It’s all fun and games until Bizarro shows up.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Bruno Redondo, Juan Albarran
Colors: Rex Lokus
What They Say:
The Rogues pull a series of terrorist strikes around the globe, somehow managing to stay one step ahead of Superman. But will they be able to evade…Bizarro?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Injustice has moved a few things along in the last several issues and at this stage it feels like we’ve moved ahead a good bit since we last left things with Selina leaving and Bruce now forming up more plans with the Rogues. There’s been a lot of compromising in different ways with both sides in what needs being done, but there’s definitely an ease through which you can see a number of villains ending up on the side of Batman here to fight for a certain kind of freedom compared to what Superman and the Regime offers. More conflicting is seeing the extremes that Superman is going to and getting a handle on those that are divided within that camp over it but finding themselves unable – or even afraid – to really bring it up. That doesn’t speak well for what’s going on there.
This chapter is largely focused on various acts of terrorism that are being put into play. With the idea that some time has passed, we see how Superman is getting a Clark Kent statue in Smallville to honor him, which he’s pleased about, and we see how the Regime has really solidified into a force as well with recruitment centers around the world. The whole thing just ups the authoritarian side in a big way and the symbolism only adds to it. But what happens is definitely all Bruce here as he orchestrates things with the various Rogues for a range of actions spread across the world at these centers that cause a lot of public destruction while ensuring that nobody is actually hurt. It serves as spectacle and a reminder that the Regime can’t be everywhere at once. It also reinforces that there is an opposing side to things and that the Regime’s way isn’t the only way.
It’s no surprise that this just sets of Superman even more, who is looking even more impressive with his costume change here that has more standout elements of red to it and a sense of power that he hasn’t’ had before. While we see the team react as best as they can to being as spread out as they are, it’s not the only problem Superman is facing. Lex is doing his little subtle slowdowns with the green pills in taking them offline for a while for “fixes”, which doesn’t exactly go over well. I also like that as he stands up to Superman as only he can, it encourages Flash to do the same about his distaste for the working with villains. That’s something I had to do a doubletake with since I grew up reading Wally and all the time he spent with the Rogues, but for Barry it’s a lot more black and white. Amusingly, he gets almost nothing here and it just makes things even more difficult for Team Regime.
In Summary:
Injustice sets the next stage for what the Regime is facing while also throwing a spanner in the works at the end with Bizarro getting involved. What he’s been up to all this time is beyond me, but the sudden appearance just feels off – even if it will likely lead to some really fun moments. This issue works as setup to show what Batman’s group has been up to and the kind of limited ability to respond that the Regime has and it works well. There’s a good flow to the book and Redondo and Albarran turn in solid work similar to what they’ve been producing for a while so there’s some good consistency to be had here even if it doesn’t jump out at you like Coelo’s artwork did the last time around. I’m curious to see where the series goes from here.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 16th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
