Batman: Eternal #48 Review

Written by: Kyle Higgins
Art by: Fernando Blanco
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Take This Book...Please!

Here we are again, Batman: Eternal Time.  It seems like we talk about this book every week or so and...What?  It's a weekly?  Damn it, I'm such a dummy.  Please forgive me, but with all the creative team changes this book goes through, I get a little mixed up.  This week we get Kyle Higgins and Fernando Blanco and while I am a huge fan of both, it's still a jarring transition from last week.  I guess I should be used to it since it happens all the time, but for some reason, this time it hit me pretty hard.  What am I talking about?  Is the issue still good? Why am I asking so many questions?  The answers to these questions and more after the break.

Weird Science DC Comics Podcast Episode 8: Rush, Sally Starr and Tom Ellis, Oh My!

Eric and Jim recorded the podcast late and it shows. They figure out that Tom Ellis is not the lead singer of Rush (a little too late) and find out they have a seedy connection with Sally Starr. Also, Eric mourns the loss of Leonard Nimoy and Jim almost blinded his friend with a rock.  It all comes together (somewhat) and they talk some Batman, Flash and other books of the week. Also included is Dan Stransky's Geek News and Ryan Clark's "Other Side" Reviews.

Justice league United #10 Preview

Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Neil Edwards, Jay Leisten, and Jeromy Cox
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 11, 2015

Preview via Comicosity

“The Infinitus Saga” reaches its stunning conclusion! The combined might of the JLU, the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Rannian War Fleet and the Thanagarians learn the true meaning of sacrifice as events unfold that will change the DC Universe forever!

Batman: Arkham Knight #3 Review

Written by: Peter J. Tomasi
Art by:Viktor Bogdanovic
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: March 6, 2015

Bad Knight, and Good Luck

I have really been impressed with this book so far.  Sure, I'm part of the target audience being a huge fan of Rocksteady's Arkham games, but it goes beyond that.  Peter J. Tomasi's story has been both exciting and intriguing and Viktor Bogdanovic is a star in the making.  This book doesn't come off as a cheap cash grab by any stretch and I truly respect that.  This issue is the ending of the first arc (which will be collected as one print issue) and I'm glad to say that it's as good as the two before it.  How so?  Let's find out...

Constantine #23 Preview

Written By: Ray Fawkes
Art By: Jeremy Haun
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 11, 2015




The events of his journey to Earth-2 destroyed John Constantine. Where will his fate take him now?


While I've enjoyed Constantine's foray and escape of Earth-2, I am happy to see it end because after reading last issue it's coming off a little stale and I don't want that for this title.  I'm sure people will be happy that in June this title becomes Constantine The Hellblazer......... It's one of those things where you try to make old and new fans happy and it never really works but hopefully adding the Hellblazer brand on this title will bring some of those old fans back.  I'm looking forward to this because I need to know how Constantine's doppelganger family feels when they get to safety and have some time to think about what John has done.

The New 52: Futures End #45 Preview

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Art By: Stephen Thompson
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 11, 2015




Discover the final fates of a slew of characters – the doomsayers, the warriors, the dysfunctional family from hell – as the status quo shifts and Mr. Terrific, Batman and The Atom realize they may have traded one tech-god-monster for another.


I loved the last issue of Futures End and after that big Brainiac finale, I can't wait to see how these final issues of Futures End play out and what the ultimate fate of our heroes and their world will be.  Brother Eye is fully activated and with all these side stories going that need to be tied up........ It's bound to be an excellent ride.  I hope everyone is still reading this title because if it's anything but epic for it's ending, I'd be really surprised.

Worlds' Finest #32 Preview

Written By: Paul Levitz
Art By: Jed Dougherty
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 11, 2015




The end of the Secret History! The death of Lois Lane! Oh yeah, and the invasion begins!


While I've been accused of being very negative and simply hating for hate's sake, I don't think that is completely accurate.  What I am is a fan with strong opinions and who hates to see something he loves done poorly........... Yeah, that came off a little negative.  When it comes to Worlds' Finest's final issue........... it's been a long time coming.  I stuck strong with this title for a long time just believing that it would turn around and be the title that I wanted it to be and present Power Girl and Huntress as the strong female leads they should have been in the New 52, but all I got though was an overly sexualized comic presenting them as bumbling wanna-be heroes that didn't really know what they were doing and then the title switched formats and became about the times that an Apokoliptean emissary came to Earth-2 to try and sway Clark to the Dark Side......Darkseid.  It just hasn't been good and I'm not sorry to see it leave.  Hopefully though, this issue will end the series on a high note because I can't remember the last issue that I really liked.

Detective Comics: Endgame #1 Preview

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Roge Antonio
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 11, 2015

Preview via Hit Fix

The city is overrun by Jokerized victims, but a small band of teenagers unites to take a stand. Their secret knowledge of Gotham City’s streets helps them survive, but will Batman take help from this young group of upstarts? And what could it mean for the future of the young heroes in Gotham City? 

Harley Quinn #15 Review

Written by: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by: Chad Hardin and John Timms
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Part Time Job/Full Time Dreams

If you have read any of the Harley reviews since I took the book over from Eric, you know that I'm a big fan.  It's just so much fun to watch Harley get into crazy situations each and every issue and the fart jokes and pop culture references don't hurt either.  Of course, no book can last this many issues (two times a month racks them up quickly) by fart jokes alone and when Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti knuckle down and give Harley a story to bounce around in, this book becomes something special.  The recent Powergirl/Harley teamup was one of my favorite arcs in the New 52 so when it ended I was hoping Conniotti (that is a thing, right?) would continue with another story equally good. It's taken a couple of issues of setup, but after this issue, I think we are going to have a winner.  What am I talking about?  Let's see...

First Look At TV's Supergirl

With all the recent news about the new Supergirl show that will hopefully be hitting the air during the next Fall television season, it was only a matter of time before we saw the show's star Melissa Benoist decked out in the Girl of Steel garb.  This costume has a real 1940's feel to it in my opinion from the darker colors to the way that the S shield looks.......... I don't know, you might think I'm crazy but it feels really retro to me and I kind of like it.  I don't have much else to say about this, I just wanted to put it up here so all you Supergirl fans could get an eye full.

Top 5 Fridays: The Most Disappointing Things About The Imaginext Hall of Doom

It's quite possible that a lot of you out there don't partake in the collecting of toys designed for toddlers and all I have to say to you is, get off your high horse and check them out.  The Imaginext line of DC Super Friends is one of the best lines of superhero toys out there even if they're designed for the very young.  They just offer a ton of great characters, vehicles and playsets that make me nostalgic for the way toys were when I was a kid and what seems to be lost now that children are in the digital age.  With all this support I'm throwing Imaginext's way, I do have a problem with their newest playset and it's something that I've wanted for a long time............ Because I'm older and I loved the Super Friends and The Legion of Doom as a kid and that's the Hall of Doom playset that was released this year.  So for installment of Top 5 Fridays, I'll be talking about The Most Disappointing Things About The Imaginext Hall of Doom.  Let's check it out.

Justice League 3000 #15 Review

Written by: Keith Giffen and J.M DeMatteis
Art by: Howard Porter
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Fire, Ice and Everything Not So Nice

I've often wondered about the crazy pitch meeting DeMatteis and Giffen gave to convince the DC Bigwigs to publish this book.  "It's the Justice League...kind of", "Get this, Superman is a real douche bag", "Trust us, we know what we're doing (while nudging each other and winking)".  Whatever happened behind closed doors, I'm glad it did.  This book immediately went from a head scratcher to one of my favorites each month.  The inside and outside (?) jokes that poke fun at everything from pop culture to comic history and the industry itself has been spot on and right up my alley.  Every issue has had at least one memorable moment including some LMAO ones.  All this makes it so fitting that the series was cancelled...sort of.  Come June, the book will continue as Justice League 3001 and whether that is a reboot (soft or hard) is still up in the air.  This issue does hint at a slightly new direction, but we will get into that after the break. In fact, it's time I stop kissing ass and get to this month's review.  Here we go...

Swamp Thing #40 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Charles Soule
Art By: Jesus Saiz, Javi Pina, June Chung
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

The Story Lives On

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Here, we not only have the ending to "The Machine Queen" story arc but to the whole series of Swamp Thing itself.  It's sad too, while I wasn't always reading this title, once I did it became something that was a joy and now that it's gone.......... Well, I hate not having things that I want.  Let's get past the greedy child within us all and talk about some Swamp Thing.  Last issue we saw our Avatar of the Green in what looked like his most precarious situation he's ever been in.  His resurrected corpse ate him, Arcane poisoned The Green and Machine Queen took full control over the Rithm........... Yeah, shit was bad all around but we had a glimmer of hope when Alec tried to stop Arcane and summoned all of the previous Avatars of the Green to come to his assistance.  Having this issue happen is kind of funny to me because last year in the Robot Chicken DC Comics Special 2, they claimed that the final issue of Swamp Thing would happen with issue #37 and I thought they were really on to something after watching the sales numbers each month, but ultimately they were wrong and we had three more issues of the Big Green to love on.  Let's check out how this story arc and series ends and let's hope it's on a high note.  Let's check it out.

Green Arrow #40 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Andrew Kreisberg, Ben Sokolowski
Art By: Daniel Sampere, Daniel Henriques, Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Kingdom Come, An Arrow To The Bum

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

In the last issue of Green Arrow, we had an action packed jail break after Felicity Smoak went and got herself arrested and almost became Cheetah's bitch......... Well, Cheetah was going to kill her in the Super Max she was imprisoned in but a boy can dream can't he?  After Oliver went in and broke our techno guru out, it was time to take the fight to John King himself and Diggle being freaking awesome went and invited some guests to help out our Emerald Archer and the lineup was bad ass.  I'm talking Luthor, Batman, Arsenal, Katana, the list goes on and on. It wasn't all superhero team up bad assness though, King had gotten his hands on his daughter Mia and her fate is still left unknown.  So let's check out the final installment to "The Kingdom" and see if our archer hero can take back his city from this would be king.  Let's check it out.

Green Lantern #40 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Robert Venditti
Art By: Billy Tan, Mark Irwin, Tony Avina
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

He's The Hero The Universe Deserves, Just Not The One It Needs Right Now

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

In the last issue of Green Lantern we saw some serious shit going down in the universe as something was turning entire planets to stone and every magic based character on Earth felt the effects..... That doesn't matter though so just put it in the back of your mind because it doesn't really come up here.  What you should be thinking about is the bad press that the Green Lantern Corps has been getting across the Universe ever since Uprising.  At the end of last issue it looked like the Guardians came to Hal Jordan and wanted him to take a proactive approach in making the Green Lantern title more than a dirty word and I thought that Hal was just going on a mission of good will......... Man, I couldn't have been more wrong.  Let's check out this issue that promises to change the status quo in Green Lantern for a long time to come.

Grayson #8 Review

Written by: Tim Seeley and Tom King
Art by: Mikel Janin
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Kiss My Jim and Juan

Grayson is one hell of a book.  If I haven't convinced you over the previous eight issues, than I don't know what else I can do.  Maybe I could control your mind, bribe you or just straight-up beg.  Why would I go through all that trouble?  Do I have stock in Grayson?  Does that even make sense?  No, I just want everyone to at least give Grayson a chance.  Just start from the beginning, because this issue takes everything that happened throughout this large arc and tied it together with a big bow.  I will discuss this issue after the break, but if you have ADD (like me), I'll just tell you right away...it's great.

Earth 2 #32 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson
Art By: Andy Smith, Airi Kamiyama, Trevor Scott, Peter Pantazis
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Controlling One's Fate

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Even though it hasn't happened in a long time........ It looks like this story continues where the last issue of Earth 2 left off with Doctor Fate realizing that Nabu is a dick and going back to help fight off the growing menace of Apokolips with his fellow heroes.  This is the last issue of Earth 2 and I don't know how I feel about that.  It's this title that finally got me to get off my high horse and check out the New 52...... which led to this site and now it's all over.  After our brief speed bump in our stories called Convergence, we'll at least have Earth 2: Society and if it's like what I hope, then it's what I wanted the Earth 2 title to be all along....... So I guess I can get over this title ending.  Let's check out this final issue and see if it's memorable.

Earth 2: World's End #22 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, Cullen Bunn
Art By: Tyler Kirkham, Eduardo Pansica, Marc Deering, Jack Herbert, Vicente Cifuentes, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha, Guillermo Ortego, Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

Final Stages

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Like Futures End, this story is coming to a close and I guess the future can't be rewritten because I don's see anyway that this world will do anything but end.  Last issue we saw our Superman heroes go into orbit and try to fight off the encompassing masses that threaten to devour Earth and Green Lantern became Captain Planet when all the powers of the Parliament combined into him so that he could be Earth's savior............ Oh and Batman and Huntress found Oliver Queen and the only thing he had from Bruce was a history of Earth-2 and a digital ark of all it's creatures......... kind of makes what Red Tornado is doing in the Worlds' Finest title kind of pointless but that's what happened.  Let's get into this issue and see if our heroes have a prayer in saving their world.

The New 52: Futures End #44 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Art By: Patrick Zircher, Andy MacDonald, Hi-Fi
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

The Beginning of The End

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It's March and that means we only have four more issues left after this one and man has it been a wild journey......... Well, it's been a journey that had moments of being wild and you know what?  I'll take it.  In the last issue of Futures End, we saw Brainiac turn his control console into a sweet set of handlebars as he learned that his skull ship in orbit was no longer in order and it looked like he was just going to fly Manhattan........... wherever Brainiac keeps his things.  Also we had Mister Terrific seeing the error of his ways out of nowhere and now we've got the world's smartest man working on this Brainiac problem with Batman....... So really, they should lick this no problem.  The story is drawing to a close and this issue is only the beginning.  Let's check it out.

Secret Origins #9 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Charles Soule, Paul Levitz, Van Jensen
Art By: Alessandro Vitti, Felipe Sobreiro, Alisson Borges, Matt Yackey, Pat Broderick, Marcelo Maiolo
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: January 28, 2015

Now Remember To Keep This A Secret

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Man, I'm super late on this review and really, I almost forgot all about it until #10 came out and I realized that I didn't remember doing this one.  You all know the score by now, we've got this book here and it features three characters from DC Comics and it says it's going to tell us a "secret origin" about each individual character, like this one has Swamp Thing, Power Girl and John Stewart but you and me both know it ain't going to be a secret........... or maybe it is, shit happens some times.  Either way, buckle up as we jump into a bunch of stuff we probably already know.  Let's check it out.

Injustice: Year Three #23 Review

Written by: Brian Buccellato
Art by: Mike S. Miller
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: February 3, 2015

Wakey! Wakey!

Injustice: Year Three is coming to an end soon and while it's obvious that some heavy stuff is going down, Brian Buccellato is doing a really good job of keeping readers on their toes.  This Year hasn't had the usual long string of deaths, but instead has kept everyone guessing on what will happen and how it will end.  After this issue, I'm still guessing, but I have a few theories and they all center on one English bloke who likes to smoke.

The Weird Science DC Comics Podcast is now on iTunes and Stitcher

Yes, it finally happened.  We are on iTunes and Stitcher and maybe some other services we don't

even know about.  It took us a long time and I'm still not sure we are ready, but what the hell!  I hope you give it a listen and maybe even enjoy it. Please send any comments, suggestions, rants...to weirdsciencedccomics@gmail.com and we will read them on the next podcast, we promise.

I know it's easy enough to find things on your own, but here are some convenient links to find the podcast:

STITCHER

iTunes

Green Arrow #40 Preview

Written by: Andrew Kreisberg, Ben Sokolowski
Art by: Daniel Sampere, Daniel Henriques
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 5, 2015

Preview via Comic Book Resources

A villain triumphant! A city out for blood! Can things get any worse for Green Arrow? You bet they can! Guest-starring Batman!

The New 52: Futures End #44 Preview

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen
Art By: Patrick Zircher, Hi-Fi
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015




The final stages of Brainiac’s plan come to fruition in this issue that leads directly into CONVERGENCE! The ripples of this story will literally be felt across the Multiverse.


So I guess now that Brainiac has his handlebars going on, he's going to pop a sweet wheelie with Manhattan and get the hell out of dodge............ or it will just lead into Convergence.  Either way, this story should heat the hell up this month.

Swamp Thing #40 Preview

Written By: Charles Soule
Art By: Jesus Saiz
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015

This issue’s cover is presented in a special sideways format.

I'm no stranger to terrible solicits, but damn does this one take it to a whole new level.  It's the conclusion not only to the Machine Queen story arc but to the entire series and all we have is some sideways flavor............... Well, I'm still looking forward to it and man am I going to miss our Avatar of The Green.

Earth 2: World's End #22 Preview

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, Cullen Bunn
Art By: Tyler Kirkham, Eduardo Pansica, Marc Deering, Jack Herbert, Vicente Cifuentes, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha, Guillermo Ortego
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015



The end is near as Apokolips begins to devour Earth-2!


Okay World's End, you've strung me along for months promising something epic and issue and issue you just give me nonsense and things that just make me want to pull my hair out.  You've got one more month of books left............ Make something happen World's End..... Make something happen.

Earth 2 #32 Preview

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson
Art By: Andy Smith
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015




Earth-2 crumbles in the grip of Darkseid! Is this really the end of EARTH 2?


Can you imagine what this book will be like when it's collected?  One issue has the origin of the Furies, the next a story about Barbara Grayson, the next the origin of the Avatars, then a story about Doctor Fate being a dick......... Then whatever this one will be.  I hate to think of anyone who decided to not pick up World's End but still wanted to read about their favorite Wonders in the monthly Earth 2 book because this doesn't make sense as a stand alone title at all.  This is the last issue, so hopefully it does something to ice it's reader's couches because over the past bunch of month's all it's done is kick us repeatedly.

Detective Comics #40 Preview

Written By: Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato
Art By: Brian Buccellato, Francis Manapul
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 4, 2015




Anarky rules! Can Batman save
Gotham City from itself? 


Well, that sure as hell is a enigmatic solicit.  While I'm a little bit behind on reviewing this title, I have read the last issue and even though this current issue isn't out yet............ I'm pretty confident when I say that Batman will pull it off.

Gotham Season 1 Episode 17 "Red Hood" Review

Seeing Red

Last week we met the Gothamverse's contender to become the Joker. This week we meet the man who can become the Joker...wait what? Why were they doing two Joker stories back to back? Could the writers seriously not let the "unusable without" Batman villain lie? Well it turns out its not a refrence to THAT Red Hood...not yet anyway. This is actually the start of the Red Hood Gang. This is definitely better than what I originally thought was going to be another Joker themed episode, ending with a character in a vat. So how does this episode go? Let's find out!