Batman Beyond Unlimited #15, with "Coming of Age" by J.T. Krul (writer), Howard Porter (penciler), Livesay (inker), Carrie Strachan (colorist), Saida Temofonte (letterer); "In Gods We Trust" by Derek Fridolfs (writer/inker), Ben Caldwell (penciler), Randy Mayor (colorist), Saida Temofonte (letterer); "Undercloud: The Sound and the Fury" by Adam Beechen (writer), Norm Breyfogle (artist), Andrew Elder (colorist), Saida Temofonte (letterer) - Since Temofonte always letters all the stories, should I just list her once at the end, or stick with listing her for each story? I don't mind the way I'm doing it now, but it does feel a redundant.Superman finds out about the horrible breeding operations the Trillians were running on the Mangals, but being Superman, still advises the Mangals not to go to war. Then the Trillians show up with their army, and Supes is stuck in the middle trying to keep anyone from getting killed. At the end, J'onn shows up with a few other heroes to try and help out. It's hard for me to see this as a situation where the Trillians aren't entirely in the wrong here, but Porter is at least emphasizing that Superman is trying to find a solution that doesn't involve violence. It's not working, because no one is inclined to listen to him (and he doesn't have a real answer at this moment), but that seems right for Superman.
In the second story, Kai-Ro (the kid that's Green Lantern) has gone missing, captured by the Brain Trust, who I vaguely remember from Batman Beyond. Fridolfs does try to get us some idea what they're about. Namely, taking children with powers and brainwashing them into serving the Trust. The trail leads to Fawcett City, which is apparently stuck in the '50s, judging by the greaser that nearly had a car accident from gawking at Barda. I don't blame him for gawking, I too would probably gawk at Barda (why did she ditch the armor? I've never understood that, it's such a cool look). Two members of the trust appear, kick the crap out of the Leaguers, then leave again. Not sure why, they were doing fine. They can't have been scared of Warhawk.
Caldwell's art looks different here from the last time I saw it (that Barda origin story this title did late last year). That might just be the coloring. That story was very stark, deep blacks or pure white, to let the reds or greens jump off the page. This is a little more, normal, I guess. Not so German Expressionist. Makes some of the quirks of his faces stick out a little more. Old Man Wayne looks like Emperor Palpatine, for example, and there's something about Superman's neck that freaks me out. Too thick, probably. His work is very expressive though, creepy when it needs to be, funny, lots of action.
Finally, we get to Undercloud's big plan. A giant robot that will be controlled by the responsometers that went into the Metal Men, and will flatten Gotham. Max is meant to help program the doohickies, and if she doesn't, snap of the fingers, loved ones die, blah, blah. McGinnis, meanwhile, is drawn to a bomb threat at a concert and runs afoul of Shriek. Terry's still feeling the effects of the throwdown with the Joker King, so this could get ugly for him. OK, I knew I'd seen that robot before. It's Alloy, from, ugh, Kingdom Come. Great. Look, I'm sure that's a wonderful story, but like most wonderful stories, it's been bastardized and co-opted by people who may have completely missed the point it was trying to make. So I'm not overjoyed parts of it are seeping into the Beyond Universe. I guess that Justice League/Brain Trust story will end up involving a mind-controlled Captain Marvel, too. Boy I hope I'm wrong about that.
Um, something positive. Oh, Norm Breyfogle's back! Rebel One has a good design. It works for someone who wants to have no distinguishing characteristics to hint at their identity, but not in a complicated way. it's a black jumpsuit with a mask and some big goggles. Simple, effective, kind of spooky.
Fearless Defenders #3, by Cullen Bunn (writer), Will Sliney (artist), Veronica Gandini (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Oh sure, Hippolyta, you think it's a good idea to get your team name tattooed to your back now. What happens when you get traded to the Secret Avengers, or this team gets canceled? You're gonna feel stupid then.Hela is adamant that Valkyrie not go after these Doom Maidens, but won't exactly say why. She does tell us how incredibly good they are at killing things. Except Amazons, apparently. She wants them stopped because after they kill everything on Earth and Asgardia, they might come after her realm. They already abducted Dani, and she's Hela's shield maiden, damn it! One thing that amuses me about the big muckety-mucks in the Marvel Universe, be it gods or cosmic abstractions like Galactus, is they're just a bunch of cliquish teenagers at heart. They're on top of the heap, and all that really riles them is someone trying to supplant them, or mess with their turf. Thanos, Death Maidens, it doesn't matter. End digression.
The All-Mothers decree everyone will go, including Annabelle Riggs, plucky archeologist. They travel to a seemingly empty town, Val senses something which draws them into a cavern and whoops, the Maidens are loose, the heroes are losing and oh, Val used to be one of them. So that's possibly bad. Annabelle and Misty may have rescued Dani Moonstar just in time for them all the be decapitated together.
So things are a bit more interesting. I can't figure why Hela didn't explain why Val shouldn't be involved. She had a reason, I presume it's Val being one of the Doom Maidens, wouldn't explaining it have been more effective than merely hinting? Also, Hippolyta's a little more bloodthirsty and rude than I was hoping for. She certainly takes after her father, but I was hoping for more similarity to Hercules, or the Aquaman on the Brave and the Bold cartoon, since those are kind of how I picture Wonder Woman's mom during her stint on the JSA, and that sounded pretty cool. She's not a bad character, has some potential, just not quite what I was hoping for. I like the color for Hippolyta's tattoo. That electric blue really stands out, guides the eye up to her face, which is a nice touch. Also, I find Le Fay tedious. All the mocking she does towards Dani is terribly dull. It's not even good villain monologue, more some bratty kid.
There was one page Sliney drew that caught my eye. Page 12, as Val senses something and leads them in the church. The point of view starts low, at her feet, and as we progress across the page and through the panels, it pulls back and rises, then gradually moves closer and continues to rise. By the end, we're somewhere above her head, looking down on her and the stairs she's descending. It's a nice effort, but the last panel is crowded. There wasn't enough room for Val at the top of it, so she takes up some much of the rest the stairs probably aren't as prominent as they ought to be. Plus, having the first panel on the opposite page be the stairs from a different angle creates a confusing effect. I almost start to think they're the same panel, but then realize that doesn't make any sense.
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