Time for another round of “what’s working and what isn’t?” in the new DCU.

Aquaman #8 (Abnett/Eaton/Fauchier): This one disappoints a little, with Abnett passing up an opportunity to focus on Mera in favor of Arthur punching an underwater version of the Juggernaut. It seems like the big threat is a mutated Mera (it looks like it’s wearing her clothes!), but no, the artistic similarity is either coincidence or just a bad red herring. What we do get of Mera is her taking an exam to pass Atlantean bridal standards, but the plot never really gets into her head enough for us to care. Rating: Two and a half tuna out of five.

Batman #8 (Orlando/King/Rossmo): Decompression is not helping “Night of the Monster Men” as the continuation of the plot threads just keep going. At least one of them (Spoiler and Orphan in the cave) does get mostly resolved, but in the meantime, Batman’s got to stop an out-of-control Nightwing and Gotham Girl. His efforts to stop the latter would be more touching if we hadn’t already seen an identical scene done a month ago in Batman #6. At least this version has more punching, with Batman wearing an armor that we’ve never seen in 70 years. Oh, and Rossmo’s art is still boss. Rating: Three bats out of five.

Cyborg #2 (Semper Jr/Pelletier/Kordos/Palmer): On the heels of the premiere issue, this continues to be a competent comic, examining issues of human personhood and touching on race relations without getting too preachy. Kilgore’s a little too moustache-twirly, but at least he poses a serious threat to Cyborg, putting him through a challenge that’s as physical as it is moral. Kids who enjoy the Teen Titans Go! version of the character can easily graduate to this book. Rating: Three and a half bytes out of five.

Flintstones #5 (Russel/Pugh/Chuckry): On-the-nose humor really doesn’t work, as this issue illustrates. Exploring the newness of marriage and monogamy to cave culture, The Flinstones hits Family Guy levels of sarcasm in basically making a statement that religion and bigotry are arbitrary, capricious, and dumb. The comic does raise some questions about the slave-like status of the intelligent animals that serve as the Flinstones’ appliances, and that would have been a worthwhile topic for a whole issue. It really doesn’t spend enough time on it, so let’s hope a future issue gets back to it. Rating: Two clubs out of five.

Green Arrow #8 (Percy/Schmidt): It looked like this storyline was going to be a redux of Ollie’s time on the island, but if it is, it’s got the added twist of Dinah being there with him. “Rebirth” warned us that the Ollie-Dinah relationship was one of the missing elements of the DCU, so here’s an opportunity for them to rekindle it. OK but not stellar, but along with Aquaman and Superman, it’s nice to see the DCU revive classic love interests. Rating: Two and a half quivers out of five.

Green Lanterns #8 (Humphries/Benes/Blond): This issue could have made a good Halloween Comicfest freebie if it weren’t a new release. It’s Halloween, and the Lanterns need to find a long-exiled Guardian who’s hiding in Dearborn on the one night where he’d be hard to spot. The story’s a little cornball, with the main threat being inconsequential to our heroes and the lost Guardian’s creation being a bit hokey even by GL-standards. The charm is in the story’s layout: despite being a multi-part story, this issue and last both work well as standalones. Rating: Three and a half rings out of five.

Harley Quinn #5 (Conner/Palmiotti/Timms): An improvement over last month, though not by a lot. A bunch of punk rockers are rampaging through Brooklyn disguised as crooks, and an impotent police chief hires Harley to go undercover and take him down off the books. There’s some chuckleworthy gags, but the continued insistence on using a Deadpool expy in this book is just bizarre. A development at the end of the issue may have some larger consequences for the title if it ends up bringing in the one major player in Harley’s world who can shake this book up. Rating: Two and a half mallets out five.

Justice League #6 (Hitch/Clark/Derenick): Remember when Grant Morrison’s JLA was the cornerstone of the DCU and most other DC books seemed subordinate to it? That state of affairs seems to have flipped, with most DC books doing their own thing and, by the way, here’s the Justice League. “State of Fear” is interesting, with our team very obviously being infected with some kind of otherworldy paranoia. At the same time, it feels inconsequential, because experienced readers know that this is all going to be reversed by the end. You’ll either find that this is fun, or it’s been done. Also: Barry and Jessica go on a date. Rating: Three leagues out of five.

Nightwing #6 (Orlando/Seely/Antonio): “Night of the Monster Men” is almost done with a fight scene that justifies putting this chapter in the Nightwing book, though it’s only the opening segment of the story. The rest comes from Dick doing some speedy detective work that justifies what Hugo Strange’s master plan is. This is through-and-through a Batman story, though, with a conclusion that shows that Batman always plans ahead. Get this only if you’re in for the whole of “Monster Men,” come back next month if you’re here strictly for Seely’s Nightwing. Rating: Three monsters out of five.

Superman #8 (Tomasi/Gleason/Mahnke): Remember how last month’s issue was self-contained? This one might be too. It certainly ends on an odd note—Clark and Jon are trapped on Dinosaur Island—but the conclusion is fitting enough that you could call this a “one and done” story. It’s a self-styled tribute to Darwyn Cooke as Clark and Jon learn the lost history of the Losers, with Clark wanting to teach his son about the nobility of heroism while sparing him its horrific consequences. This doesn’t have much to do with Cooke, but the reference to his work in New Frontier is nice to read all the same. Rating: Four capes out of five.

This week’s winner: Superman, which presents an appealing, classic book that doesn’t try too hard to get there. The loser: Harley Quinn, which tries too hard to get there.