ICYMI

It’s been noted by more than a few people that the current storyline running through the Superman family of books strongly represents the classic “Reign of the Supermen” event from the mid-'90s, where four new Supermen rose up to attempt to fill the absence left by The Man of Steel following his death fighting the monster Doomsday. Currently, we have Lex Luthor, Kenan Kong, Lois Lane and the original Pre-Flashpoint Superman, plus his son Jonathan, all now operating under the Superman banner, as well as Supergirl, Steel and the Cyborg Superman. DC isn’t done there though, as this week’s Superman #2 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray and John Kalisz saw the return of another would-be Superman straight from the '90s.

Ever since the Jem and the Holograms comic started early last year, creators Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell have been hearing one question from fans of the original 1980s animated series: "When are you going to include the Stingers?" The Stingers, for those who don't know, are the third most important rock band in the Jem saga (after the Holograms and the Misfits, of course), a glam rock trio who formed in Germany. It made sense not to throw them in too early; after all, they didn't appear on the cartoon until Season 3. But nevertheless they have a fan base, and those fans want to see what Thompson and Campbell do with them. And that brings us to Issue 16, the finale of the "Dark Jem" storyline and Sophie Campbell's last issue on the book.

Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi's Spider-Gwen has been one of Marvel Comics' most ceaselessly inventive and exciting properties since the character first debuted in what was meant to be a one-off starring role. Since then, we've been followed Gwen Stacy's ongoing adventures as Spider-Woman, and encountered her world's versions of Captain America, Daredevil and The Punisher --- but there's still a hankering to learn more about this universe. This week's Spider-Gwen Annual #1 scratches that itch as Latour explores the larger world of Earth-65 with stories featuring Koala Kommander, She-Hulk as a pro wrestler, and a terrifying alternate version of Donald Trump who is even more dangerous and has even tinier hands.

Last week, I stated confidently that The Maker’s team of New Revengers from the pages of New Avengers was the most obscure assembly of supervillains into one group, citing little known characters such as Asti and Skar as proof. It now seems that team may have held the distinction for one whole week, as this week’s issue of The Astonishing Ant-Man by Nick Spencer and Ramon Rosanas has potentially outdone them with a team I like to call Lang’s Eleven. Admittedly there are only ten members, but it sounds better with Eleven, and Nick Spencer’s Sinister Six in Superior Foes of Spider-Man only had five members, so I feel like it works.

I pride myself on being someone who can pick obscure characters out of crowd shots, but the group of bad guys that recently debuted in the pages of New Avengers may take the cake for the most obscure deep cuts resurrected for the modern age. Assembled by The Maker --- Reed Richards of Earth 1610 --- The New Revengers highlight how gloriously bizarre superhero comics can be, and the team contains two characters that even I have never heard of.

Listen, the last week of comics was a little overwhelming, so you could be forgiven if you missed out on a few of the details that slipped through the cracks. I mean, we were all so busy talking about other things that we sort of missed the fact that Justice League #50 wasn't just a lead-in to DC's big Rebirth event, it was also the finale of Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok's ten-part "Darkseid War" storyline. So in case you missed it, we thought you might want to know that Darkseid is a baby now. A baby that you can use as a God-power lightning-gun by saying a magic word backwards.

It used to be a truth universally acknowledged that any time a robot gets emotional, comics are about to get real bad. But bucking the trend and breaking the mold are the Transformers, and specifically the Transformers of the Lost Light in More Than Meets The Eye #53, by James Roberts, Alex Milne, and Hayato Sakamoto. Those robots are in a real devil of a pickle now, and they're making their peace with it the best they can.

When you get right down to it, this was the sort of thing that pretty much had to happen. I mean, if you're going to take advantage of having a premise like a Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover --- and I think the past few months have shown us that James Tynion IV and Freddie E. Williams II are definitely up for the challenge --- then eventually, you're going to want to make some new mutants and have them fight Batman. It's the most logical, toyetic, ridiculous and amazing thing you possibly could do, and as the series hit its final issue this week, that's exactly what they did. So in case you missed it, well, Mr. Freeze is a polar bear now, and it's kind of my favorite thing.

DC's current “The Final Days of Superman” crossover, taking place across the entire line of Superman titles, has produced some really great comics. Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Doug Mahnke and Mikel Janín and others, the crossover has Superman putting his affairs in order ahead of his impending death due to a terminal condition he recently developed. The most recent installment of the crossover in Batman/Superman sees Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on the trail of an imposter Superman who believes himself to be the real deal, and their trail leads them to China. Once there, they’re confronted by The Great Ten, and we get our first glimpse of a new hero we’ll be seeing more of very soon as part of DC Rebirth.

Barbara Gordon's network of friends and allies has been an ongoing theme in the recently concluded Batgirl run by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr. Whether it's Black Canary, Spoiler, Batwing or Bluebird, there's no way Batgirl would have been able to overcome the obstacles she overcame without a little help from her friends. One of Batgirl's fiercest allies throughout the run has been Frankie Charles, Barbara's roommate whom she met while they were both in physical therapy together. Although Frankie still often requires assistance to walk, that doesn't stop her being an integral part of Team Batgirl, and in the most recent issue she finally got a superhero identity.