Last week I was feeling horrible and didn’t get all my comics read due to the holiday, so I took a sick day on Monday. Today, I review some of last week’s comics and some of two week ago’s comics to make up for my sick day. So without further babbling about non comic related stuff, I present to you:

Last Week In Comics:
A fresh take on 4 to 12 day-old comics.

Amazing Spider-Man #613

Electro is back and while he may not be able to control his electricity powers, he does have control of the people of NY. Electro is not doing well because with age he lost control of his powers and his money was supposed to mature, but like many Americans, he lost all of his investments (yes he invested all the money he stole in the past) when the market crashed in 2007. Tired of all of the corporations getting bailouts, he sparks (pun intended) the non corporate folks of NY to rise up against the powers that lost their money but continue to get money from the government. L2WIC (Last TWO Weeks In Comics):

• Electro blackmails Dexter Bennett (the owner of the DB – formerly known as the Daily Bugle) for cash in return for ending the rioting and protesting of his company taking buyout money.
• Electro then uses the money to pay the Mad Thinker to cure/control his powers.
• Spidey, of course, crashes the party a couple minutes too late, and…
• To find that Electro’s powers are now supercharged giving him new electricity based powers making the villain more powerful and unpredictable.

Electro has always been a “cookie-cutter” type of villain in my eyes with no purpose other than being a punching bag for our web-slinging hero. To see Electro get a cause and a personality that ties into the current real world economic state that many Americans can relate too adds just enough reality to a fantasy comic to make it enjoyable.

Detective Comics#859

The Cult of Crime has been after Batwoman since the awesome weekly series 52. The cult believes that the “twice named daughter of Kain” needs to be sacrificed to fulfill their final prophecy. Batwoman, Kate Kain, since surviving the attempted sacrifice and with the help of her fathers she has been hunting down the members of the cult. During her last tussle with the Cult of Crime she learned that their new leader may be her twin sister who was believed to be murdered along with her mother twenty years ago. L2WIC:

Flashbacks show:

• Kate Kain as one of the top prospects in the military.
• After being seen with her girlfriend, Kate is forced to quit the military for breaking protocol.
• Since the death of her mother and sister (shown last issue) Kate only had one goal in life, and that was to serve in the military.
• With no purpose to her life, Kate takes advantage of the money her new step mother has and parties it up and hooks up with Renee Montoya.

The flashback segments of this origin story is phenomenal! I have always wondered why the Cult of Crime was still waiting for the prophecy after the failed attempt on Kate’s life, but with the reveal that Kate has a twin sister there is now new meaning to the “twice named daughter of Kain” reference in the Crime Bible.

Superman #694

Mon-El took over as the super-powered guardian of Metropolis when Superman left Earth for New Krypton. Since then the US Military has plotted against all Kryptonians and members of the Superman Family which includes Mon-El. When the military’s plot unfolded Mon-El was captured by General Lane leaving the people of Metropolis thinking that their newest hero was dead. After being poked, prodded, and probed by scientists, Mon-El, with the help of the Parasite, escaped the military’s off world prison. L2WIC:

• Upon escaping the military, Mon-El goes to the Kent farm to reflect and prepare for his role as Superman’s replacement.
• There he has a long deep discussion about how he wants to instill hope in the same way Superman did and not just beat up bad guys. Mon-El wants to bring honor back to the symbol of Superman.
• Ma Kent decides that Mon-El shouldn’t give up his own identity by being Superman, instead she helps him incorporate the “S” symbol into his costume.
• Donning a new, yet similar costume, Mon-El returns to the city he promised to protect where Bizzaro is attacking the Science Police.
• As soon as the Parasite joins in the figh,t Mon-El looses his powers, leaving him vulnerable to the combined attack of the two super-villains.
• And it looks like Mon-El isn’t the only Legion member from the future stuck in the current DCU, Matter Eater Lad aids during Bizzaro’s rampage in Metropolis.

A couple of issues ago the Guardian announced to the Science Police that Johnathan Kent would not be returning to the force now that Mon-El was dead because they were the same person. The Science Police is composed of the best police personnel throughout the US, you would think the knowledge that one Kent has super powers would lead them to figure out that Clark Kent also has super powers. Last week Mon-El returned to fight along side the same group that knows his secret identity… I can’t wait for the next issue to see how a powerless Mon-El fights off two villains and deals with the whole secret identity issue.

Blackest Night:

Back in the day when Abin Sur passed away and his Green Lantern ring and responsibilities were passed to Hal Jordan, he did so because of his findings about the prophecy of the “Blackest Night.” In the present, many different colors of Lantern Corps have formed or have been found in the universe. Each color of Lantern Corps receives it’s power from emotion and each emotion is represented by a different color. The prophecy of the “Blackest Night” predicts the removal of all life and emotion from the universe by a corps of lifeless lanterns – the Black Lanterns. To remove the emotion and life from the universe, the Black Lantern Corps’ members are all formerly deceased creatures/heroes throughout the universe that prey on those they were close to. By raising the emotions of their prey the Black Lanerns energized, or recharged, their Power Battery. With the Power Battery  fully charged the lord of the Black Lanterns Nekron rose from the darkness.  The only hope for the universe is all of different lantern corps to work together using each color of the emotional spectrum to create the only thing that can destroy the Black Lanterns – pure white light. L2WIC:

Green Lantern #48

• The representatives, or leaders, from each of the different colored lantern corps gather and after much arguing, fighting, and name calling decide to work together to destroy the Black Lantern Battery and Corps.
• One interesting point is that Sayd agrees to be Agent Orange’s personal Guardian if he helps destroy the Black Lanterns.

Blackest Night #5

• The alliance formed in the above review charges their rings ready to combine their light to create the pure white light needed to destroy the Black Lantern Power Battery.
• The rest of the heroes are informed by the Titans that Dove emits pure white light and is able to destroy lanterns too.
• The heroes of Earth join forces to fight the dead while Nekron does the mandatory description of his grand plan that all card carrying villains are required to do when they seem to have the heroes on their heels.
• The new alliance of multi-colored Lanterns create a blast of white light in attempt to destroy the Black Lantern Power Battery, instead it does the opposite.
• Since the first issue the Black Hand, has been carrying around Bruce Wayne’s skull and in this issue the reason as to why is relieved – a reanimated corps of Batman rises to fight against his former friends after the bombardment of white light.
• Black Lantern Batman’s only purpose of rising from the dead was to evoke a large emotional response from the heroes of the DCU who were once dead: Superman, Green Arrow, Bart Allen, Wonder Woman, and Superboy to name a few.
• Nekron reveals that he is the reason all of the heroes of the DCU were able to be resurrected in the past, he put himself between them and “everlasting death” so that he would have power over them whenever he decided to wage war against the Guardians of the Galaxy.
• Then all but Hal Jordan and Barry Allen of the once dead but resurrected heroes of the DCU become Black Lanterns under the control of Nekron the issue ends…

Blackest Night: Flash #1

The Flash seems to be at the center of this whole Blackest Night story. Barry Allen the 2nd Flash (the first one to wear the universally recognized red suit) sacrificed himself to save the universe during in the original Crisis. The death of a major hero at that time was almost unheard of and it’s impact was felt for years in comics… Until death and resurrection became a revolving door in the DCU with Superman, Green Arrow, and Hal Jordan to name a few. A glimpse of the bigger picture behind the whole Blackest Night storyline is shown with one line from the end of this comic: “Your Death Was The First. Your Rebirth Is The Last!”

Knowing that Nekron was behind all of the resurrected super-heroes was just a way to control them when the Blackest Night was in full swing, that quote “Your Death Was The First. Your Rebirth Is The Last!” Add that quote with the commentary provided in this issue about the Reverse Flash to make this single “tie-in” comic better than any other of the last two weeks.

I wasn’t digging “Flash: Rebirth” and have stopped getting the single issues, but after this issue I don’t think I can wait for the trade. I am going to have to get the single issues. This comic is THE BEST COMIC OF LAST WEEK only because it succeeded in making me interested in an important DCU character that I previously had no desire to read about.