Year of the Villain: The Riddler #1 Review and **SPOILERS**

Be Somebody or Be Somebody’s Fool

Writer: Mark Russell 

Artist: Scott Godlewski 

Colorist: Marissa Louise 

Letterer: Travis Lanham 

Editor: Molly Mahan 

Group Editor: Dave Wielgosz 

Cover Price: $4.99 

On Sale Date: September 11, 2019

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Hoo boy, this has been some Year of the Villain so far, hasn’t it! You’ve got holographic Lex Luthor handing out some major boons to worthy villains…and some not-so-major boons, and it’s been crazy! As in, it’s had little effect on the DCU thus far. I imagine it will all culminate in something amazing, though, Hey, maybe this issue about the Riddler’s gift from Lex will be the tipping point for this event, hah?

Gotham City Monsters #1 Review and Spoilers

My Blood Ran Cold

Written by: Steve Orlando
Art by: Amancay Nahuelpan
Colours by: Trish Mulvihill
Letters by: Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

A book featuring DC's woefully under-represented monsters set in Gotham City? That should be a no-brainer, right? A slam dunk, out of the park home run, touchdown in the last gasp moments of a Superbowl game kind of book, right? Sure there are a couple of minor characters like Orca and Lady Clay in the mix, but when you've got bigger monsters like Frankenstein (yeah, I know, he's the creator – humor me), Andrew 'I, Vampire' Bennett and Killer Croc leading the line, what could possibly go wrong?

Wonder Woman #78 Review

What's Love Got to Do with It?

Written By: G. Willow Wilson
Art By: Tom Derenick, Trevor Scott, Norm Rapmund, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Pat Brosseau
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

Aphrodite is dead and it looks like love is no longer in the air...in fact, it's plain out gone!  We saw a little bit of what that means for our heroes, but is there more?  Let's find out...

Detective Comics #1011 Review

Deadshot vs Wild


Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Artists: Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11th, 2019

Review by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net

A plane full of rich and powerful CEO's and businessmen was hijacked by Deadshot, who was hired to kidnap them, only to be hit by lightning and crash onto a tropical island inhabited by animals and two castaway pilots from World War II. Bruce Wayne was on that plane but was tossed out and landed away from the rest, only to be found by those pilots Hiroshi and Clarence, and now he needs their help to take down Deadshot and save the other survivors.

Hawkman #16 Review

Shadow Hunt

Written By: Robert Venditti

Art By: Pat Olliffe, Tom Palmer, Jeremiah Skipper, Starkings & Comicraft

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

With the help of Richard Swift, The Shade, we're about to head into the Shadowlands with Hawkman to watch our Winged Warrior take on Shadow Thief, who not only has become super-charged with Lex Luthor's offer of a new shadow vest, but who has also stolen both The Shade and Hawkman's shadows.  Now, that might not feel like anything bigger than a Peter Pan problem, but with those shadows Carl Sands is able to know what our duo are doing and where they are at all times and Carter Hall once to put a stop to that nonsense once and for all....... not to mention give Shadow Thief a piece of his mind..... and his mace.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Batman and the Outsiders #5 Review

T Is for Turbo


Written By: Bryan Hill 
Art By: Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

I really hope this book picks up the pace and I hope it's soon!  We are almost done a trade of story and yet, the Outsider's team has just stood around, argued, bonded, argued some more...and all of this is happening while Batman keeps telling us that they have to save Sofia.  Well, do they finally get to the task at hand?  Let's find out...

Young Justice #8 Review

Fear and Loathing On Earth-3

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: John Timms, Gabe Eltaeb, Wes Abbott

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11, 2019

Even though Earth-3 was destroyed by the Anti-Monitor, it's time to head on over there with our Young Justice team, where we'll find out if Brian Michael Bendis knows anything about DC Comics or if he's just going to make it all up as he goes along, whether it makes sense or not.  Problem is, I love Earth-3, I love the Crime Syndicate and I personally hate that they're all dead and that evil Earth was destroyed....... That's how it is though so I'm looking for a reason that Earth still exists and some explanation about our heroes fighting their evil counterparts.  Let's jump into this issue and see if our Young Justice team can overcome their foes and if Brian Michael Bendis can overcome continuity.  Let's check it out.

The Flash #78 Review and *SPOILERS*

Race Against the Clock

Written By: Joshua Williamson
Art By: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Arif Prianto
Letters By: Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Ever since the Year One story ended, the Flash has been in a healthy place. The book is pretty entertaining and we have a really interesting story that has been developing. However, despite all the great things about it, it has been kind of falling in the middle of the road, quality wise. It hasn’t been bad by any stretch, but it hasn’t been great either. However, we left on an intriguing cliffhanger with all four of our force users gathered together and, due to the actions of Psych, they have begun to fight. The Black Flash is on their tails looking to kill the other force users aside from The Flash. So without our hero and his new “friends” locked in combat, let’s jump into this new issue and see where it takes us.

Event Leviathan #4 Review

Maybe More Detectives Will Mean More Answers

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Alex Maleev, Josh Reed

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11, 2019

The "Mystery Thriller" is upon us once again and now that we're beyond the halfway point maybe we'll start seeing some answers to not only who Leviathan really is, but what they want as well...... you know, besides just destroying the agencies in the DCU and offering people things.... I don't know what's going on with this book.  Let's jump into this issue and see if the Detective Squad can find anymore clues to help this poor reader out.  Let's check it out.

Batman #78 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Hottest Spot North of Havana

Written By: Tom King

Art By: Clay Mann, Tomeu Morey
Letters By: Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Batman has been in a weird spot. The beginning of the City of Bane storyline gave us so much intrigue. However, ever since that issue we’ve been getting “middle of the road” issues. There’s definitely good things about them but there’s also so many delayed storylines that are being ignored as we started this arc with an exciting first issue and have decided to take things slow ever since. Granted, the previous issue had the huge reveal but somehow that entire issue still felt very slow. Going forward, I’d like to see this book crank up the pace, though I doubt that will happen. Slow burns can be good, but this entire book has been utilizing slow burns since issue 1. Variety is the spice of life and we need something different. Let’s just jump into this issue and see where it takes us.

PREVIEW: Catwoman #15

Written By: Ram V
Art By: Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto, Saida Temofonte
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

After running a gauntlet of assassins to get her hands on the dossier detailing all the illegal activities of Villa Hermosa, Selina Kyle must go up against the big bosses of the criminal underworld. She must deal with their gun-toting mercenaries, yakuza hit women and the masked bounty hunter Lock-Up. All while still carrying a price on her head. Is there a way she can collect both big prizes herself and still walk away alive?

PREVIEW: Batman and the Outsiders #5

Written By: Bryan Hill 
Art By: Dexter Soy, Veronica Gandini, Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

The Outsiders must stop Ishmael if they hope to rescue Sofia and bring her back to Gotham City to meet with Batman. But vanquishing such a fearsome opponent will have dire consequences, especially for one member of the team”

PREVIEW: Batman #78

Written By: Tom King
Art By: Clay Mann, Tomeu Morey, Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

In the first part of a “City of Bane” interlude, Batman receives help from an ally he thought he had lost for good: Catwoman! Still recovering from the beatings he took from Bane and Flashpoint Batman, the Dark Knight readies himself for a return to Gotham City, and it’s Selina Kyle who holds the key. She knows how Bane is fueling his regime, and she’ll help Batman shut down the supply line—but first she has to whip the battered hero into shape.

PREVIEW: Hawkman #16

Written By: Robert Venditti

Art By: Pat Olliffe, Tom Palmer, Jeremiah Skipper, Starkings & Comicraft
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

A wounded Hawkman and the Shade are forced to follow the newly empowered Shadow Master into the Shadowlands. In this place, the all-new and all-powerful Shadow Thief controls all. What hopes do a weakened Hawkman and Shade have against a god of shadows?

PREVIEW: Gotham City Monsters #1

Written By: Steve Orlando
Art By: Amancay Nahuelpan, Trish Mulvihill, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

Leviathan has dismantled S.H.A.D.E.-and that means Frankenstein is once again a free agent! Now he can set his sights on his former mentor, Melmoth, the one evil that got away. With bad things happening all across the Multiverse, this may be Frankenstein’s last shot at setting things right. Of course, Melmoth has his own agenda, and it’s going to take more than a lone monster to take him down. So Frankenstein heads to Gotham City in search of allies and recruits Killer Croc, Lady Clayface, Orca and vampire Andrew Bennett. But will even these dread creatures be enough to save humanity before the entire cosmos collapses in on itself?

PREVIEW: Event Leviathan #4

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Alex Maleev, Josh Reed

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11, 2019

Batman versus Superman! Witness the interrogation of the decade as Bruce Wayne tears into Superman to find the missing piece of the Leviathan puzzle they both need. It’s a battle of wits and wills as the greatest detectives in the universe get together to figure out the why and how of Leviathan before it’s too late. And when that doesn’t work”¦in comes Lois Lane! From the creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, it’s another fully painted noir thriller that will tear a bloody trail through the DC Universe.

PREVIEW: Justice League Odyssey #13

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Will Conrad, Cliff Richards, Rain Beredo, Andworld Design
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

Sepulkore is activated! The entire Ghost Sector has been imprisoned and enslaved as a new realm of Apokolips, with Darkseid as its supreme ruler! Returned to power, with reborn New Gods at his side and the Ghost Sector as an implacable fortress, Darkseid sets his sights on the remaining universe! Can anyone stand in his way? Where are Justice League Odyssey? And what are the shocking identities of the heralds who now do Darkseid’s malevolent bidding?

PREVIEW: The Flash #78

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Rafa Sandoval, Jordie Tarragona, Arif Prianto, Steve Wands

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11, 2019

It’s “The Death of the Speed Force” for the Flash as our hero squares off with new force users Fuerza, Steadfast and Psych! If the Flash can’t convince his fellow speedsters to unite and find a cure for the dying Speed Force, certain death awaits! Plus, Captain Cold’s latest recruit is a familiar friend who’s got a brand-new grudge”

PREVIEW: The Riddler: Year of the Villain #1

Written By: Mark Russell

Art By: Scott Godlewski, Marissa Louise, Travis Lanham

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 11, 2019

Lex Luthor has presented dark gifts to super-villains across the DC Universe, setting off what can only be called the Year of the Villain. Unfortunately, resources are limited, so not everyone got something. The Riddler is one such person, and he is most displeased about it. Was this merely an oversight or a deliberate slight? The Riddler is determined to find out which-and so should you!

PREVIEW: Wonder Twins #7

Written By: Mark Russell
Art By: Stephen Byrne, Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

Now a 12-issue series! The Wonder Twins are heroes, and the world is saved! Or is it? As Jayna learns how to deal with loss, Zan finally gets his varsity letter in hockey-will he finally gain the popular social status he craves?

PREVIEW: Wonder Woman #78

Written By: G. Willow Wilson
Art By: Tom Derenick, Trevor Scott, Norm Rapmund, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Pat Brosseau
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

Her fabled bracelets shattered, her will broken, Wonder Woman”¦defeated? The wrath of Cheetah has been unleashed and, armed with the fabled Godkiller sword, even Amazons will fall before her!

PREVIEW: Young Justice #8

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: John Timms, Gabe Eltaeb, Wes Abbott

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 11, 2019

Lost in the Multiverse! The heroes of Young Justice must stay together as they fight to find their way home. Too bad they’re about to cross paths with their own evil look-alikes! Plus, the secrets of Jinny Hex are revealed in a special sequence illustrated by Elena Casagrande! Get set for some of the craziest stuff you’ve seen in years! (Spoilers!)

PREVIEW: Detective Comics #1011

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Art By: Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 11, 2019

In order to carry out his contract and get what he’s owed, Deadshot must kill Lucius Fox. Batman isn’t about to let that happen, but without the use of lethal force, does he stand a chance against Deadshot? Plus, Mr. Freeze sets the last piece of his “Year of the Villain” master plan in motion!