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 week, 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. Plus, as a bonus, we’ve included a few animated recaps, to give you just a little more detail.

We hope you find these recaps helpful, but be aware that they do contain some spoilers!

 

 

Superman #12

By Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Christian Alamy and Wil Quintana

Lois meets with Candice at the Hamilton Horn to talk about potential opportunities to work at the newspaper. The discussion is short-lived, however, as Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. comes crashing through the office wall. He grabs Candice and before he can kill her, Lois intervenes, distracting Frankenstein for a moment. Lois then uses the Hellbat Glove to shock the monster and escape with Candice. The two find Frankenstein’s vehicle and start to make an escape. Frankenstein jumps on, but just before he can get to Candice, he’s rocked by the big fist of Superman. Landing in a farmer’s field, Frankenstein and Superman engage in battle. The farmer even joins in—pumping Frankenstein with two shells from his shotgun—before Superman tells him to get to safety. Unfortunately, Lois accidentally crashes the vehicle she’s piloting (poorly) into Superman, giving Frankenstein the jump he needs to grab Candice. Using his sword, Frankenstein carves off Candice’s face, which turns out to be a mask of some kind, and reveals that the murderous Kroog has been hiding behind the guise of a middle-aged woman.    

Unforgettable Moment: We loved the farmer defending his land and the exchange between him and big Frank!


Batman #12

By Tom King, Mikel Janin, Hugo Petrus and June Chung

While Catwoman and the Ventriloquist slipped into Bane’s compound unnoticed, Batman himself took a more...well, direct approach. Alone and up against nearly insurmountable odds, Bruce fought his way through Bane’s thugs to get into position for his plan. But unfortunately for him, despite his overall success, Selina had already decided to play turncoat by they time he reached the “throne room.” Now, Bruce finds himself facing down a trio of lethal enemies in Catwoman, Bane and the Psycho-Pirate. The deck was stacked against his personal “suicide squad” before, but now? It’s looking more and more likely like none of them—Bruce included—will make it through this mission alive.

Unforgettable Moment: As Bruce fights his way through Bane’s compound, he narrates a letter he’s written to Selina, much like she had written to him back in issue #11. In it, Bruce reveals the true origin of the famous oath he once swore to spend the rest of his life “warring on all criminals” way back in Detective Comics #33.


Harley Quinn #9

By Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Brandon Peterson, Michael Kaluta and Alex Sinclair

Feeling the need for an outlet for her frustration, Harley looks to her roller derby team to get a little physical, but things promptly go south when one of the rival team’s members nearly takes things too far. The fight is brutal and hardly roller derby sanctioned, but just before Harley finds herself completely beaten down, someone in the crowd full on executes her assailant. Just like that. It’s as horrifying as it is lucky for Harley—even if she does end up with some pretty serious injuries (and a concussion or two). But she’s nothing if not resilient, and once she’s back on her feet, she’s ready to leave the traumatic experience behind her. Unfortunately, the traumatic experience might not be done with her—the “guardian angel” who executed her attacker makes a house call, and he’s not exactly a welcome face. It looks like the Joker’s ready to try and put himself back in Harley’s life for a while.

Unforgettable Moment: Harley’s subject to all manner of hallucinations and dreams this time around, whether from actual sleeping or being knocked unconscious by hyper-violent roller derby players. Unsurprisingly, they all seem to involve Pam in one way or another, but perhaps more surprisingly is her role as Glinda the Good Witch in Harley’s bizarre re-cast dream of The Wizard of Oz. Time to break out those dream dictionaries.


Nightwing #10

By Tim Seeley, Marcus To and Chris Sotomayor

In dire need of some soul searching (and some breathing room), Dick makes his way to Blüdhaven; an old whaling town turned neon-smeared tourist trap. Dick’s theory is that Blüdhaven will provide some much needed simplicity in the complicated web of his life. After Spyral, Raptor and the Parliament of Owls, he’s ready to get back to good old-fashioned super heroics for a while. But unfortunately for him, it might take more than just a change of scenery to get back to black-and-blue basics. What should have been a quick and easy takedown of a rogue citizen from Gorilla City tips Dick off that maybe things aren’t as cut and dry in the ‘Haven as he wanted them to be. And then there’s the matter of figuring out what his new colleagues have hiding up their sleeves…

Unforgettable Moment: The city of Blüdhaven is a character in Nightwing’s history in its own right. Dick acted as the city’s sole protector for over 100 issues of his first solo ongoing series, starting back in the ’90s!


Green Arrow #12

By Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt

Team Arrow might be out of the frying pan and into the fire now that they’ve finally made their way back to Seattle. For one thing, Ollie Queen is still publically dead, which means he’s still completely broke. And then there’s the fact that Cyrus Broderick is still legally in control of Queen Industries and all of its assets. It’s not a very convenient mix. Still, not one to be deterred, Ollie buckles down even harder into his mission as Green Arrow, stirring up all matter of controversy as stories of the vigilante’s exploits creep through the media. No one can seem to decide if the Emerald Archer is a hero or a menace—something that Broderick realizes he can use to his advantage. After all, if Green Arrow is the only thing Ollie has, then the answer is simple: Take that from him as well. Which is just what he intends to do...by framing Green Arrow for multiple murders.

Unforgettable Moment: With no money and no real place to stay, Team Arrow has to get a little inventive when it comes to finding a base of operations. In this case, it means starting from scratch and setting up shop in the forests outside of Seattle. 


Cyborg #6

By John Semper Jr, Will Conrad and Ivan Nunes

The last ditch attempt to save Agent Taylor’s life by copying the procedure that turned Vic into Cyborg is, shockingly, successful, which is both good and bad news. Vic’s finally got someone who understands exactly what he’s been going through. She’s calling herself ‘Variant’ and she’s catching on to her new body pretty quickly—but at what cost? Was it really worth sacrificing another person’s humanity just to find a little empathy? Especially since, unbeknownst to Vic, the entire situation had been orchestrated by the mysterious entity keeping his real father hostage as a means for the Dr. Stone imposter to steal Vic’s Mother Box. And the betrayals don’t end there. It looks like Variant had some machinations of her own in the mix, and Vic just may end up paying for them with his life.

Unforgettable Moment: The reveal that Variant’s accident was no accident at all comes from a quick Boom Tube tutorial care of Cyborg himself.  


Justice League #10

By Bryan Hitch, Neil Edwards, Daniel Henriques and Adriano Lucas

The mysterious AI that hacked into the League’s systems has an unexpected origin. It turns out, the hacker responsible wasn’t intending on unleashing it at all, but his daughter, seeing that the code could be repurposed for good, crafted it into a program she called “Genie”—a sentient AI that would allow all manner of advancement. That is, if it didn’t go horribly wrong. Now the Genie app has taken on a mind of its own, something made exponentially worse by how stealthy it is—like when it tricks a child into believing he’s playing a Justice League “game” on his tablet, when he’s actually sending out a tracking signal for an entire platoon of League villains to converge on their location. Now the League has to deal with the likes of Giganta, Count Vertigo, Mammoth and a whole slew of their friends in the middle of a residential area full of innocent civilians. And to make things go from bad to worse? There’s a latecomer to the party—just as the League starts to think they’ve got things under control, Amazo enters the fray.

Unforgettable Moment: The rest of the League is pretty familiar with the onslaught of villains summoned to their location by the Genie app, but Simon Baz is still rather new to this gig. Monstrous baddies like Giganta throw him for a loop. Good thing he’s quick on the uptake (and Barry’s around to help teach him the proper nomenclature).


Aquaman #12

By Dan Abnett, Philippe Briones and Gabe Eltaeb

The attack rages on the Eastern seaboard. Baltimore, Boston, Norfolk and Atlantic City are all hit, as the President issues a statement. Black Manta smiles in glee at the chaos he organized, while Aquaman scrambles to figure out what to do—not wanting to destroy Atlantean/American relations even more. When a U.S. submarine attacks an Atlantean vessel, Aquaman orders his army to protect the city and go after anything posing as Atlantean. Back in Washington, Project Beakhead is introduced. It’s a squadron of six soldiers—called the Aqua-Marines—who have the ability to turn into shark-like creatures. As we return to the engagement, Black Manta unleashes a huge sea beast on a U.S. warship and then orders a U.S. submarine (that he has under his control) to make its way deep through the Atlantean picket and destroy anything and everything it can. As the battle and misunderstandings escalate, the Justice League confronts Aquaman head on.     

Unforgettable Moment: This is an easy one—can’t wait to see the Aqua-Marines in action!


Green Lanterns #12

By Sam Humphries, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira and Blond

Simon and Jessica confront Frank, who is currently harnessing Orange Lantern energy. But before they can clash, Frank escapes. Back at his apartment, he reflects on the time he first saw Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern and how it inspired him to try and become one. The memory causes him to rapidly fire through the emotions of the Phantom Ring, but Volthoom snaps Frank out of it, helping Frank gain his composure and become a Green Lantern. Meanwhile, Volthoom works over Rami in a strange ritual where he seems to be extracting his power. Simon and Jessica travel to Coast City, feeling that Frank’s obsession with the Green Lanterns would lead him to the place that Hal calls home. Frank’s derangement does in fact bring him to Coast City, and the three Lanterns break into a fight. Simon almost gets the Phantom Ring from Frank, which causes Frank to become filled with fear and he turns into a Yellow Lantern. He then unleashes Simon and Jessica’s biggest fears on them. 

Unforgettable Moment: Simon and Jessica need to get their act together. This constant arguing isn’t conducive to good work. We’re glad to see Frank unleash the power of a Yellow Lantern on them!


Trinity #3

By Francis Manapul, Clay Mann, Seth Mann and Brad Anderson

Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman explore the streets of Gotham, where Batman senses something is not right. He can’t find the alley his parents were killed in. Lois tries breaking down the barn door in search of Jon. When she sees his hat lying on the ground, she becomes very worried. Bruce recalls therapy sessions he went through as a child after his parent’s murders. Being unable to navigate the streets and alleys of Gotham tips Bruce off that they’re not in his city—similar to the false reality Superman felt seeing his dad and younger version of himself in last month’s issue. In Wayne Tower, a young Bruce is attacked by what looks like a dead Zorro on horseback. He’s knocked out the window of the building, where Batman swoops in and saves him from certain death. Bruce sees the three as monsters and Wonder Woman deduces that he’s under some sort of spell that blinds him from the truth. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman talk about how their actions have affected those around them. Back in reality, Lois drives the pickup truck through barn door—startling Poison Ivy, who looks to have Jon under a spell.   

Unforgettable Moment: Great issue. We loved how Superman and Wonder Woman picked Bruce up when he was about to cave to self-doubt.
 

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!