With the issues preceding it, DETECTIVE COMICS #34 form a strong storyline from start to finish that are a great use of the character and the city of Gotham. They leave me hopeful for what this creative team can do with the stories they have planned for this corner of the DC universe coming up. I definitely like Manapul and Bucceleto's take on Batman as a detective character. When Francis Manapul told me at Phoenix Comic Con he planned to showcase Batman's nature as a detective I had misgivings about it. THE FLASH wasn't exactly that kind of story and it formed much of my opinion of Manapul, but he was definitely right.

GRAYSON #2 is like Ian Flemings BATMAN with a touch of Jim Steranko craftiness and looks like a pastiche of old spy comics. With a resolve to potentially go to some dark places in the future, GRAYSON is content to show us a set of characters who think they're running the whole show before I'm sure it will inevitably set out to prove them wrong. If there's one story to change the status quo of the DC universe it's probably going to be GRAYSON, and it should be watched for that reason alone.

BATMAN BEYOND 2.0 #26 is like reuniting with an old friend after they've had a nose job. It's pleasant, if a little disconcerting.

BATMAN BEYOND: 2.0 still feels like an episode of the animated series with a guest-director. It has a touch of Timm and an influence of Dini, but not so much it overpowers the message the new creators are trying to make.

BATMAN BEYOND 2.0 is almost one of those extra-special heart wrenching moments from the DCAU. Yet, in adherence to giving us a story that looks like it comes right from Bruce Timm himself, it misses the mark ever so slightly.

BATMAN BEYOND 2.0 is a well paced issue where most of the problems have to do with canon and mystery building itself.Other than that, it serves as a very nice curtain call for the end of this story arc, in a way giving readers very few places the story could go.

Bottom line? THE MULTIVERSITY #1 is a framed snippet of comic book art hanging on your roommate's wall. It's a conversation piece, and something that tells anyone who sees it the kind of taste the person who owns it has in comic books. Other than that though, THE MULTIVERSITY as a collection of stories is going to be a ride through antiquated forms of superhero storytelling. Maybe we'll see why we moved past the ones that will be featured, and maybe we'll see ideas worth revisiting.

WONDER WOMAN's finale is setting to be the best part of the story so far. Each issue raises the stakes and manages to build up the idea of a final confrontation between Wonder Woman and the Firstborn to incredible degrees. Here's hoping we actually get to see it.

INFINITE CRISIS #9 continues to be a tie-in and not a lot else. As an artistic anthology, it doesn't hold up because none of the art is of consistent quality across the board. As a consistent adventure, it's largely paint-by-numbers. Maybe it will become an obsessively grand in scope paint-by-numbers story, but we'll see.

Maybe this is also the first time in comics history someone has complained that something isn't enough of a marketing promotion.

SUPERGIRL #33 is, like her tenure as a Red Lantern, a pit stop on the side of the road. I don't feel like it is entirely instrumental to her character, as a story. I recognize these stories often build slowly, but they should tell us something new about our protagonist or her side characters. I know Guy Gardner and the Red Lanterns care for Kara, and I know what kind of person she is.Now, these stories can start being about that.

Maybe I'm not one for the big events, but few and far between are the books that actually succeed at what I think FUTURES END is setting out to try and do.

WORLDS' FINEST #26 reads like a brief taste of what's to come. It's a touch to the palate of flavors to get you interested in sticking around for the final curtain call.There's a few interesting things to be found in WORLDS' FINEST this week that keep it from being a complete and total pass. Plus " it's more than worth it to see one of the supporting charactersget a small glimmer of breaking out on her.

You're going to like BATMAN ETERNAL #21 if you eat up anything that has a cowl and pointy ears. Otherwise, it can be skipped. Maybe it's a sign that Scott Snyder is being spread too thin, but better work has been seen out of him and I hope it's just a brief low point and not a sign of things to come.

WORLDS' FINEST " FUTURE'S END #1 is Deathstroke swinging his sword at Power Girl and slicing nothing but air in comic book form, repeated forever. Afterwards, he will always say "I've caught bigger prey" in a nod to the fact that this series is usually a lot better than it is when it has "FUTURE'S END" as the tagline. Hey at least we get a Superman who wears a motorcycle helmet out of it.

The end of CATWOMAN #34 has a tease for futures end and “The death of Selina Kyle!” and honestly that's something I wish would come sooner so this comic could be put to rest.