Things just got more complicated.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Xermanico, Brian Redondo
What They Say:
Battle rages on Themyscira, where Poseidon is about to sink the entire island!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the use of the gods this year of the series, we’ve seen some interesting turns come of it. It’s always – always – a bit awkward to use them because there’s such an imbalance to them that you don’t get with most other villains, but they offer up some tantalizing aspects as well. With Zeus having won for the moment, it’s turned into an uneasy calm on the island of Themyscira. One that’s going to break very easily considering the losses on both sides and the way everyone is so tense and ready to snap. Some of them, like Batwoman, have been tense for months at this point because of the larger war and the recent losses. Others, such as certain gods, are fresher in why they’re tense after such recent losses of those that have been around forever. It makes it easy to believe anything could set them off.
But can something bring them together, or at separate them further so as to take the trouble out of the equation? That’s what Superman is playing at as he aligns with Poseidon. This has a neat aspect to it because Poseidon doesn’t exactly care for what it is that Zeus is doing by interfering with the world of mortals. There’s long been a rift between gods over how closely they should get involved and having that take center stage here works very well, particularly because Poseidon rides in on a big wave with plenty of weight to back up his threat. That puts everyone on the defensive and brings out some good dynamics to touch upon, including Poseidon’s own distaste that his niece in Diana would align with Zeus over such a thing. Even by force.
The book plays with this well as there’s a good sense of scale to it, both in action and character, and it also serves to draw in someone that hasn’t been around for some time with Aquaman. With the character being nowhere near the joke he was decades ago he gets to ride in with a sense of power and authority that will be fun to watch going forward. On the flip side, lacking any kind of authority, we also get some time with Harley, Billy and Hippolyta as the trio are being shipped to the underworld on Charon’s boat. This provides for a few laughs in the book, something it needs to lighten the mostly serious tone in Themyscira, but it also has its own level of fear considering the fate that possibly awaits them. With this being show I expect there to be an out for them, something I can’t say I’m thrilled about, but I’ll reserve judgment until I see more.
In Summary:
Injustice certainly has the world open to it with what it wants to do, not having any continuity constraints outside of itself, so the freedom is definitely fun to watch here sa Buccellato brings in whatever he needs to make the story work without worrying about the long term effects. And that makes for some fun as it progresses in how you have to deal with the fallout of what you do. This installment adds a new wrinkle to the rift within the gods and it draws Aquaman to the surface in the usual way but with enough to it that it works. Xermanico and Redondo have a good sense of it all here and the layouts are solid and we get some of the better Superman visuals of the series with this installment. It’s definitely a lot of fun and good to get back to the proper scale of events.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 25th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
