Who'd Like A Cocktail? #121

Negative Man lets us know who'll be playing Batman in the new movie

It's Sunday, and here's my round up of this week's comics:

• BOOSTER GOLD #42 - honestly, was anyone surprised that the Perforated Man turned out to be future Booster? No, didn't think so. The big reveal was actually at the end when future-perforated Booster told his current self that Rip Hunter had lied to him and that he always lies. How that's going to play out over the following issues and into Flashpoint is something I'm keen to find out.
• DOOM PATROL #20 - a nice run through of how screwed up the Doom Patrol's reputation is with the outside world's heroic community and a surprise guest holding out a helping hand. I'm really going to miss this series once Flashpoint comes along.
• JENNIFER BLOOD #2 - more mom-as-professional-killer fun and games where we get a stronger hint as to Jennifer's motivation. While the plot isn't anything fantastically new, Ennis has the voice of the main character down and it is, as usual with him, an entertaining read.
• JSA-ALL STARS #16 - another series biting the dust due to Flashpoint, this one sees Citizen Steel get together with Roxy after the pair of them take down the Puzzlemen. I'm hoping this gets picked up following the big summer event and returns to a regular title.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #21 - the big news, of course, is that Blue Beetle isn't dead. How he returns has yet to be explained (and I wouldn't put it past Winick to come up with something dreadful like it's not actually Jaime in the suit any longer) but at least he's not dead. Oh, and Fire and Rocket Red finally get together after flirting for ages. Romance is everywhere this week.
• PUNISHERMAX #10 - if I was given to awarding points to the week's comics, this would definitely come out on top. Clean, deceptively simple looking art from Steve Dillon and a cracking story from Jason Aaron as Bullseye finally goes toe to toe with the Punisher. Last issue, Bullseye came up with a theory of how Frank Castle became the Punisher and in this issue he gets the chance to run that past the big man himself, telling the Punisher what Bullseye thinks were the last words Frank said to his wife before she was killed. He obviously strikes a nerve as the Punisher freezes, allowing the Kingpin to send them both crashing through a skylight towards the waiting police. I think it unlikely we'll ever get confirmation of those last words but my guess would be "I'm sorry," as following Bullseye's theory, Frank actively chose to become the Punisher by sacrificing his wife and children to the mob shooters that he knew were out in the park that day. Their deaths allowed him to embrace what he had been in the Vietnam jungle but at a huge cost, one which he's tried to bury and ignore for all these years. Well worth picking up, people.
• ZATANNA #10 - poor old Zatanna ends up on the wrong end of the puppet Oscar Hempel while Brother Night makes his return a lot earlier than expected, at least to my mind.

And what made me smile:

I think Frank's going to want that back.