The truth squeaks in.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Bruno Redondo, Juan Albarran
What They Say:
Poseidon’s tidal wave is unleashed upon Themyscira, causing Batman to make a tough decision: whether to sacrifice a few for the many.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having moved a decent chunk of the adventure for this year here to Themyscira, it’s been an interesting change in locale that works in the books favor. While I enjoyed the Hall of Justice element earlier and some of the surreal locations from the last year, I’m enjoying this particular location change because it just feels so very different in a way with its structure, it’s people and the large numbers involved that are under Zeus’ command simply because of who they are. Placing the two sides, who are being manipulated by a higher power, in this area and forcing things with Zeus and Poseidon has it ramping up everything in a really fun and engaging way.
This installment wants to settle things in a lot of ways before it heads into the final four of the year and it does so really well. While Harley and her merry band aren’t here they do manage to get a message out, which for those like Bruce and Clark, well, they understand the meaning of just how well they’ve been played. It’s kept small and simple in a sense – coming at a time when Zeus has had enough of Superman and is flicking the crap out of him, but the knowledge of what’s really been going on is enough to spur him into greater action. It’s the moment that could rally the two sides together to deal with a greater opponent. Not that I expect it to truly end the war between them, but it might provide for a fun fifth year if it goes in that direction.
Where a good chunk of this book works amid all of these higher plan elements is with the simple effort to save the residents on the island from the tidal wave coming their way. The timing of it all is kind of awkward with how Poseidon is controlling and it and how quickly they have to act, but it puts the heros in some difficult positions with really hard choices to make – choices that in some ways can’t be made. That some would go down with the ship, so to speak, speaks to who they are in not being able to make that choice. Though there is the quick and obvious save here on top of the other changes to the fight going on, it’s still a pretty thrilling scene because this is the kind of series that can force these hard issues. In a weird sense I’m almost disappointed that it didn’t end with a catastrophic number of death as that would have been more realistic and could spur some interesting dynamics going forward.
In Summary:
Injustice brings us to an interesting place here where it kind of resolves the main sticking point of the moment when it comes to Zeus and what he wanted. With Superman having thrown everything into a weird place and Zeus’ getting involved and even putting Poseidon in his place, Zeus makes it clear he doesn’t have it in him to deal with any of this anymore. And he knows exactly what Ares has been doing, though not all of it from what we can tell. The majority of this book deals with the crisis at hand in some good ways that lets most of the heroes actually act like heroes for a bit before it shifts to the realization of what’s really going on within this particular play that Ares is running. It leaves me really curious to see how it’s going to unfold on both sides as each has a lot to offer and only a few issues to really do anything.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 15th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
