Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Daniel Sampere
Colors: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Hal Jordan is held prisoner by the Red Lanterns while Atrocitus recruits a deadly new member to Corps. And the Titans consider a recruitment drive of their own.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of the best things about the Injustice franchise as a whole is that it can do all the things it wants without having to think about the cost of it, at least not too far. It’s removed from the mainline side and can do what it wants in going big and crazy and eliminating characters, though it still has to adhere to certain things by nature of it being a company product. Tom Taylor walks that line exceedingly well and presents some fascinating ideas to the reader in what’s essentially an ongoing What If? book. This installment has Daniel Sampere on art duties once more and he’s again just nailing it in a big way with Rex Lokus clearing taking advantage of the digital palette in a great way with the colors, particularly all of the red. It simply works beautifully as a team.
This installment doesn’t take place exclusively and begins to setup for what’s coming down the road in a pretty obvious way. Connor is taking on the Superman mantle pretty reluctantly but he’s getting solid encouragement in the right ways from Ma Kent and Cassie about it. That he’s unsure and questioning himself, and if the heart that he got is evil itself, shows someone who doesn’t crave power and position and is more likely to wield it well. Cassie also makes it clear that he’s not alone and that they do need to get the Titans going again, though it’s going to require some recruitment since Tim, Bart, and Garth are not coming back for it. The setup here is obvious but it’s a nice side track to run with for the moment that gives us a little something different in both story and visual. And we need to really reconnect with these characters anywhere.
Events in space are taking their own curious turns, with Soranik and her group returning to Oa to pass on the news and find a new holding cell for Sinestro. For Hal, he’s struggling with what the Red Lantern ring is doing to him but also getting some decent if cautious advice from his version of Guy that tells him to play along to survive. Atrocitus sees a lot of value in Hal because once he recognizes who he is it’s made clear why he’s excelled at utilizing the power within it. Atrocitus has big plans for revenge that go beyond just the Guardians and seeing the scale of it here is just impressive. The last panel reveal of a Red Lantern Starro just made me grin with both the absurdity of it and the genius of it. I really enjoyed seeing the twist we had with this character in Justice League 3000 previously so getting yet another interpretation is right up my alley for this classic character.
In Summary:
While more of a transitional episode because of the lack of action and the focus on putting more players on the board in the right place, this is a strong installment for propelling things forward. Connor’s story is one that factors in well here and provides insight as to how events in space will eventually connect with it while Hal’s journey is one that’s done a bit minimally but effectively because we do have so much backstory for the character over the years in this property alone. I’m also continuing to really enjoy the use of Guy in all of this as even though it’s familiar plot device it’s one that works just because of how cracked Hal is in the head after everything and how his mind is coping with things. It’s a very fun book with some really great pages that Daniel Sampere just nails. He’s been with this property for what feels like forever and just keeps getting better and better.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 1st, 2018
MSRP: $0.99
