Look, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, Patrick and Mikyzptlk discuss Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man 1, Justice League of America 9, Nightwing 25, Green Lantern Corps 25, Suicide Squad 25, Forever Evil: Arkham War 2, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 5, and Rocket Girl.

Patrick: My adventures in trying to make something of the end of the Ultimate Universe (about which I’ve now read exactly three issues), I picked up Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man 1. One of the things that struck me was how much time this issue spend with non-Spider-Man characters. I guess when there are only three series dedicated to a whole universe, they can all feature everyone. Brian Michael Bendis only lets us spend like 5 pages with Spidey, but it’s an extremely economic expression of everything that makes Miles so damn likable. He’s overworked, but still sharp as a tack — plus he’s got the most important quality for any Spider-Man: the affections of New Yorkers. I love this sequence when the cops realize that Spider-Man’s back — Dave Marquez shows such palpable joy on this guy’s face.

But the rest of the cast seems awesome too. I don’t know who Cloak and Dagger are, but it’s super cool that their very ethereal presence changes the way Marquez sets up his layouts, blurring the boarders and changing the visual tone of the issue entirely. I don’t totally understand how all of these groups of characters are going to work together to fight Galactus, but I guess that’ll be the fun in watching this thing unfold. FOR THE RECORD: I’m much more on-board with Cataclysm than I was two weeks ago.

The fall-out from the end of the Trinity War continues in Justice League of America 9. The heroes are still stuck in a prison of their own design and Martian Manhunter and Stargirl are still the only ones that could possibly get them out. In a lot of ways, this occupies the exact same space as the previous issue. In fact — Simon Baz utters the exact same crummy dialogue. If anything buoys the issue, it’s Matt Kindt’s more narrow focus on Stargirl as a character. For someone who’s always been told to wait back at the base (presumably: and look pretty), it seems like there might actually be something unique and valuable in her cheerfulness. She’s the only one not easy manipulated by her own negative emotions. Mike, you think there’s any chance that’s commentary on DC’s overly-brooding stable of heroes?

Mikyzptlk: It might very well be, as someone needs to remind DC that these characters are actually allowed to have a little bit of fun every now and again. I didn’t interpret it that way upon my first readthrough of this issue, but now that you’ve mentioned it, it totally works. Stargirl, since her inception, has been the heart of the team. In days gone by, her youth helped to revitalize the war-torn spirits of the older members of the JSA. When I heard that she’d be a founding member of the New 52’s JLA, I couldn’t help but get excited to see Stargirl doing what she does best. I’m glad that Kindt has used Forever Evil as a way to place a focus on Stargirl, because she has been utterly underutilized until now. Other than that Patrick, this did feel a lot like a retread of the previous issue, which is most likely because Geoff Johns wants to save all the juicy stuff for himself.

Nightwing 25 gives us a peek at the life of young Dick Grayson during Zero Year. It seems that Dick is a bit of a showoff as a “Flying Grayson,” and it’s costing him his friends, Raya and Raymond. Dick heads to Gotham by himself to go see a movie, but halfway through, the power in the city cuts out. Dick and some other kids end up getting chased by a monster, but Dick helps everyone escape to safety, and he learns about self sacrifice and working as a team along the way. Essentially, the message behind this story is that friendship equals magic, or something like that.

I’m a fan of Kyle Higgins’ Nightwing, but this issue left me a bit flat, as it felt a little bit like Higgins created a personality quirk for young Dick Grayson to overcome simply for the sake having something for him to do during Zero Year. This issue also marks the debut and reintroduction of Batman Universe villain, Amygdala. Unfortunately, he may as well be known as “Inciting Incident-Man” in this issue.  

Green Lantern Corps 25 features Sergeant John Stewart attempting to prevent “another Katrina” in Gotham City’s version of the Superdome during, you guessed it, the Zero Year. Van Jensen tells us the story of John Stewart preventing his fellow Marines from slaughtering a bunch of innocent civilians under the influence of the villain Anarky, who also makes in New 52 debut.

This issue features one of my favorite storytelling tropes, a flashback within a flashback within yet another flashback. All sarcasm aside, I actually tend to dislike flashbacks within flashbacks, and this issue doesn’t exactly prove to be the exception to that rule. This issue just felt awkwardly paced, due mainly to the constant interruptions of the flashback. In the end, we learn something about John Stewart that we already know, so I’m left with the feeling that this issue was yet another valiant, but unsatisfying, effort by the creative team to give their main character something to do during Zero Year.

Patrick: Oh, I actually really enjoyed this issue. Jensen and Venditti manage to tell a story that’s quintessentially Zero Year, while keeping the whole thing inside that dome. Like the whole people-turning-on-people thing is neatly expressed and there’s even some fun mask villains in there to boot. I think what most got me though, was how this story ties in to what’s happening in the normal Green Lantern books right now – with Hal showing a new-found zeal for interstellar fascism, it’s neat to get a little glimpse at John being part of a similarly fascist machine. John’s always smart enough to position himself within that machine to manipulate it, and I look forward to seeing how he applies these lessons the the GLC.

Hey, let’s take a break from Zero Year a second, and talk about Superior Foes of Spider-Man 5 for a second. Y’know, just as a nice palette cleanser before we let Mike talk about EVIL a little bit more. Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber finally deliver on the Sinister Six executing the big heist that’s going to net them Silvio Silvermaine’s head. “Heist” may be a little bit generous – after the initial, carefully staged initiation, the scene kind of erupts into a brawl. But the sequence is all the more fun because everyone gets to use their special skills one second and their natural punching skills the next. I’m always surprised when this series can deliver on a dimension that’s not solely “comedy” — two issues ago, it delivered an oddly touching yarn, and now the superhero action feels good too.

Okay Mike, bring us back to the dark and dreary DC event stuff.

Mikyzptlk: Suicide Squad 25 is yet another Zero Year tie-in. Oh no -wait- it’s a Forever Evil tie-in! Anyway, Suicide Squad continues to be one of my favorite tie-in books right now. Unlike some of the other tie-ins I’ve been reading, Matt Kindt has found a way to tell his in a way that feels like a natural part of book’s main narrative.

Amanda Waller now has a bomb-collar on her neck, placed on her by the Thinker. He’s managed to trick the Squad into uncovering O.M.A.C., whose purpose remains to be somewhat unclear, though destruction of some kind will probably be involved. Meanwhile, Waller is still trying to get the upper hand by reactivating former Task Force (aka Suicide Squad) teams. Kindt continues to tell the kind of complex story that I fell in love with under the hand of Ales Kot, though he still hasn’t been able to bring the same level of charm in his characters that Kot managed to.

Forever Evil: Arkham War 2 continues to be…well, it continues. Commish Gordon and his police pals struggle to keep their heads above water, while Bane and the Blackgaters continue to war with Scarecrow and the Arkhamites. This series seems to be troubling from having way too many characters and factions to focus on. There’s Bane, his Venom army, Scarecrow, Penguin, the Man-Bats, and the GCPD. Bane talks about “playing the angles” in this issue, but I found myself having difficulty following said angles in the first place. Another big problem with this book is that the majority of these characters aren’t particularly compelling or relatable in any way. Fortunately, there is an exception to that, and his name Jim Gordon.

This is easily the most emotional and personal scene I’ve read in this series so far, which is something this book desperately needs. Pete Tomasi takes a brief moment to give us a glimpse of how decent, non-superpowered folks are dealing with the events of Forever Evil. It’s a welcome change of pace and focus, and I’d welcome more of it. Of course, it’s possible that this is where Tomasi is headed, as both Penguin and Bane seem to be attempting to use the GCPD for their own gain. Patrick, what do you think? Do you even care enough to consider the angles?

Patrick: Oh, I’m certain there are angles I’m not considering here. I know this for a fact because I’m not at all clear on why the fuck Bane would want to team up with Gordon. This mini has the GCPD in ultimate scrappy-mode, and they can’t even pull off a simple rescue mission unless there’s a huge-ass riot to distract the Blackgaters. Further, I had a tough time following the action between Bane’s venomed-out juicers and the Man-Bats. That action sequence is a mess, and it becomes a microcosm of the whole story: two groups of monsters, incoherently fighting each other. Guys, maybe we check back in on this when Batman shows back up?

Blarg, Drew why don’t you take us home with a little bit about Rocket Girl 2?

Drew: I don’t think I’m alone in being fascinated at the world of Rocket Girl — both its 2013 and 1986 settings are vibrant, and Dayoung is pretty singular in the world of female heroes — but issue 2 fails to build on any of that. Much of the action is explained post-factum via a newscast, which effectively robs any drama from when we actually see Dayoung in action. Brandon Montclare does reveal a bit more about Dayoung’s mission — effectively, Q-core is Cyberdyne systems, only the item from the future and reverse-engineered was a time machine, not a killer robot — but I was generally distracted by some strange art choices. The action is as crisp and beautiful as ever, but the dialogue and facial expressions often seem at odds (or at least pitched at different level of intensity). I suspect some Marvel-style revisions may be the culprit, but it makes for uncomfortable scenes where everybody seems to be yelling at each other for no apparent reason.

The conversation doesn’t stop there, because you certainly read something that we didn’t. What do you wanna talk about from this week?