DC Universe Presents #16: Black Lightning & Blue Devil

The Creature Commandos have their title cancelled and already these movie monster scabs are trying to take their place.

Last issue Blue Devil had his suit of demon skin stolen by Nebiros. But since the skin was originally Nebiros's skin, I guess that's technically not stealing. But Black Lightning wasn't definitely more than technically shot by Tobias Whale. Delightning (that's the team of Blue Devil and Black Lightning! I'm sure DC wants this duo to be called Black & Blue but I prefer Delightning) tracked down Tobias Whale and Nebiros because they wanted to stop their drug running operation. They also wanted to save Black Lightning's dad. But they might have failed because Black Lightning is now mortally wounded and Blue Devil is naked.

I should probably say Daniel Cassidy is naked because the Blue Devil suit (skin) was torn apart when Nebiros tried to stuff his fat ass into it. Apparently he's gained a few inches since he had his skin torn off by Etrigan. Feeling fat and not so pretty, Nebiros can't handle killing Daniel Cassidy on his own right now. So he brings some of the wax figures to life so they can tear Daniel apart.

Fucking scabs. This is why Frank, Griffith, and Velcoro lost their jobs! Bastards.

I haven't forgotten about Black Lightning but since he's bleeding out on the floor, his story just isn't as exciting as Cassidy being attacked by old time movie monsters. But I should probably see what else is going on since Tobias Whale hasn't forgotten about him either. Whale goes to put an end to Black Lightning when Black Lightning decides to give up on his non-killing philosophical viewpoint. He's dying so why shouldn't the guy who killed him die as well?

See? See you in hell is the type of thing you say to someone you're intending to kill.

Cassidy realizes Black Lightning is dying and how the fuck can he go on with the sassy name of Delightning if his partner dies. I guess Lightning is still trapped somewhere in The Red. If he finds her, he could keep up the nickname. But it would probably be easier to save Jefferson Pierce. With that in mind (yes, he contemplated all of that. It's so obvious), he slides back into the torn apart Blue Devil skin and it reattaches. Now he has enough magic to destroy the monster scabs and illegally hunt Whale and send Nebiros back to hell and heal Black Lightning and untie Black Lightning's dad and massage his wrists and get him a glass of water.

Says the gigantic green demon from hell.

Except he apparently doesn't have the time or the power to save Black Lightning from death. But Nebiros does. So Blue Devil makes a deal with Nebiros: Nebiros will heal Black Lightning if Blue Devil lets Nebiros live. Blue Devil accepts. Now Blue Devil has even more reason to have his own comic book. He's got a warehouse full of dangerous yet humiliated magical artifacts that can cause a lot of trouble and he's got an arch-enemy that wants him killed. And, of course, if he allows Black Lightning to tag along, the comic can be called Delightning. We all win! And by we I mean me.

Black Lightning is revived but he's a complete douchebag now. Nebiros added a twist of evil to him when he brought him back. But isn't that always the way? There's a cost to this stuff and nothing ever comes back the same. You reap what you sow and then the cat fucking stinks to high heaven. All of that stuff. But Blue Devil isn't going to let Nebiros get away with it! He decides to back out on his deal as well. Although technically Nebiros didn't back out. And I guess technically Blue Devil isn't either! He's letting Nebiros go but in the body of Tobias Whale.

I'm not sure what he did with Tobias Whale's soul. It might have been stored in his trident.

Everything works out for the people things are supposed to work out for (not counting Dan Cassidy's grandfather who is still dead). And the issue ends with "The Beginning!" Oh, how terribly trite.

DC Universe Presents #16: Black Lightning and Blue Devil Rating: No change. I would have enjoyed more funny dialogue in this series but, hey, you can't be funny all the time! Look at my blog. 1000 posts and maybe 5% make me really laugh. And entertaining myself is the most important thing in the world. And I don't just mean my world. All you slackers out there on Earth need to get busy entertaining me. Stop being so boring! The people I follow on Tumblr and those that follow me and/or comment on my commentaries are excluded from the "boring" label because you are entertaining me. And I thank you!

Besides the not being as funny as I would have liked, this comic did a lot of things right. Minus the Kid Flash episode, the stories in DC Universe Presents have been very good at telling a concise story introducing characters to the New 52 and setting up a broader storyline that can continue to be told in the future. "The Beginning" ending might very well be trite but it is reasonably true as well. There was a lot of material presented in this three issue arc that could easily be mined to support an ongoing monthly series. Good job!