With Rebirth now in full swing and so many exciting new titles to try, we can’t blame anyone for needing a reminder of what happened in the last issue. Or maybe you’re looking to add a new book to your list and need to get caught up on earlier chapters? Either way, we’re here to help. Every Tuesday, we’ll be recapping the prior issues of that week’s new Rebirth and Hanna-Barbera comics, as well as sharing our favorite moments. It’s a quick, easy way to ensure you’re up to speed and ready for New Comic Day. We hope you find these recaps helpful, but be aware that they do contain some spoilers!

 

 

Batman #6

By Tom King, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Scott Hanna and Marcelo Maiolo

With the immediate threat of an unhinged Hank Clover handled, Claire is left to pick up the pieces and saying she’s not doing well is putting things lightly. In the space of a few days, she’s lost her parents, her brother and her sense of purpose. Add to that the manipulations of the now missing-in-action Psycho Pirate and the experimental superpowers that are slowly sapping her life away and you’ve got all the ingredients for yet another tragedy. Thankfully, this is a recipe that Bruce is quick to recognize and a course he is set on correcting. Feeling a profound sense of trust for Gotham Girl after her heroics against her brother, Bruce allows her to know his true identity and opens up about his own past, using empathy to help course correct Claire before she implodes. Now, with Claire no longer at risk to herself, there’s still the mystery of Hugo Strange and the Psycho Pirate’s plans for the city to be solved. Luckily Bruce has a lead through Amanda Waller who has been pulling the strings in the background from the very start. She’s willing to help the Dark Knight, but he has to understand, this next mission just might be suicide.

Unforgettable Moment: During Claire’s slow downward spiral, she faces off against some of the city’s more...colorful costumed villains. You know, the extra terrifying ones, like Colonel Blimp and Kite Man (“Kite Man. Hell yeah.”). At least no one can say that life in Gotham is ever boring. (For more on this, be sure to read our recent interview with Tom King!)


Harley Quinn #3

By Amanda Connor, Jimmy Palmiotti, Brett Blevins, Chad Hardin, John Timms and Alex Sinclair

With Ivy’s help, Harley and her gang have managed to fend off the hordes of the undead now plaguing Coney Island enough to secure a safe house for themselves. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, but with the entire area surrounded by an impenetrable force field and the outside world still at a loss for how to cure the infected, things are far from victorious, especially considering that food rationing is quickly becoming a problem. Luckily, their safe house just so happens to be situated over a mysterious network of tunnels that just might lead them to salvation… or unfortunately, as it turns out, more zombies. The crew fights for their lives, but with the reality of their slim chance of survival really starting to set in, even Harley’s optimism begins to wane. Thankfully, it’s only moments later that Coney Island is graced by some visitors of the extraterrestrial variety who provide the cure for the zombie plague by using a tractor beam to pluck the bits of contaminated alien meat in each zombie’s body. The zombie victims don’t survive the experience, but Harley and her friends do, so...hey, that’s gotta count for something, right?

Unforgettable Moment: The doctors were able to reach Red Tool in time, and even graft a new arm onto him. He’s as good as new now! That is, as long as he doesn’t think to hard about where exactly that new arm came from. Yikes.


Green Lanterns #6

By Sam Humphries, Will Conrad, Jack Herbert and Blond

Simon is in bad shape at the hands of Atrocitus, while Jessica stays in hiding—battling her anxiety and self-doubt. And yet, as she struggles and attempts to find her inner strength she gets a massive boost when her ring forms a remarkable, flowery construct—the first she’s ever made. With her willpower spiked, she destroys the Hell Tower with her construct causing Atrocitus to drop Simon from his clutches. As the tower crumbles, Atrocitus turns to Simon and explains that the Red Dawn is only beginning and then flies out of Earth’s solar system. Simon and Jessica, now bonded as partners, return to their hometowns, where they see the rage is no longer infecting anyone. They free Jessica’s sister before heading to Simon’s sister’s house. There the mysterious Guardian reveals himself as Rami, the rogue guardian—explaining that he created a ring that anyone could pick up and use. Calling it the Phantom Ring, he needs Simon and Jessica to protect him until he can talk with Hal Jordan. Back on Ysmault, Bleez returns, but she’s different since her encounter with Simon and his Emerald Sight, and Atrocitus can feel it. Atrocitus explains that although the Hell Tower was destroyed, the real victory lies with Dex-Starr planting the Rage Seed in the Earth’s core—which will incubate, grow and eventually drown Earth in rage.

Unforgettable Moment: It’s really cool to see Jessica use her willpower to overcome her fears and save not only Simon, but the Earth as we know it!


Superman #6

By Peter J Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray and John Kalisz

Powered by the ghosts of Krypton, Superman begins to gain an edge over Eradicator, but the final straw comes when Superman draws Krypto out from within the villain. Together, the Man of Steel and his loyal, absolutely amazing dog attack the weakened being—sending him plummeting to the moon’s surface and ending his reign of terror once and for all. Walking over to a moon rover, Superman turns the camera on himself, projecting his image across the world and showing that he’s back and helping inspire everyone that sees it. Back on the farm, Superman gives Jon a pair of glasses and talks about the importance of wearing them to disguise himself. He then takes Jon to the Justice League Watchtower, where he’s introduced to Batman and Wonder Woman as “Superboy.”  

Unforgettable Moment: Hard not to get emotional when you Superman save Krypto by pulling him out of Eradicator. We’re so happy he’s back!


Green Arrow #6

By Ben Percy and Stephen Byrne

The destruction of the Inferno has left the Ninth Circle in shambles, and Ollie and his allies scattered to the winds. For his half-sister Emi, that means a trip to Japan with her mother and a lot of time to reflect on just how she ended up in this mess. It didn’t start with her turncoat induction into the Ninth Circle with her mother, but with her infiltration of a group of affluent teens wearing mysterious watches provided to them by a person calling himself the Clock King. Emi found herself in a little over her head when one of the Clock King’s watches ended up wrapped around her wrist—a problem since they feed potentially fatal drugs into their wearer’s bloodstream. Meanwhile, in the present day, an already complicated situation is made even worse by the revelation that Emi wasn’t the only person planning to double cross the Ninth Circle—Shado had been reporting back to the Yakuza and her master, Oyabun, the entire time. Now, anxious to break free of this increasingly tangled web, Emi finds herself in Tokyo, alone after escaping her mother, and on the hunt for Oyabun herself.

Unforgettable Moment: During Emi’s investigation into the Clock King and his watches, she makes the unsettling observation that she may not be the only person in the Queen family using the King’s services. Ollie was wearing one as well...but to what end?


Cyborg: Rebirth #1

By John Semper Jr, Paul Pelletier, Sandra Hope, Tony Kordos and Guy Major

Ever since a terrible accident involving a Mother Box left Victor Stone’s body augmented with cybernetic parts, he’s been living life as a super hero and calling himself Cyborg. It’s not a bad gig, really. He’s a member of the JLA and acts as security for his father at S.T.A.R Labs against threats too big for their regular government detail to handle. Threats like the one he finds himself facing now—a massive, sentient technological organism calling itself Malware. Vic’s fight with Malware lands him tossed like a rag doll through one of S.T.A.R Lab’s walls, into a room he’s never seen before. It’s some kind of mainframe and Malware is looking to extract whatever information he can. In the process of stopping Malware from achieving this goal, Vic inadvertently stumbles across some data he wasn’t meant to see—logs from his father, Silas Stone, about his transformation into Cyborg. They call into question whether or not Vic is still Vic at all. Is Vic’s humanity simply a trick of ones and zeroes coded into the program of a machine? Would his father even tell him the truth if he asked? And what was Malware actually after?

Unforgettable Moment: Whoever sent Malware to infiltrate S.T.A.R Labs has been keeping an eye on robotic and technologically enhanced entities from basically every corner of the DC Universe: Cyborg Superman, Steel, Robotman, the Brain, Red Tornado... And that’s just to name a few. Whoever it is and whatever he’s playing at, it’s very big, and likely, very, very dangerous.


Nightwing #4

By Tim Seeley, Javier Fernandez and Chris Sotomayor

After being provided with some much needed intel on the Parliament of Owls’ ledgers and databases by the mysterious Dr. Leviticus, Raptor and Nightwing are finally really to bring their covert operation into the light. It’s time to blow their cover and strike at the Owls from their heart, and not a moment too soon, as the Parliament prepares to sacrifice hundreds of innocent people deep within their labyrinthine headquarters. They set about freeing the prisoners and escorting them to safety while scouring the maze for the Parliament's records, but find themselves pinned by a horrifying monster very intent on killing them. The fight leads them right to the center of the labyrinth and to the Parliament’s databases, theirs for the taking. Now, with the prisoners freed and all the information they need to destroy the Owls from the ground up at their fingertips, all that’s left is escaping the maze with their lives. This is easier said than done, especially when Raptor finally tips his hand: It turns out he and Dick may be more connected than he realized. Raptor’s got other masters to report to—Lady Eve and Kobra.

Unforgettable Moment: Dick and Raptor may have some very similar roots. They both spent their youths in the circus, before their lives took vigilante flavored turns. Raptor may even have known Dick’s mother.


Justice League #4

By Bryan Hitch, Jesus Merino, Andy Owens and Tomeu Morey

The League comes to the daunting realization that they’re fighting a war on two different fronts as Diana learns more about the Kindred, Vic learns more about the swarms of nano-machines plaguing the globe, and the Lanterns try to keep the alien spacecraft from getting any closer to the planet. It turns out the Kindred are a force meant to stop the aliens currently attacking Earth—aliens who are looking to initiate something called “the Purge,” which will contaminate and transform all life into something other than human. The machines that Clark is now struggling to destroy at the center of the Earth are an extension of the Purge, a failsafe to destroy the planet if the infestation fails. The Kindred must “sing” to stop the alien forces, but at what cost? With one cosmic force battling it out with another, it’s looking more and more that no matter the winner, Earth and all its inhabitants will lose. Thankfully, it seems like Aquaman is onto something with the Zodiac Crystals. Now he just has to figure out what, exactly, that means before the Purge can send an army to the planet.

Unforgettable Moment: While everything is happening on the surface, poor Clark is still trapped deep within the Earth, trying to destroy the quake machines. It looks bleak. So bleak, in fact, that Batman is all but ready to write Clark’s mission off as a failure. This is something that Lois is anything but impressed with. Maybe try not to count her husband out so quickly, Bruce, because Lois is anything but intimidated when it comes to setting you straight.


Aquaman #6

By Dan Abnett, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessey and Gabe Eltaeb

Superman blocks Aquaman and Mera’s escape and tells the King of the Sea to not go back to the ocean. However, it’s a race against time as Atlantean warships charge towards the ocean surface while White House officials’ make their desire for Big Blue to put Aquaman down permanently very clear. Things come to a head when Aquaman attacks Superman. The two slug it out in a serious heavyweight bout—each pleading their case while exchanging blows. As the fight rages one, the Atlantean army rips through the ocean waves—ready to attack. Superman tells Aquaman to order the army down or face the consequences. Aquaman orders his army down and heads back to ocean— telling Mera he needs to fix things. Meanwhile, Black Manta kills the Fisher King and takes over the role as leader of N.E.M.O….which can’t be at all good for the increasingly beleaguered King of Atlantis.

Unforgettable Moment: We know Superman as a boy scout, but when he needs to be, he can be one intimidating dude. When he threatens Aquaman to fix the mess they’re in or else, you know he means business!
 

We'll be back in a week with another set of Reader Recaps. Also, don't miss our weekly new comic book unboxing every Tuesday on Periscope for an exclusive preview of the week's new comics!