(And fans of Rucka--assuming they get around to reading this at all--will still likely hold the opinion that Atticus Kodiak could take Batman in a standup fight any day.) DC shook up Gotham--literally--in its 1999 Batman plot arc: a 7.6 earthquake rocked Gotham City, wreaking enough destruction to bring the broken, crime-ridden, runt kid-brother of Metropolis and New York to its knees. In the story line's most indulgent liberty, those fat cats in Washington decide to write off Gotham, à la Escape from New York, blowing up the connecting bridges, mining the surrounding waterways, and signing into law the Federal Declaration of No Man's Land, which makes it a crime to even set foot in the city. The usual suspects from Arkham Asylum, Two-Face and the Penguin, the Riddler and Dr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Mr. Zsasz, file out to begin running the show, strong-arming and manipulating the block-by-block turf battles that envelop the now-ultraviolent city. A conflicted Batman shows up fashionably late, only to find that these lunatics are the least of his worries: Lex Luthor, Superman's archfoe, has nefarious designs on Gotham too. Could this possibly get any better? Sure, No Man's Land is derivative fiction, but the appeal of Rucka--and, of course, Batman--can make this one worth the read. --Paul HughesCollecting BATMAN: NO MAN'S LAND #1, BATMAN #563-564, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #83-84, DETECTIVE COMICS #730-731 and BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #116.

    Now, faced with a threat far beyond anything he can handle on his own, the Dark Knight must trust an alien, a scarlet speedster, an accidental teenage hero, a space cop, an Amazon Princess and an undersea monarch. Will this combination of Superman, The Flash, Cyborg, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Aquaman be able to put aside their differences and come together to save the world? Or will they destroy each other first?In one of the most game-changing titles in comic industry history, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee re-imagine the classic heroes of the DC Universe for the 21st century.Collecting: Justice League 1-6

    Tapping into the energy field called The Speed Force, he applies a tenacious sense of justice to protect an serve the world as The Flash!The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series as part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event with the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. The Flash knows he can't be everywhere at once, but he has seemingly met his match when he faces DC Comic' hottest new Super Villain, Mob Rule, who really can be everywhere at once!As Mob Rule wages a campaign of crime across Central City, including an electromagnetic blast that plunges the city into darkness, The Flash learns the the only way he can capture Mob Rule and save Central City is to learn how to make his brain function even faster than before—but as much as it helps him, it also comes with a steep price.Collecting: The Flash 1-8

    Tearing its way through the events of DAY OF VENGEANCE and INFINITE CRISIS, the mystical Blue Beetle scarab has chosen its new guardian: teenager Jaime Reyes! But supernatural powers can be a blessing or a curse, and when it comes to the powers of the Scarab, you don't get one without the other.Collects Blue Beetle #1-6.

    “Grounded” begins as Superman visits Philadelphia – on foot – then continues in a small town in Ohio where, as in many towns, a number of its residents are from other places. But when The Man of Steel discovers that there are also a number of residents secretly from other worlds, he unravels a mystery that may have grave consequences for Earth.

    Her mom is the flavor of mint--sharp and bright. Her dad is like hot chocolate--sweet and full of gentle warmth.Amy lives on a mining colony in out in deep space, but when her dad loses his job the entire family is forced to move back to Earth. Amy says goodbye to her best friend Jemmah and climbs into a cryotube where she will spend the next 30 years frozen in a state of suspended animation, hurtling in a rocket toward her new home. Her life will never be the same, but all she can think about is how when she gets to Earth, Jemmah will have grown up without her.When Amy arrives on Earth, she feels like an alien in a strange land. The sky is beautiful but gravity is heavy and the people are weird. Stranger still is the boy she meets at her new school--a boy who has no flavor.

    cops! Robins vs. Robins! Robins vs. Batman! Robins vs. the Court of Owls!Collecting: Robin War 1-2, Grayson 15, Detective Comics 47, We Are Robin... 7, Robin: Son of Batman 7, Gotham Academy 13, Red Hood/Arsenal 7, & Teen Titans 15

    As the mystic Highwayman comes to St. Roch, seeking to claim Hawkmans tortured soul, its a deadly battle for survival. But first, the Winged Wonders must survive a revenge-seeking Thanagarian Hawkwoman and then a confrontation with the powerful Black Adam.Collecting: Hawkman 15-22

    Led by hot-tempered, electrically powered Jenny Sparks and headquartered in a fifty-mile-wide spaceship that exists outside space and time, the Authority explodes into action, first against a global attack of genetically engineered super-human clones, and then against an invasion from another reality.

    But it's not long before these dueling titans meet someone unexpected -- the new Clark Kent! The two arch-enemies must put aside their differences and face the common threat of Doomsday, as Jimmy Olsen and the Planet staff try to uncover the truth: who is the man claiming to be Clark Kent? Writer Dan Jurgens (The Death of Superman) returns to the Man of Steel along with illustrators Tyler Kirkham (Deathstroke) and Patrick Zircher (Green Arrow) for the next great Superman chapter in Superman: Action Comics, Volume 1: Path of Doom!Collecting: Action Comics 957-962

    Wolverine, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Thanos: There's one hero that's beaten them all, and now she's got her own ongoing series! (Not that she's bragging.) That's right, you asked for it, you got it, it's Squirrel Girl, (she's also starting college this semester!) It's the start of a brand-new series of adventures starring the nuttiest and most upbeat super hero in the world!

    Aaron Aikman, the Spider-Man? Who are the villainous Red Eye and Naahmurah...and can Aaron live through Morlun's arrival? In a universe where the story you know becomes as horrific as possible, a radioactive spider bites a high school nerd who is already something of a monster. Then, what or who is the incredible SP//dr? And finally, the breakout character of Spider-Verse makes her exciting debut - in a world where the radioactive spider bit Gwen Stacy!Collects Edge of Spider-Verse issues 1 to 5.

    A mysterious new criminal operative called Oracle has declared war on Gotham. Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl, and a.k.a. cyber-superhero Oracle in a previous guise, takes exception to someone smearing her legacy.Writing duo and sisters Julie and Shawna Benson, along with breakout artist Claire Roe, reunite the femme fatale crew in Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Volume 1: Who Is Oracle?!Collecting: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey 1-6, Rebirth

    MARVEL, the ground breaking heroine that has become an international sensation! Kamala Khan is just an ordinary girl from Jersey City--until she is suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the all-new Ms. Marvel?

    In these fast-paced, dark tales, the rhyming entity known as Etrigan the Demon, battles the Gothodaemon, the demon of Gotham City, with the help of Hitman. Then, a company of German soldiers from World War II are resurrected to capture an army base - and it's up to the Demon and the crew of the Haunted Tank to send them back to their graves.Collects THE DEMON #40 and #42-49 together with THE DEMON ANNUAL #2.