hephaestus made each member of the Pantheon of Greek gods a weapon from the "eighth metal."  She says she came to the forge because she had a vision she would give Bruce Apollo's Sunblade.  She does so, explaining the gods have left Earth in advance of the coming war.

The Immortals tell Hawkman the metal came from a rift in reality that also produced a terrible devil intent on bringing darkness to the world.  It's the inspiration behind the Bat symbol representing the four tribes of humanity we saw in "Dark Days:  The Forge."  A member of the Hawk Tribe apparently betrayed humanity by siding with the Bat, and Hawkman and Hawkwoman were the ones to contain him, closing the door between his world and our world.  However, Hath-Set (or maybe Dr. Manhattan) made them forget.

Batman eventually trades the Sunblade to Talia al Ghul in exchange for the item she carries:  the dagger of Shazam (the wizard, not the teenager).  (After he left the forge, the Sunblade led him to the dagger.)  It turns out al Ghul was part of the group of Immortals who met with Hawkman in the early 20th century, and he spent decades trying to get his hands on the dagger.  She agrees to the trade only because he promises her the "ninth" metal if she gives him the eighth one.  (I know, I know.  After all, isn't his Sunblade made of the eighth metal?  Also, if Thundarr makes an appearance, I'll totally not complain about anything in this series again.)

In the Secretcave, Joker briefly gives Duke and Hal his side of the story of how he survived the fall at the end of "Death of the Family," explaining the dionesium not only healed his body but reattached his severed face.  (Well done on tying up that loose end, Snyder.)  Joker also explains Luke and his mother have the metal in their blood, possibly because they're descendants of the Bat Tribe.  (I'm assuming the devil also had the metal in his blood.)  Luke will serve as some sort of signal for Batman, and Joker wants to kill him (and destroy a machine Bruce has hidden in the Secretcave) so Bruce can focus on him.

Bruce returns to the cave, revealing to Duke and Hal he started investigating the metal when he used it to resurrect himself and saw visions of his future in that moment.  Bruce reveals he knows the frequency of the energy (presumably from the tower we saw in "Dark Days:  The Forge") and Shazam's dagger gives him the power to reveal the "truth."  (It's not clear why it does or why the Sunblade didn't.)  Duke's powers let him see how the machine Bruce was building should be finished, and he uses a copy of Hal's ring to finish it.  (Seriously, I know.  Just hang in there.)  Bruce activates the machine (maybe with the dagger), but only sees darkness.  Three-thousand feet below Gotham, a group of hooded figures says Bruce has broken the seal.  Apparently, he would've seen their army of dark knights had they not "prepared" him correctly.  These knights appear to be dark analogues to the DCnU heroes.

Overall, despite the deus ex machina (almost literally in several cases), Snyder picks up pretty much all the threads from "Dark Days:  The Forge."  (The only real exception is the identity of the creature or person Bruce released from imprisonment on the Mooncave, unless I'm missing something.)  It's clear Snyder has a vision for this story, so the nagging questions are acceptable, since he seems likely to resolve them.  But, we should probably have a clearer sense of what all these metals mean by the end of next issue.  At some point, even for someone used to suspending disbelief for the past 30 years, it gets hard not to roll your eyes, and Snyder probably doesn't want us doing that much longer.

Titans #13:  I'll admit I'm not sure why Abnett decided to so quickly launch into an arc that involves betrayal within the team.  We're just getting a sense of the bonds the team shares in the present, and already he's making us question said bonds.  Abnett seems to want us to believe Dick is the betrayer by throwing suspicion on Lilith.  But, we saw her premonition so we know it wasn't her (unless Psimon really did turn her and we saw thoughts he implanted in her mind).  Part of the difficulty in following this story is Abnett has the characters all acting somewhat oddly.  Garth is suddenly hopelessly devoted to Lilith after sharing a kiss, and Wally is committed to keeping secret his ability to freeze time even though we're not really told why he would.  I think it's because his friends are worried about his heart, but it actually seems like it might give some insight into how he can use his powers without hurting his heart.  I wouldn't be surprised in the end if we learn that they're all being manipulated psionically.

Youngblood #3:  OK, I have to say, this series just keeps getting better and better.  As Bowers says in the letters page, it's pretty clear the rules are different here, showing a willingness to permanently change a character's status quo. Badrock is actually working for Diehard, though it's unclear if Diehard wanted him to put together the team for good or for ill.  It could be just setting up Shaft.  After all, he decides to investigate the Byrne Twins after Badrock has the kids tell them about the disappearances of Man-Up and other heroes.  The new Sentinel (even if we're not calling him that) tells him he couldn't find any information about them when he was part of the Stream, and Shaft obviously isn't thrilled to learn he was part of the group that ruined his life.  Meanwhile, we learn Doc Rocket was only part of the team briefly, and Petra recruited her because she still has high favorability ratings, meaning she could help make sure the team has a real claim to the Youngblood name.  Finally, we have some business with an alien bounty hunter that I didn't quite follow, but Bowers pretty clearly has a plan for that.  All in all, it's another exciting issue that really raises the bar on this endeavor.

Also Read:  Detective Comics #960; Dragon Age:  Knight Errant #3; 

Not-Very-Deep Thoughts: The June 14 DC Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Dark Days:  The Forge #1:  This issue reads mostly like a preview issue.  The plot is solid, but you're really aware you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Overall, Snyder has a lot happening in different places.  Batman is investigating a mysterious signal emanating from the Earth's core.  One of the Guardians of the Universe sends Green Lantern to investigate an odd energy signature coming from Wayne Manor.  A group called the Immortal Men discusses offering membership to Duke's mother years ago and implies Bruce is trying to get through her gas-induced insanity to obtain their secrets.  Hawkman is dictating his memoirs.  Again, it's a lot.  But, Snyder does a good job of making it clear, by the end of the issue, how all these threads fit together.

- Mr. Terrific returns from Earth-Two, where apparently the same signal Bruce discovered on Earth is present; moreover, both signals are getting louder.  Mr. Terrific suggests it's like a compass spinning wildly and only a cosmic entity could tune it.  This comment leads Bruce to a tower he's secretly hidden under the Fortress of Solitude.  (People reading DC Comics longer than I have probably recognize it, but I don't.)  He uses the tower to get a reading, I think, but I'm not entirely sure.

- Upon arriving in the Batcave, Hal discovers Bruce told Duke no one could enter; Hal does anyway and discovers a secret cave within the Batcave.  (Hal astutely comments only Bruce would have a secret cave.)  In Secretcave, a disembodied voice fills in Duke and Hal on what Bruce is investigating.  The voice tells them Bruce knew the electrum the Court of Owls used to resurrect their Talons shouldn't have worked in and of itself; when he investigated, he found a secret metal laced in it.  This metal produces an energy signature similar to the one found in some of the most powerful artifacts on Earth, e.g., Deathstroke's mask, Aquaman's trident, etc.  (These items are all inexplicably on display in the Secretcave.)

- In the past, Hawkman and Hawkwoman discover the ship that originally gave them eternal life, and we're left to assume the ship is made of this mysterious metal.  In his research, Hawkman stumbles across information about the four original tribes of humanity.  He originally says "three" tribes and then corrects himself as he places a stone with the image of a bat next to three stones with different animal images.

The issue concludes as Duke and Hal find the source of the voice:  a resurrected Joker.  The Joker seems to tell them dionesium was the mysterious metal.  The creative team did an amazing job with this sequence:  as Duke and Hal walk through the Secretcave, the text of the disembodied voice starts containing letters in the Joker's font.  It raised the hairs on the back of my neck.  Separately, Bruce decides to free the other prisoner he's been keeping, this time on his secret Batcave on the Moon.  (Mooncave!)  Is it Plastic Man?  I couldn't tell.  The person is apparently unstable, so it seems unlikely it's Plastic Man.

I haven't been a fan of Snyder's work on Batman, but he seems to hint here that the inconsistencies that drove me insane -- like the magic of dionesium from "Court of Owls" or the uncertainty of whether the Joker knew the Bat-family's identities in "Death of the Family" -- may have simply been bread crumbs to get us here.  If that's the case, I'm willing to revise my opinion of him.  In fact, it makes me want to read through all my old reviews and catalogue those inconsistencies, since it may provide clues to the upcoming event.  At any rate, Snyder definitely piques my interest with this issue.  He seems to promise a physical explanation to the extraordinary powers of the metahumans (as they're called in the DCnU), which also implies these powers could be eliminated if someone figures out a way to manipulate the dionesium.  It's still unclear how it connects to the larger "Rebirth" story about Dr. Manhattan (assuming it does), and Snyder seems to have a number of options for where he wants to go with that.  But, Snyder definitely has a vision, and I'm excited to see where we go with it.

Titans #12:  Abnett has Omen shake down Psimon to get the location of where he sent Karen's engram, and it's super-fun to watch this match unfold.  Psimon feels he's got the upper hand as he plums Karen's mind for memories to use against her.  Given the drama happening behind the scenes at Titans Tower, he has ample ammunition.  Omen encourages Roy to share his feelings with Donna, but, before he can, he sees her kissing Wally.  (They kiss because they both feel adrift:  Donna has learned she's not human, and Wally not only faces the loss of his identity as the Flash after the "Lazarus Contract" but also reveals his constant badgering of Linda has driven her from him.)  Meanwhile, Mal rages at Dick for failing to find Karen's engram, and he mentions his deal with Deathstroke as a reason not to trust him.  This part makes no sense to me, because I was pretty sure no one learned about Dick's deal with Deathstroke.  In fact, I'm still not really sure what Dick's deal with Deathstroke was.  But, the less said about the "Lazarus Contract," the better.  Psimon tells Omen her codename is apt because she's the omen for a future event where a Titan will betray the team.  Omen is rattled by Psimon showing her the vision she herself couldn't admit she was having.  But, she also reveals she's been leading Psimon down this path.  These revelations were all to cultivate a false sense of security so he'd let down his defenses.  It works:  she not only gets the name of the place where Psimon sent the engram, but she also psychically kicks his ass, revealing she's much more powerful than he thought.  The issue ends with the team's assault on Alton Laboratories as Omen contemplates who's going to betray the team.  I'm happy to say this issue really rights the ship after the somewhat disastrous "Lazarus Contract."  We're returning to where we were going, testing the Titans' bonds to each other as a newly reformed team.  I'm much more excited about that story.

Also Read:  Detective Comics #958