Time for it to hit the fan.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Tom Derenick
Colors: Rex Lokus
Letters: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Superman struggles to fight off the effects of Kryptonite poisoning. Meanwhile, Batman’s exposé of Superman’s murderous rampage is about to hit the world.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With events really picking up in Injustice the last few issues, it’s definitely enjoyable to see how things are hitting the fan a bit more this time around. The plans in motion haven’t exactly been the things of masterminds but sometimes the simplest ideas can require some intense planning and execution. After a few installments with Marco Santucci, Tom Derenick returns and it feels like things are pretty rushed here. Most sequences are decent in general but some of what we get with Superman and his throne just look awkward at best and downright cringe inducing at worst with the overhead view we get for one panel. I’ve liked Derenick’s work in this series in the past but this installment just feels like it’s not working well in this sequence.
Similar to most installments in this series, we get two tracks that are running here with some tangents from it. Within the regime, we see how they’re coping with Superman getting hit with Kryptonite poisoning as he’s pretty weak and out of it, though still on top of things enough to see the danger in what Batman is doing. This rallies the team to try and find them, though they have few leads to work with. Where it takes an interesting approach is that we get to see Flash meeting up with Lex as his concerns are growing over Superman and you get the sense that he’s looking for some allies in some form in case things get worse. There are also some really good moments between Wonder Woman and Superman as she stays behind to help him and it’s a period where she once again sees just how driven he is at this stage to not see his work undone by others.
Batman’s story arc continues to move along at a brisk pace, all things considered, as their escape with Cyborg has them holing up in the irradiated remains of Metropolis. We’ve had little material here truly for quite some time so it’s a nice callback to just how bad things got previously. The mission of ferreting out data over what happened with the Joker Underground is basic enough and it works, though the forced quickness of getting it and doing it as they are from Cyborg is a little off-putting, but it has that whole “things you do in war” aspect to it. I’m just glad that at this stage we actually do have them getting information out, or about to, and setting up the radical change to how things have been operating for the last few years. Considering some of the plans that have been used previously, this one is definitely in the realm of simple but effective.
In Summary:
Injustice is setting the stage for ensuring that everyone knows the truth about the regime, but the truth doesn’t always deliver the results you want – even if it’s actually believed. The time at the Hall of Justice is pretty good and I like seeing what Flash is up to as he gauges where Lex stands on things, a tricky thing to do in the best of times. Combine that with some solid if light material for Batman and his very, very, small group that’s trying to do the right thing and it moves along quickly and with a good sense of fun about it. The series really works that feeling that we’re about to hit that game changer that’s needed as it brings us up to the start of the game itself.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 2nd, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
