the vynsane asylum

Here’s another batch of assorted back issues. The last time I caught up on Flash and Future State:Gotham was in Feb/March of 2025.

Dark Knights of Steel:Allwinter 6. Finished the mini. Slade escorts Alec back to the winter palace to confront Victor. While Slade teams up with Sir Bruce, Alex uses his powers to restore color to the kingdom and thaw everything. Slade actually gets a happy ending and reunites with his wife and his three children. I think I enjoyed this mini even more than the original DKoS series.

DCU Lazarus Planet Revenge of the Gods 3. I had already read the variant issue. This is the main cover. Story was still weaksauce.

DC vs Vampires All Out War 4. I’m honestly not even sure which ones were vampires and which ones weren’t. Confusing.

Unstoppable Doom Patrol 3. Had already read the variant cover issue. This was the main cover.

Flash 773. Flash vs Heatwave. Had already read it, but this was an alternative cover.

777, 779. Flash ends up on Gemworld with the Justice League Dark fighting Eclipso. His kids sneak out and get teleported to Gemworld to help out their dad. Linda finds out she has super speed powers.

780. Crossover event called War for Earth-3. Johnny Quick steals the cosmic treadmill for Amanda Waller.

781-782. Wally teams up with Kid Flash and they break into Iron Heights prison because the warden is up to some shady shit.

785. Dark Crisis tie in. Barry was one of the Justice Leaguers who “died” but he’s been trapped on a pocket universe world. After Wally and Linda rescue him, they realize the rest of the League is probably also alive.

Future State:Gotham 1-5, 9, 12, 14-17. Filled in the gaps of this Black and white series. Alternate future tale where Jace is Batman in a Magistrate controlled Gotham city. By the end of the series, there are FIVE Batmen running around vying for the title. I’m still missing the final 18th issue.

Green Arrow 3. Ollie and Lian Harper arrive in the 31st century where Connor Hawke and the Legion of Super Heroes welcome them. In the present, Roy and Dinah are interrogating Count Vertigo on what Amanda Waller is planning.

Green Arrow 29. Ollie is solving a mystery about a new villain called Crimson who turns out to be a former mercenary that Ollie trained how to use bow and arrows.

Up next, another batch of back issues to read. Could be anything.

The back issue palooza continues.

Guardians of the Galaxy 18. Final issue of the 2020 run. My other copy was damaged, so I found a replacement.

Harley Screws up the DCU 4. Harley time travels back to Themyscira and accidentally steps on Hippolyta’s clay baby before she makes it come alive. Then she hooks up with a randy fisherman, and he’s not out on the high seas to save an Atlantean Princess and his future baby mama, so Aquaman is never conceived. Then Harley’s future self recruits her to go back and un-screw these problems. This was a 6 issue series. I’m still missing the final two issues. Not a priority.

Justice League 64. From Bendis’ run. It was the final variant cover I was missing for a full run. Naomi’s parents visit the Hall of Justice. And some alien dude escapes space prison and heads to Earth to find Superman.

One Star Squadron 1-3. Mark Russel’s satirical take on C-List heroes trying to scrape by by doing birthday party appearances and humiliating security jobs. I was harsh on Russel when I read the last three issues back in October, but there were some pretty funny bits in here.

Outsiders 7, 8. The story of how Jakita Wagner survived the demise of the Planetary Universe because the “story” was finished so everybody ceased to exist. Issue 8 was about Jinny Hex finding a cursed six shooter in her Greatx7 Granddad Jonah Hex’s footlocker. I read these out of order and wasn’t hooked by the first issue. But I think if I sat down and read the entire 11 issue run in order it’d be pretty good.

Rook Exodus 3. An Image book by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. Not interesting enough to keep up with, but I’ll buy back issues if I see them cheap. After three years they’re only on issue 10.

Robin 4. Damian gets trained by his grandfather R’As before the beginning of the Lazarus tournament.

5. The other four previous Robins come to bring Damian back home. But after a rooftop chase and some bonding, they decide to let him ‘escape’ and return to the tournament. I read this entire series completely out of order.

Robins 3. Variant cover of a book I already read. Apparently there was a female Robin before Dick and she’s back for revenge.

Sentinels 1-5. I dropped this series when it came out, but found the entire thing for less than the cost of one issue. At that price, it wasn’t a bad read. The Greymalkin Prison has turned wounded war vets into sentient Sentinel hybrids. But they discover the donor behind the nanotechnology is the kid from the early 2000s Sentinel miniseries(that died in Avengers Arena) being exploited and some of the team attempts to rescue him.

Up next, more back issues. Since I’m on a tear.

Another pile of back issues, mostly Superman stuff.

Spider-Gwen: GwenVerse 4. The Greg Land variant.

Star Wars Bounty Hunters 13, 14. War of the Bounty Hunters tie ins. Valance and Dengar are looking for frozen Han Solo that was recently stolen from Boba Fett.

Steelworks 1. First issue of a mini written by Michael Dorn aka Worf from Star Trek and also Steel’s voice actor.

Suicide Squad 13. Part of the War for Earth-3 crossover between the Squad, Flash, and Titans Academy.

Supergirl:Woman of Tomorrow 3, 4. Couple issues from the series the movie is based on. Written by Tom King, who rarely disappoints.

Action 1027. Near the end of Bendis’ run on both Action and Superman. Romita Jr’s art is ABYSMAL.

1029. After Bendis finished his run, Phillip Kennedy Johnson came on for a crossover team up where Clark and Jon fight some interdimensional aliens coming thru a breach STAR labs accidentally opened.

1033. The lead up to the WarWorld saga. Tensions between the US and Atlantis are high because an energy source used by fleeing WarWorld refugees landed in the ocean and Atlantis won’t just hand it over to the US govt.

1037, 1038, 1044, 1045. Part of the WarWorld saga where Superman recruited the Authority and a bunch of other heroes to go liberate WarWorld from Mongul. Because it’s powered by Red Sun generators in its core, Superman loses his powers and is forced into gladiatorial combat, but still manages to rally the slaves into revolting. This story arc lasted for over a year and finished up in a oneshot further down the list.

1055. Cyborg Superman is back and he’s holding Metallo’s sister hostage. Metallo teams up with Superman and the other Supes family to rescue her, but Henshaw has turned her into another Metallo.

1061. First part of an arc by Jason Aaron where Bizarro turns all of Metropolis into Bizarros and eventually Superman has to team up with Joker(who is now the only sane person left) to return the world to normal.

Superman 32. Variant cover of the final issue of Bendis’ run of Superman. But Bendis had left the book a couple issues prior, so this was part of that PK Johnson story arc.

Superman Son of Kal-El 1, 2, 9, 11, 15. While Kal was off planet for the WarWorld saga in Action comics, his son Jon stepped up and was Superman on Earth. Tom Taylor wrote this ongoing that had Jon taking on the evil president of a small techno-powered nation and also finding a boyfriend. It was a pretty good series. The more stuff I read of Taylor’s the more I look forward to. His Nightwing run was excellent and he’s currently writing Detective Comics.

Adventures of Superman:Jon Kent 2, 3. Tracking down a multiversal serial killer killing off Clark Kent variants, Jon faces off against Ultraman, his abuser that kept him trapped in a volcano for years. Then Injustice Superman shows up and kills Ultraman and takes Jon to the Injustice universe.

Superman and Robin oneshot. Jon and Damian team up fight aliens breaking in to the Fortress of Solitude. This was written by the SuperSons writer, but it was after Jon had been aged up and both Jon and Damian had their own ongoing series starting up at the time.

Superman: WarWorld Apocalypse oneshot. The finale of the WarWorld saga. Superman gets his powers back, rallies his allies, and defeats Mongul.

Superman 6, 7, 9, 13-16. Finished filling the gaps from the current Superman run by Josh Williamson(currently on issue 39.) Issue 7 was a giant sized Legacy 850th issue. 13 thru 15 were part of the House of Brainiac crossover, and 16 was an Absolute Power tie in.

Up next, more of the random back issues but also this week’s books.