The Titans get turned into beasts in DC Comics‘ new crossover. The new Superman villain in Action Comics has a surprising origin: Batman‘s daughter. The Penguin revives a forgotten romance comic character. All on Comic Book Club News for November 28, 2023.
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Episode Transcript:
Titans go beast mode.
New Superman villain revealed.
The Penguin revives DC romance character.
This is Comic Book Club News for November 28, 2023.
DC Universe Turned Into Beasts In Titans: Beast World Crossover:
Not too much of a surprise given the title, but in today’s Titans: Beast World #1, the DC Universe gets turned into beasts. Spoilers for the issue past this point.
In the kick-off to the event, an ongoing Titans story involving malevolent entities from outer space is revealed. It turns out the former Church of Blood is being controlled by something called a Necrostar… Which is basically Starro the Conquerer, but bigger and grosser. However, it turns out the Necrostar can only be stopped by Starro — so Beast Boy uses his powers to first turn into a whale, and then a version of Starro he calls Garro. Because his name is Gar Logan.
The twist here is that after defeating the Necrostar, Garro is corrupted by the mysterious Doctor Hate, who works for Amanda Waller. Garro loses his mind, and releases spores on Earth, turning everyone else into half-human, half-animal creatures.
Will Beast Boy regain his sentience? Is the DC Universe doomed to be beasts forever? Who is Doctor Hate? And DC definitely tied to that name? We’ll find out as the people of the world beast up their life.
New Superman Villain Is Batman’s Daughter:
Continuing on the DC Comics spoiler front, here’s another big revelation in today’s comics. Spoilers for Action Comics #1059 past this point.
Over the course of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s run, he’s been seeding an organization called Blue Earth that believes humans should be in charge, not aliens like Superman. They’re led by a woman named Norah Stone. Only, that isn’t her real name. As Superman realizes in this issue, Norah Stone is actually named Janan al Ghul.
First introduced in last year’s Batman/Superman: The Authority Special, also written by Johnson, she comes from an Earth in the Dark Multiverse where Batman married Talia al Ghul and has taken over the planet with his Empire of Shadows. As of this week’s Action Comics, that dark version of Earth is back, and Janan is on the attack against the whole Superman family.
Whatever happens next will most likely wrap up in the next issue, as Johnson completes his run on Action Comics before handing the reins to writer Jason Aaron. However, Johnson has teased he isn’t done with writing Superman quite yet. Is the Empire of Shadows along for the ride?
Seriously though, Doctor Hate? Are we all in on that one?
The Penguin Revives A Forgotten Romance Character:
And finishing up our hat trick of spoiler breakdowns of DC Comics, because frankly, nothing else is happening news-wise since everyone is still reeling from Thanksgiving, let’s talk about The Penguin. Specifically, about how today’s The Penguin #4 brought back a surprise character from romance comics past.
You know the drill: spoilers past this point. In the issue by Tom King and Rafael De Latorre, we meet The Penguin’s wife, who owns a Vegas casino that Oswald Cobblepot is clearly terrified of. Her name? Lisa St. Claire. While this character is new to current DC continuity, and previously there had only been a mention of The Penguin’s wife Penny Cobblepot, St. Claire does have a deep history with the comics.
First introduced in 1968’s Young Love #68, the character was featured in an ongoing serialized story titled “The Lives and Loves of Lisa St. Claire.” It was written by Dick Giordano and Jack Miller, with pencils by Jay Scott Pike. It ran through issue #78, which was published in 1970.
So why is Lisa St. Claire back? Why now? To venture a guess, this has nothing to do with Batman characters, and everything to do with an Image Comics book. Specifically, Love, Everlasting, which riffs on classic romance comics and is written by King. Presumably at some point in doing research, he snagged this name and held onto it. And now, after 53 years, Lisa St. Claire is back.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And just to add on, in the original Lisa St. Claire stories, she was a doctor. A doctor… Of hate! Just kidding.
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